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Film: City of the Living Dead (Paura nella città dei morti viventi)
Year: 1980
Director: Lucio Fulci
Writer: Lucio Fulci and Dardano Sacchetti
Starring: Christopher George, Catriona MacColl and Carlo De Mejo
Review:
This was a film that I first learned about when my father picked it up on VHS under the title, The Gates of Hell. My sister and I for whatever reason didn’t watch it. I do remember trying one day and turning it off minutes later. It was getting into podcasts and working through the Fangoria Top 300 horror films/Horror Show Guide encyclopedia that I sought this out. I’m also giving this a second watch now thanks to Duncan with his Horror Head-to-Head series for the Podcast Under the Stairs.
Synopsis: a reporter and a psychic race to close the Gates of Hell after the suicide of a clergyman caused them to open, allowing the dead to rise from their graves.
This film begins in the village of Dunwich. We are in the cemetery where Father William Thomas (Fabrizio Jovine) hangs himself. It then shifts to New York City where a group is conducting a séance. Mary Woodhouse (Catriona MacColl) is in a trance and she sees the death of the priest. She screams and falls over. It is believed that she has died. The police come and interrogate her friend, Theresa (Adelaide Aste). They don’t believe the warnings she is telling. She claims that what Mary saw caused one of the gates of Hell to open. There is a reporter, Peter Bell (Christopher George), who is interested in what has happened.
Dunwich then starts to have weird things happen in it. A bar that has mirror break for no reason and then a wall cracks. The owner tries to come up with a logical explanation, but his two patrons flee regardless. Also, in this village we have Gerry (Carlo De Mejo) who is talking to Sandra (Janet Agren). She is a therapist and she is going through issues. He’s working with her on how to cope. His girlfriend is Emily Robbins (Antonella Interlenghi) comes in. They all talk for a minute and we learn that Emily is going to see Bob (Giovanni Lombardo Radice). He’s not well liked by the townspeople.
Peter, trying to find the truth about what happened to Mary, comes to the cemetery. They’re starting to bury her, but realizing that it is time to leave, stop working. As Peter goes to leave, Mary wakes up. Peter hears and rescues her before it is too late. He finally gets the answers that he’s looking for. He also decides to help her, believing that if she is telling the truth, it could be a big story.
Back in Dunwich, people are seeing Father Thomas. It is killing people in disgusting ways and turning them into zombies. If he doesn’t stop before the end of All Saints’ Day, the gateway to hell cannot be closed and the dead will walk the Earth.
That is where I’ll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. Where I’ll start is that after my first watch, I thought that this was interesting. There are good elements to the story, but at the time, I wasn’t fully versed in these nightmare logic films from Italy. I’ve now seen more, especially from co-writer/director Lucio Fulci. This is one that I knew I’d need to revisit and I’m glad that I did.
Now this is inspired by H.P. Lovecraft and Clark Ashton Smith. We have the guy who started the Cthulhu mythos and a writer who was inspired to do his own writings in the cosmic horror realm. This story takes inspiration from them. I love this idea that a priest, who is supposed to holy, committing the cardinal sin over hallowed ground. We don’t know why he did it. It can be assumed he was trying to open this gate to hell. It also makes sense knowing that Fulci was critical of the Catholic church. This premise and set up is good.
It is from there that we’re combining the zombie movie with the supernatural. There are times where evil entities will appear, causing someone to die or having zombies appear to attack them. There isn’t necessarily a rhyme or reason. It isn’t always consistent. What this movie is doing is having these set pieces, with great practical effects and now that I know what I’m in for, I’m there for it. This is one that you just need to go along for the ride and not necessarily worry about the story. Just knowing that there is a set time to close this gate to hell before it fully opens is the most important part.
Since I’ve already leaned into the effects, let’s go over the rest of the filmmaking. The setting is good. We have this small village named Dunwich, more references to Lovecraft. It is the former site of Salem, so the killing of witches in this area is brought up as well. I love the fact that we’re in a time where this village doesn’t appear on the map so Peter struggles to find it. That helps build tension and atmosphere. I’ve already said how great the effects are but credit the cinematography and framing to help hide the seams there. Coupling it with an amazing soundtrack from Fabio Frizzi, it has a lot working in its favor. I listen to this one regularly to be honest.
The last thing then to go into would be the acting. I like George as this reporter who won’t take no for an answer. That is a good thing though about what happens with Mary. MacColl is an actress that I’m a big fan of thanks to this trilogy. I believe this, The Beyond and The House by the Cemetery are the only ones from her I’ve seen. De Mejo is good in his role. I’d also say that the rest of the cast are solid for what is needed, which includes Radice, Jovine, Michel Soavi and we even got a cameo by Fulci himself. No one stands out here, aside from the two leads, but they don’t need to either.
In conclusion, this is a movie that I’d say to not get hung up on the details. We have an atmospheric, Lovecraftian type story. There is a blasphemous event that opens a gate to hell and it needs to be closed. The effects are what make this movie great. The filmmaking around it with the soundtrack, cinematography and framing help. Our actors aren’t great, but they don’t need to be. They are characters that I recognize so it works. This one I’d say that if you like gory, zombie films, this is a variation on that and it gets better with multiple watches for sure.
My Rating: 8.5 out of 10