Frayeurs

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.

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.

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.

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.