Paura nella città dei morti viventi

A zombie flick, but with a twist, City of the Living Dead (aka Gates of Hell) is maybe the best example of Fulci's talent for creating sustained nightmares; movies that make little to no logical sense but which bombard the viewer with atmosphere and gruesome imagery from which there is little relief . One of the movie's most famous sequences, in which a woman vomits up all of her innards in real time !It is absolutely brilliantly demented ! I am really thinking this kind of gore is what makes Fulci so great . He is not the Godfather of Gore for nothing.

A priest commits suicide in the opening moments, thereby opening a doorway to Hell. This one is more focused on the religious and mythical aspects of the zombie mythos. Taking place between New York City and the town of Dunwich. Fulci has a fantastic way with practical special effects and his cinematography is very well executed. City of the Living Dead is a dark, visceral, bloody, maggot filled head trip. As I just discovered his films this year , it is clear what a special, Italian horror director Lucio Fulci was. There will never be another like him. The practical effects still outshine much done today with CGI . 7/10.

In New York, the medium Mary Woodhouse (Katriona MacColl) sees Father William Thomas (Fabrizio Jovine) committing suicide by hanging himself in a cemetery in Dunwich. His death opens the gates of Hell permitting the rise of the dead. Mary is so frightened with what she sees that she dies in a séance.

The snoopy reporter Peter Bell (Christopher George) covers the death of Mary and goes to the cemetery. Out of the blue, Mary awakes locked in the coffin and Peter hears her screams and saves her. She tells what happened and Peter invites her to go to Dunwich with him. Meanwhile in Dunwich there are weird deaths and Peter and Mary meet the psychiatrist Gerry (Carlo De Mejo) and his friend Sandra (Janet Agren) to find out the grave of Father Thomas to close the gates of Hell before All Saints Day; otherwise the dead will raise and destroy the living. Will they succeed in their intent?

"Paura nella città dei morti viventi" is one of the best horror movies by Lucio Fulci. The story is simple and does not have explanations why the death of the priest will open the gates of Hell, but the special effects are gore and gruesome. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Pavor na Cidade dos Zumbis" ("Horror in the Zombie City")

Note: On 14 May 2013, I saw this movie again on Blu-Ray. The quality is excellent, but unfortunately the original audio in Italian is not available.

On 26 January 2017, I saw this movie again on a Brazilian DVD (Versátil), but unfortunately the original audio in Italian is not available.

This is beyond convoluted. Feels like a new character is introduced every 5-10min. Eye bleeding scene is boss. Glass bleeding scene... not so much. Lots of closeups on peoples eyes (to avoid bad mouth movements with the inevitable Italian horror overdubs). The zombies are pretty damn creepy. And the Fabio Frizzi soundtrack is as good as expected. I basically had no clue what was going on with the plot at any given time but I can recommend it on tone, visuals, fun early 80s gore FX, etc. The very end of this literally makes NO sense, but it is highly comical, also: maybe it's explained later in the trilogy? Not holding my breath but I am looking forward to finishing the trilogy.

City of the Living Dead (1980) is another classic by the Italian splatter master Lucio Fulci. Depiction of zombies is different here. Unlike most other movies, they are supernatural, appear and disappear like ghosts, adding additional dimension. The movie has many creepy scenes that give goosebumps from beginning to the end. Technically, there are various problems with the plot, but who cares? To my understanding, director first conceives the gory scenes very diligently and then tries to connect them by writing a plot. If you are seeking horror, you should give it a try.

Okay, someone has to say it : Fulci's movie are chock-full of mistakes, unlogical things that goes bump in the scenario and scenes you might laugh at (even worse than my beloved Dario Argento on this ground) But… for the true afficionadoes, this holds riches beyond belief. As most Italian oddities, it's hard to tell were the genius starts and the hack sets in - or is it the other way round ? There IS something in those movie, that makes me - and others - watch them over and over again though I should be too old for this, though I know their defects which suddenly turns into qualities. This movie is the most Lovecraftian of all Fulci's movies, and it's true there is in Lovecraft purple prose and stuff that might be laughed at. But isn't it what grotesque is all about, this no man's land between the pits and the nirvana ?