Pavor na Cidade dos Zumbis

"The Gates of Hell" is another masterpiece directed by one of the best horror directors Lucio Fulci.Fulci,who sadly died in 1996,was a real artist.Anyway this film concerns a priest committing suicide and opening the gateway to Hell,allowing the dead to rise from their graves and feed on the living.Christopher George("Pieces")tries to stop them.The gore effects made by Gino de Rossi are excellent(maggots,rotting flesh,lots of squished brains etc.)Giovanni Lombardo Radice gets an electric drill through his head,and there's also a notorious scene of woman(Daniela Doria)vomiting up all of her internal organs in a really nauseating torrent of blood and guts.The plot is weak,but the film is highly atmospheric and imaginative.Again brilliant director Lucio Fulci created a masterpiece of pure horror!10 out of 10-not to be missed.

This film is probably an accidental masterpiece, but a masterpiece nonetheless. Fulci is one of my idols, but I don't think he was a really good filmaker. It was his lack of coherency and almost childlike need to gross you out that made his best films so beloved. Gates of hell is the best of the lot. The film is basically one long wierd, surreal treatise one death and the horror of violent death in particular. Listen to the layered, terrifying soundtrack - wind howls, babies scream, stones grind, skulls break... The much talked about gore is not just gore but completely outlandish, brilliantly excecuted (no pun intended) operatic set pieces that come out of nowhwere and are truly, deeply repulsive. The prog rock score is just as yummy. The non linnear plot creates one of the best pieces of horror/surrealism I've ever seen. The ending is blood chilling because it doesn't make sense. See this movie more than once and realize it's so called faults are part of the reason it's so goddamned great!

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.

We the audience are thrown right into Lucio Fulci's horror tale directly from the start as we witness Father Thomas (Fabrizio Jovine) hang himself at a cemetery and the death of Mary Woodhouse (Katerine MacColl) at a deliciously artsy (thanks to Fulci) seance. Before Mary dies she is screaming about the city of the living dead. Mary is not dead and is revived once she is laying within her tomb in the ground. A pretty good scene where journalist Peter Bell (Christopher George) must get her out of her coffin...with a pick axe. Fulci wouldn't have it done any other way. Because of the suicide of Father Thomas though a gate to hell has been opened allowing the dead to walk the earth again. So, Mary and Peter are off to find it and close it.

To me why I rated it higher is because of Fulci. Yes, it is a gory horror film. I mean that is a must when talking about a Fulci horror film. But, it is in his ability to create the atmosphere in the film. He uses shadows wonderfully in this film and while mixed with some swallowing fog and a nice score from Fabio Frizzi you have a nice dark setting for the horror to take place. He also with the assistance of course with co-screenwriter Dardano Sacchetti weaves the story at times without much dialogue. Which when you know what is going on I love in films.

Also starring Michele Soavi (who went on to direct CEMETERY MAN) and Lucio Fulci himself as the coroner Dr. Joe Thompson. Any gore hounds out there give it a try you might like what you see.

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.