30 Second Reviews: City of the Living Dead (1980)
Is there any era of horror better than that of Italy in the 70’s and 80’s? I don’t think so!! There are endless classic flicks from this corner of horror history as well as the directors who made them. Dario Argento, Bruno Mattei, and of course Lucio Fulci. Each of these directors contributed many gory classics but none more so than Fulci. And when I think back to this Golden Age I can’t help but think of City of the Living Dead (also known as The Gates of Hell) as one of my favourites.
City is the first movie in what has become known as Fulci’s “Death Trilogy.” The
other two amazing flicks of this trilogy are The Beyond and House by the Cemetery, both made in 1981. I consider all three genre classics that any and all horror lovers need to see. But City will always hold a special place in my heart: It’s the first Fulci flick I ever saw. Excuse me a second; I’m starting to tear up. Ok; I’m better.
Director Lucio Fulci
Fulci is by far not the greatest director to come out of Italy. Not by a long shot. But what Fulci lacks in technical savvy-ness he more than makes up for in pure entertainment and gore. Lots and lots of very explicit and well done gore. What I’m getting at is that Fulci knows how to make one helluva fucking entertaining horror movie!! That’s more than can be said for the majority of horror film makers out there today.
Nothing good will come of this!!
If you’re not familiar with Fulci’s movies than this is a good a place to start as any. When you watch a Fulci flick, no matter which one it is, you know there are a few guarantees: The plot will be bizarre (bordering on confusing); we’re gonna see a lot of odd camera angles; we’re gonna get lingering close-up shots of really unimportant things; there will be somewhere around four to six show-stopping gore set pieces; someone in the movie will be getting their eye poked out; there will be traces of misogyny; and as the end credits roll you will be completely entertained. City of the Living Dead is no exception and embodies everything that makes a Fulci flick great. The plot here is simple; a priest hangs himself in a church cemetery in the New England town of Dunwich thereby opening the gates of hell. That’s it. Pretty simple, eh? But this is Fulci, remember? A New York City reporter, played by Christopher George, and a psychic (Katriona MacColl) also get caught up in the action and travel to the small town. There they team up with another couple as they attempt to close the gates of hell before All Saints Day. If they don’t, the dead all over the world will rise up and kill the living. So there’s no pressure. And trust me, I’m making this sound way more coherent than what actually unrolls before your eyes.
The gore here is top-notch and there’s plenty of show-stopping scenes that’ll have you gagging. There’s a drill
You'll feel the same way after watching this flick.
press through the head, multiple shots of skulls being crushed and brains squishing between zombie fingers, and of course the “vomit scene”. Oh my; that goddamn vomit scene!! This scene single-handedly made me not just a horror fan but a gore hound for life. I never saw anything like it. A girl and her boyfriend (played, by the way, by a young Michele Soavi; future director of the amazing Dellamorte Dellamore) are making out when the dead priest who hanged himself appears. He stares into her eyes and her eyes start bleeding. But then gradually, little by little, she starts vomiting up her entire digestive tract. It’s explicit, the camera never flinches, and we see everything in close-up details. Apparently to accomplish this scene Fulci had the actress, Daniela Doria, swallow and then throw-up an entire plate of tripe!!!
Absolutely disgusting & beautiful!!
Now THAT’S a dedicated actress. For the close-up shots a fake head was used which contained a pump that pushed the organs out more forcefully. It’s a truly beautiful and disgusting scene.
Besides this show-stopper we get the usual Fulci zombie carnage, and a lot of it. It’s a hugely entertaining movie from the opening scene to the last. And the “buried alive” scene in the beginning is the one that Quentin Tarantino pays homage to in his Kill Bill Part Two. But Fulci isn’t just a one-note gore hound. He also knows how to build tension and create some really atmospheric gloomy scenes. Along with the gore Fulci has a unique vision he executes beautifully in all his movies.
City is simply a “must see” if you love gore, love Italian genre movies from the 80s, or just love a really bizarre,
Our fearless heroes.
bloody good time. Fulci is a director/storyteller all to himself. I don’t think there will ever be another one like Fulci, and that actually may be a good thing. Definitely check this one out.
My Summary:
Director: Lucio Fulci
Plot: 3 out of 5 stars
Gore: 9 out of 10 skulls
Zombie Mayhem: 4.5 out of 5 brains
Reviewed by Scott Shoyer
Yes Fulci has great movies. My first Fulci movie was Zombie2 you can’t beat the eyeball and shark scenes. I wish Bava had the gore that fulci films had or if fulci had the storytelling skills of bava. I guess the same could be said for Argento too if I think about.
The zombie attacking a shark is a classic scene in horror movie history!!
I also wish Fulci’s technical skills were better. Have you seen many of his later flicks? OUCH. His younger films are full of energy, fun, and gore. That makes it easier to overlook his obvious lack of technical film making ability. But those later films ate hard to watch!!! They’re the horror film versions of seeing “fat Elvis” in Vegas!!!
E tu vivrai nel terrore – L’aldilà aka The Beyond (1981) is a masterpiece in Italian Horror. It gets my vote from this school of horror. It had all of the essential elements of solid plot, shock, and decent acting. The only thing that is distracting in this film is the English language dubbing comes out more like a bad Kung Fu flick but I quickly could overlook that based on the artistry I was viewing. On a side note, it’s very interesting comparing and contrasting American, Italian, and British horror. In general, if your thing is body count, gore, blood, guts, mutilation, and body parts then nothing beats Italian Horror of the 70′s and 80′s in all of its beautiful & passionate brutality. If you desire outstanding acting (actual Shakespearean trained actors) and a campy gothic romp then the British Horror of the 60′s and 70′s is best (personally, I am a sucker for this horror school, luv it). If you like lots of special effects, atmosphere, & blending of other genre’s with horror in a straight A-B story/plot then American Horror of the 70′s & 80′s has appeal. Shoot there is even the Japanese “Creature” centric horror that domenates that culture’s offerings to Horror in the 60′s. I believe the truly brilliant horror films are the ones that borrow from all of these traditional schools and creates its own niche. One of those hybrid gold standards for me is Clive Barker’s Hellraiser (1987)which has great elements from most of these schools represented in it.
Fulci is an artist and Scott you are right you can not go wrong with any of the 3 in the Trilogy. Special movies all! But am I crazy or does the English Language dubbing in all of these leave a bit to be desired. Man on initial viewings I found that to be down right distracting but once I tuned that out…..WOW!
No you’re not crazy (at least not for this reason)…. The dubbing drives me crazy too!!! I’d love to see Tarantino or Eli Roth pay homage to the Italian flicks from the 1980′s & reproduced the same dubbing!!!
You’re absolutely right about The Beyond. That is to Fulci what Suspiria is to Argento and Citizen Kane is to Wells (and Poultrygeist is to Kaufman).
I like yur break down of Italian, British, & American genre flicks. I’m sure it’s no surprise that I’m partial to the old school Italian flicks. There’s so much variety: Hardcore cannibal flicks; gory zombie flicks; and of course the giallo flicks. LOVE the giallo flicks!!! There’s also a lot of gothic flicks with the Italians. Early Bava is extremely gothic!!
Everyone keeps talking about the dominance of the Japanese in the 90′s & early 2000′s. Yeah there were a few really strong flicks there, but I see the J movement as a one-trick-pony. They are all structured the same, paced the same, and have the same kinda ghost. I find most of the J horror boring.
And yes…… Hellraiser is an amazing fucking movie!!! What an achievement Barker made with that one. It’s gory, scary, and has a lot of gothic touches in it!!