| | | | City Of The Living Dead
(1980) |
ity Of The Living Dead was Lucio Fulci's second of his four films featuring the undead (the others being 'Zombie' (Zombie Flesheaters) (1979), "The Beyond" (1981) & "The House By the Cemetery" (1981).
The film commences at a séance taking place in an apartment in New York City. Mary Woodhouse (MacColl) is in the midst of a harrowing vision of a priest, Father Thomas (Fabrizio Jovine), hanging himself in a graveyard in the remote village of Dunwich. As the images become too much for Mary, she breaks the circle and collapses, as if dead.
The police arrive and the participants of the séance are questioned by a flippant detective (Sampson) about the suspicious circumstances surrounding Mary's death. Medium Theresa, whose panic-stricken, tortured eyes seem to act independently to the rest of her face. informs the sleuth that imminent evil is soon to be unleashed and that he must climb out of the confines of his xenophobic mind, and understand the reality of what she is forecasting. The unimpressed detective asks if she is wacked out on dope, and pledges to find out what is really going on.
Christopher George, an early 80's George Clooney type, plays Peter Bell a reporter with remarkably poor persuasive skills, whose journalistic curiosity is stirred following the mysterious death of Mary. After failing to gain entry to the scene of the incident the reporter takes a trip out the gravesite of the recently deceased girl.
Just as Peter is leaving he initially thinks he can hear muffled screaming over the din of noises coming from the city. Discounting the noises, he is about to leave when further muffled screaming can be heard. This time he goes to investigate the partially buried tomb of Mary, realising that someone is stuck in the coffin, Bell frees the woman from her premature burial by cracking open her vault with a large pick axe.
Back at the apartment of the outlandish Theresa, the articulate medium informs Peter and Mary that according to the book of Enoch, the events witnessed by Mary during the fateful séance, presage the eruption of the living dead into the world. Father Thomas suicide has opened a 'doorway' through which the living dead will walk the earth, starting on All Saints Day, which is just 72 hours away.
Meanwhile in Dunwich itself, strange occurrences have been going on since the suicide of Father Thomas. The town is enveloped daylong in fog, the isolated local bar suffers structural damage from the volatile ground movements and members of the village are disappearing.
Amongst all the bizarre goings-on, psychiatrist Gerry (De Mejo) becomes involved following the disappearance of his girlfriend Emily (Interlenghi) who had gone to meet local village weirdo Bob (Radice), who incidentally bears a striking resemblance to international Dutch soccer star Dennis Bergkamp! Following a phone call from Sandra, one of his distraught patients, whose simmering neurosis isn't helped by the arrival of a recently deceased body at her abode!
Peter & Mary have left New York in search of the elusive Dunwich, which is not listed on any map with only Mary's intuition as a compass. Upon eventual arrival in Dunwich the New Yorkers team up with locals Gerry and Sandra in the race against time to try and avert the living dead spilling out of hell and into our world.
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A film viewer who insist's on conventional film structure of the narrative being a chain of events in cause-effect relationship, where the horrors and shocks surpass each other in terms of 'scare-factor'; with the plot advancing in a robust forward motion towards a grand finale finish, well then I doubt you'll be able to appreciate this mosaic surreal masterpiece, which ends on a deeply ambiguous note!
'City' was the template for Fulci's masterpiece 'The Beyond' which was made the following year. In 'Zombie' the previous year, viewers had to wait half-an-hour before the film's protagonists reached the voodoo island of Matul. Where upon arrival the real action starts. Yet in 'City' we are plunged straight into a ubiquitous montage of bizarre scenes.
Fulci tries to underpin the story with some coherence, by following the investigative Peter & Mary's attempts to locate Dunwich and by focusing on the initially sceptical village psychiatrist Gerry. Yet these storylines are blurred by detailed frequent cameos that serve only to gloriously fragment the film. These endeavours of coherence would be totally disregarded by Fulci and his collaborators to superb effect in 'The Beyond'.
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From a trivia perspective, without being facetious, one of the great things about the films of Fulci are identifying the influences from other films, be it expansion on ideas from his previous/later work, or indeed the work of other directors, particularly Dario Argento. As well as spotting the recurrent crop of actors/dubbed voices which appear across his different films. Here are some I've researched/noticed.
- John Carpenter's "The Fog" (1979) is another film which features a small US town being troubled by ever approaching ghostly threats due to an important date in the spectral calendar. Don Coscarelli 'Phantasm' (1979) is shot around a fragmented mysterious town which also has an isolated bar and a defiantly surreal storyline.
- Fulci said that he really enjoyed 'killing' actress Daniele Doria. She appeared in four of the Italian maestro's films. In 'City' she regurgitates her entire intestine trac. In "The Black Cat" she is locked in a boathouse to suffocate slowly. 'The House By the Cemetery' sees her have a large kitchen knife plunged threw the back of her head with the point protruding from her mouth! And in "The New York Ripper" she is bound to a bed and subjected to eye and nipple slicing from a manic with a razor blade and Donald Duck voice!
- The gentleman who dubbed the voice of Carlo De Mejo in the English language version of 'City' was also used by Fulci in at least two other films. Both times he was used to dub Paolo Malco characters in 'The House By the Cemetery' and "The New York Ripper". His voice is also used to dub Udo Kier's psychiatrist in Dario Argento's 'Suspiria'.
- Underground caverns similar to the one's used in 'City' were reproduced at the beginning of Fulci's next film 'The Black Cat'.
- The pick-axe, trapped tomb scene in 'City' would be later reprised in essence, by axe wielding father Paolo Malco as he attempts to smash through the cellar door to rescue his son from the clutches of Dr. Freudstein in 'The House By the Cemetery'. 
Director Fulci makes one of his customary cameos. This time he plays Dr. Joe Thompson a coroner visiting a crime scene in Dunwich.
Michele Soavi, the Italian film director, appears as a young man whose date vomits up her internal organs and then has the back of his skull ripped out.
Catriona MacColl said that 'City' was her least favourite of the three films that she made with Fulci. The others were 'The Beyond' & 'The House By the Cemetery'
This movie was also released on video as "The Gates of Hell" and "The Fear". -Thanks to Tim Mueller
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Find much more great trivia in the filmmaker's commentary on the City Of The Living Dead DVD.
Rediscover your favorites! If you like
City Of The Living Dead or 80's Horror classics, then be sure to
check out this list: ..... Lost Boys ..... Near Dark ..... Fright Night ..... Hellraiser ..... Shining ..... Poltergeist ..... Scanners ..... American Werewolf In London ..... Night of the Creeps ..... Nightmare on Elm Street ..... Paperhouse ..... One Dark Night ..... Re-Animator ..... Prom Night ..... Mausoleum ..... Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama .....[More]
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The production company changed Catriona MacColl to Katherine MacColl on poster art because in 'relaxed' Italian, words ending ..ona imply big & fat. This was not the image the company wanted projected about their leading lady.
'City' was filmed in Savannah, Georgia, during July & August 1980.
The shooting title was 'Fear'. Other reported alternative US titles were 'Blood Orgy' & 'Twilight of the Dead'
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|  |  |  | | City Of The Living Dead
Locations |
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The following filming locations were used in the "City Of The Living Dead" movie: New York City, New York, USA & Savannah, Georgia, USA. [Thanks to Charlie Edh]
One of the Savannah locations was the cobblestone access street behind the River Street stores, with its several pedestrian bridges, and Civil-war era brick walls, was used in the film where the boy is running from the ghost-zombies. One zombie jumps down from the overhead bridge. Filmed at night with plenty of fog, this location was really creepy. [Thanks to Fred Passmore]
The bridge on which the zombie (played by Michelle Saovi) jumps off to attack the little boy can be found on River Street in Savannah GA as well as the long stone staircase featured in the same scene.
Other locations are the cemetery on Abercorn St next to the old Fire Station is the cemetery in which father Thomas hangs himself. The characters enter from the North gate and many elements are easily seen today if you go to the graveyard. [Thanks to Scott Spencer]
Can you help? Do you know any of the Savannah, Georgia (or any other) filming locations used for City Of The Living Dead? [Please send them in]
|  | | | | ![[16:9 -Widescreen Enhanced]](16_9.gif) | ![[STEREO or SURROUND]](dd2.gif) | Trailer |
| | ![[NOT Widescreen]](4_3.gif) | | Trailer, Commentary |
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Through the use of sustained piano chords Fabio Frizzi's ponderous piano-based score creates the ominous atmosphere superbly. Paradoxically the score bursts into life with searing emotional keyboards when accompanying the antics of the living dead!
It is now available on CD from beat records in germany under the original title of "Paura nella città dei morti viventi" [Thanks to lee]
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Soundtrack Available:
On CD
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