City of the Living Dead

DVD Anchor Bay Entertainment
1980, 93 minutes

review by Lee Peterson

The late, great Italian director Lucio Fulci is best-known in the U.S. for his 1979 gut-muncher Zombie, but for my lira, City of the Living Dead (aka Paura Nella Citta Dei Morti Viventi, aka The Gates of Hell ) is the one to beat. 

In the town of Dunwich, a priest (Django Kills Softly 's Luciano Rossi) walks into a cemetery and hangs himself, fulfilling a centuries-old curse and allowing the dead to rise from their graves to take bloody revenge on the living. At a séance in New York, Mary (The Beyond 's Catriona MacColl) has a psychic vision of the hanging, and apparently dies of shock. After a quick funeral, she awakens to find she has been buried alive. Rescued in the nick of time by reporter Peter Bell (Grizzly 's Christopher George), who nearly splits her face open with his pick-axe in the process. Peter and Mary set off to find Dunwich, and with the aid of a psychiatrist (House by the Cemetery 's Carlo De Mejo) and his patient (The Emerald Jungle 's Janet Agren) attempt to prevent the opening of the Gates of Hell.

Fulfilling the gory promise of the previous year's Zombie, City of the Living Dead is a virtual smorgasbord of pustulence and grue. Co-written by Fulci and his frequent writing partner Dardano Sacchetti, the story incorporates an eclectic mix of sources from Edgar Allan Poe and H.P. Lovecraft to Mario Bava and George Romero. Unlike Romero's lumbering undead, Fulci's zombies have the ability to teleport in the blink of an eye, adding a kooky, nightmarish irrationality to the mix.

Narrative coherence is de-emphasized (to put it mildly), in favor of a constant tone of dreamlike dread punctuated by jarring, ultra-gory set-pieces. The infamous "splinter-through-the-eye" scene in Zombie is topped, not once but twice: 

A girl (The New York Ripper 's Daniela Doria) bleeds from her eyes and barfs up her intestines in front of her incredulous boyfriend (Michele Soavi, later the director of The Church and Dellamorte, Dellamore ). Then, just when the audience is lulled back into munching its popcorn, poor Bob (aka John Morghen of Cannibal Ferox ) gets his head drilled clean through (in unflinching close-up) on a carpenterâs bench lathe. 

Yee-haw! Viva Fulci!
Nobody, but nobody, makes shit like this anymore!

Anchor Bay Entertainment's uncut, widescreen transfer (2.35:1, 16x9 enhanced) is an absolute glory to behold. The image is razor-sharp (though a bit grainy at times, due to the limitations of the film stock used), the blacks are deep and the colors are rich and bold. This is the definitive version Fulci fans have always been waiting for. The Dolby Digital 5.1 remix enhances the audio experience, and is never distracting
(a Dolby Surround mix is also included). Fabio Frizzi's gorgeous piano-based theme music (one of his best ever) comes alive in the new mix. 

A theatrical trailer (in widescreen), a series of radio spots accompanied
by a photo gallery and a Fulci bio are included as supplements.

Not everyone loves the films of Lucio Fulci (we refer to those people as LOSERS), but for those of us who do, Anchor Bay's "Lucio Fulci Collection" on DVD is all we little gorehounds could ever hope for (Zombie , The New York Ripper and Don't Torture a Duckling are already out, with House by the Cemetery and The Beyond forthcoming).

Official Website: 
  http://www.anchorbayentertainment.com