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In a small village called Dunwich, a priest hangs himself in a cemetery. This action sparks the above warning which moves forward the plot of this film. City of the Living Dead follows Mary (Catriona MacColl), a psychic that saw the vision of the priest, as she is joined by Gerry (Carlo de Mejo), a psychiatrist, and Peter (Christopher George), a journalist, as they race against time to save humanity from the dead.
I struggled a bit to find the proper phrasing for that synopsis, but the thing is that there isn't much logic to what happens, nor is it necessary. Why does Father Thomas kill himself? why does his actions result in the dead rising? What does he want? Why All Saint's Day? None of it really matters, other than to give an atmosphere to this eerie zombie film.
Directed by Lucio Fulci after the success of Zombi, it is expected that the film would bring what made that film popular; lots of decaying zombies and tons of icky gore, which I suppose is what most people will come looking for when they watch it. Heads are cracked open, brains are squeezed and ripped apart, guts are thrown out, eyes bleed; not to mention maggots a-plenty.
Fulci brings the gore, but also a decent amount of tension and a nightmarish eerie vibe. There's a particular scene with someone buried alive that had me fidgeting, not because of anything icky, but because Fulci is patient enough to extend it to a point where the tension is almost unbearable. There is also a sense of unexpectedness in that no character seems to be safe, which also helps heighten the tension.
However, I wish there would've been a bit more of attention and care put into the script. It seems a bit haphazardly assembled, and the pace in the first half is a bit clunky as the characters are introduced. Things do pick up in the second half, and the whole style and vibe of it makes it work for the most part. So if you're in the mood for something gory, tense, and not particularly deep, this might be for you.
Grade:
CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD
(1980, Fulci)
Freebie
(1980, Fulci)
Freebie
"At midnight on Monday, we go into All Saint's Day. The night of the dead begins. If the portholes of hell aren't shut before, no dead body will ever rest in peace. The dead will rise up all over the world and take over the Earth!"
In a small village called Dunwich, a priest hangs himself in a cemetery. This action sparks the above warning which moves forward the plot of this film. City of the Living Dead follows Mary (Catriona MacColl), a psychic that saw the vision of the priest, as she is joined by Gerry (Carlo de Mejo), a psychiatrist, and Peter (Christopher George), a journalist, as they race against time to save humanity from the dead.
I struggled a bit to find the proper phrasing for that synopsis, but the thing is that there isn't much logic to what happens, nor is it necessary. Why does Father Thomas kill himself? why does his actions result in the dead rising? What does he want? Why All Saint's Day? None of it really matters, other than to give an atmosphere to this eerie zombie film.
Directed by Lucio Fulci after the success of Zombi, it is expected that the film would bring what made that film popular; lots of decaying zombies and tons of icky gore, which I suppose is what most people will come looking for when they watch it. Heads are cracked open, brains are squeezed and ripped apart, guts are thrown out, eyes bleed; not to mention maggots a-plenty.
Fulci brings the gore, but also a decent amount of tension and a nightmarish eerie vibe. There's a particular scene with someone buried alive that had me fidgeting, not because of anything icky, but because Fulci is patient enough to extend it to a point where the tension is almost unbearable. There is also a sense of unexpectedness in that no character seems to be safe, which also helps heighten the tension.
However, I wish there would've been a bit more of attention and care put into the script. It seems a bit haphazardly assembled, and the pace in the first half is a bit clunky as the characters are introduced. Things do pick up in the second half, and the whole style and vibe of it makes it work for the most part. So if you're in the mood for something gory, tense, and not particularly deep, this might be for you.
Grade: