City Of The Living Dead

AKA Paura Nella Città Dei Morti Viventi / The Gates Of Hell

Director: Lucio Fulci

After ripping into Lucio Fulci’s “The Sweet House Of Horrors” a couple of weeks ago, I thought it was only fair to balance things out a bit by reviewing one of his better films… and this one is better by quite some distance. 

Released in 1980, “City Of The Living Dead” sounds like a generic George A. Romero knock off (although there are unrelated “Of The Living Dead” movies that predate “Night Of The Living Dead”), but the film is in fact the first in Fulci’s “Gates Of Hell” trilogy, followed by “The Beyond” and the film that got me into all of this, “The House By The Cemetery”.

The “Gates Of Hell” trilogy is fairly loose thematically, bad shit happens in basements or underground, and Catriona McColl stars in all three; that’s pretty much it. There are zombies in all of them I guess but they certainly wouldn’t be classed as zombie films. They all have quite a dark and ominous atmosphere though, which takes precedence over plot, and not necessarily in a bad way. These films are best enjoyed by going with the flow and letting them wash over you, so whilst I am going to highlight just how bat shit crazy this film is, it is a strength of the film and not a criticism. Basically what I’m saying is, it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, but that’s ok.

Surprisingly “City Of The Living Dead” wasn’t involved in the video nasty debacle during the 80s, however, it remained cut in the UK until 2001. It is easy to see why, as the film contains some very extreme gore. Fair play to Fulci because all of the effects work a treat, and he certainly revels in them. The film is also co-written by the fantastic Dardano Sacchetti, who would go on to write the two other films in this trilogy, as well as Fulci’s “The New York Ripper” and “Manhattan Baby”. Not to mention, of course, “Zombie Flesh Eaters”, which was actually released a year prior to “City Of The Living Dead”.

The film opens with a small group of people performing a seance in New York where Mary Woodhouse (played by Catriona MacColl) has a vision of a troubled priest (Father Thomas, played by Fabrizio Jovine) hanging himself in the “city” of Dunwich. Dunwich looks like a village to my eyes, a small town at best, but I guess “Small Town Of The Living Dead” doesn’t work quite so well. To be fair, the American title for the film, “Gates Of Hell”, probably works better.

As the priest hangs himself, zombies start to rise from a nearby grave (a la “Zombie Flesh Eaters”), while back in New York, Mary begins frothing at the mouth, screams and dies. The groans of the dead as they begin to come back to life is very creepy, as are the sounds of hungry corvids and a distorted baby scream we hear as a blue lit fog begins to drift over the graveyard.

The police arrive at the scene of the seance and take a look around the apartment. The pimp/policeman in charge (played by Martin Sorrentino) is questioning the group when suddenly a fireball appears and flies up to the ceiling and then back to the ground again with a hellish distorted scream. The fire effect is basic but nicely done by reversing the footage and the screaming is pretty creepy.

Meanwhile in Dunwich, where it seems to be constantly on the verge of a storm breaking, we are introduced to Bob, played by one of my favourite actors – the legendary Giovanni Lombardo Radice – who you may remember as Ricky from “The House On The Edge Of The Park”. Bob appears to be homeless and not very well liked by the adult residents of Dunwich. We see Bob entering an empty house in an attempt to escape from the heavy winds where he finds a blow up sex doll. Bob smiles at the doll and begins to touch it. Maybe he’s not very well liked because puncture repair kits are always out of stock at the hardware store.

Before Bob properly gets down to business, he spots a rotting baby corpse on the ground, crawling with worms and maggots, ew. This is enough to put Bob off, thank god. The dead baby effect is one of the grossest things I have seen put to film so far. It’s very well done but my god it’s sick! The squelching of the worms on the decomposing flesh only adds to the effect. It is not specifically said but I wonder if there is a link between the screaming baby we heard and the baby corpse? I might be overthinking this! Either way, gross.

We then meet Peter Bell (played by Christopher George), a news reporter, who is attempting to gain entry to the apartment so he can question the group about Mary’s death but the 70s porn-star/police officer manning the outside of the apartment is not having any of it. Why do all the New York police in this film look like sex workers?

Back in Dunwich, two men are at a bar talking to the bartender about how weird things have been since Father Thomas killed himself. They also discuss that their ancestors were witch killers. I’m fairly certain that in a “city” there would be people coming and going on a regular basis, so not everyone living in Dunwich in 1980 would be linked to the history of the place! As if on cue, a mirror in the bar breaks and then the wall begins to crack. The two men decide it’s time to make a swift exit.

As if we needed even more characters, we are then introduced to Gerry, a psychiatrist (played by Carlo De Mejo) and Sandra, a patient (played by Janet Argen). Sandra is talking to Gerry about incest, and how when she was younger she wanted to marry her dad. Confidentiality doesn’t seem to be important at this practice, though, as Emily (played by Antonella Interlenghi) barges in and tells Gerry she is going to see Bob as he needs her help.

Meanwhile in New York, Peter makes his way over to the cemetery where two men are in the process of digging a grave ready for Mary’s coffin. Bloody hell, they’ve turned that around quickly – or not as the case may be, as shortly after Peter arrives, the two men bugger off leaving the coffin out in the open. Just as he is also about to leave, Peter hears screams coming from the coffin: she’s not dead! Italians sure do love to prematurely declare people dead. I suffer from epilepsy and I hope to god if I have a seizure there aren’t any Italians around.

Upon finding a woman trapped in a coffin, any normal, sane human being would go and get help, or maybe some tools to gently prize open the lid to free the poor occupant. Not Peter though, he just gets an pick axe and smashes the coffin just where Mary’s head would be. Why on earth he felt this was the best strategy is beyond me, but seeing Peter repeatedly smashing an axe into the coffin as Mary dodges the blade as it pierces the inside is pretty funny – due to it being so ridiculous, not because I think smashing people through the brain is funny.

Surprisingly, Mary manages to escape from the situation unscathed, and the pair go to see Theresa (the medium from the seance earlier in the film), who warns that Father Thomas may have opened the gates of hell when he hung himself (is this an anti-suicide film?). To make matters worse, the dead will rise and take over the earth on All Saints day, which as it happens, is just a few days away. Seems very specific. Peter and Mary decide to travel to Dunwich in an attempt to close the gates of hell before it’s too late. No pressure.

In Dunwich, Emily manages to track down Bob where clearly something very bad happened after we left him with the dead baby. Bob is whimpering in the foetal position and is unresponsive to Emily’s calls. They hear a loud noise and Bob flees, leaving Emily with Father Thomas who appeared out of nowhere and smears a handful of what appears to be worms and dirt across her face. It could be the rotting flesh of the baby I guess but it’s not totally clear. Regardless, she’s getting off lightly compared to the fate of some of his victims. If anything, it comes across as a childish prank, albeit a gross one, and Emily reacts with mild annoyance rather than terror.

Elsewhere in Dunwich, we see a young couple “making out” in a car. The couple, Rosie and Tommy (played by “Homepage Of Horror” favourite, Michele Soavi and Lucio Fulci favourite, Daniela Doria), suddenly see Father Thomas appear. Next, then comes one of the most famous scenes from the film. Rosie begins to bleed from her eyes and then proceeds to throw up her own intestines. Hats off to Daniela Doria because it looks like she really suffered to achieve the effect. First off, the blood coming from her eyes looks incredibly uncomfortable to say the least and it would appear she also had to hold some actual animal intestines in her mouth before the camera cuts to a model as we see more of the body parts pushed through the mouth. I have a strong stomach but this made me feel sick, and the sound of Tommy retching in the background only amplifies the effect. That’s the dead baby trumped.

Father Thomas then grabs the back of Tommy’s head with such force that he squeezes some of his brain out, like bursting a spot. You see, face full of worms doesn’t seem quite so bad now, does it. This effect reminds me of the sort of work the great Tom Savini was doing in the 80s.

The next day, Peter and Mary leave New York to make their way to Dunwich. At this point, Peter says he can’t even find Dunwich on a map! Yep, definitely not a city. Despite not knowing where Dunwich is they still manage to set off on their journey. Later on we see the pair stop for a snack. Erm, you do realise the fate of the human race is at stake don’t you? Maybe that should be your priority?!

The police arrive at the scene of the previous night’s carnage in Dunwich, all of whom appear to be past retirement age, including Lucio Fulci in a cameo appearance as a Dr. Thompson. We also get a shot of the side of one of the police cars, which even says: “Village of Dunwich”! I rest my case!

Now at the morgue, we see Emily’s body being drained of blood by the mortician before being shown to her family and Gerry. Seems like a face full of worms is enough to kill someone in 1980. Whilst at the morgue, Gerry sees the body of an elderly woman who also died the previous night under mysterious circumstances. We then cut to the bar where the two men have decided it’s clearly safe to go back. They are having a chat about the mysterious things going on in the VILLAGE and the increasing number of people going missing or dying. They all think that Bob is behind it, because of course, Bob is able to break mirrors and crack walls.

Speaking of Bob, we see the little rascal arrive back at the empty house from earlier as the violent wind continues to rage on. Inside the dark house, Bob is confronted by Father Thomas, who appears hanging from the noose just like at the beginning of the film. Bob runs back out of the house with his eyes and intestines intact, luckily.

Back at the morgue, after Emily’s family has left, we see the mortician checking out the dead bodies and begins stealing jewellery from the deceased. As he reaches down to take off a valuable from the old lady, he screams in pain and his finger is bitten off by the old lady’s corpse… or whatever the politically correct term is for the undead. You see, crime doesn’t pay!

Over at Emily’s parents house, we find her brother, John-John (so good they named him twice), sitting in his bedroom looking very troubled. He begins to wander around the room, which doesn’t appear to have any walls, but is completely made up of venetian blinds, when suddenly Emily appears at the window, now severely disfigured. Emily’s brother runs away screaming to his parents, who seem far too old considering how young John-John is.

Sandra is the next victim of spooky goings on as she hears strange noises in her house whilst painting a rhino (yep). The score here is fantastic and seems to call back to the sort of music composed for the more gothic horror films made decades before. Sandra calls Gerry and asks him to come over. Gerry downplays her worries of supernatural activity and he reluctantly agrees to drive to her house. Upon arriving, Sandra shows Gerry the body of the old lady who had passed away the night before, which has now suddenly appeared. Gerry tries to rationalise what is happening (don’t bother mate, it’s a Fulci film), and suggests contacting the sheriff and then searching the house room by room. Before they can put their plan into action, they hear another strange noise from the kitchen, only to find that the old lady has vanished. The strangeness doesn’t end there though, as a sudden gust of wind blows the glass out of a window, making shards fly into a wall which then starts to bleed.

The next day, we find that Bob has trespassed into a garage and spent the night sleeping in a car after being spooked by Father Thomas. The bad news is, the garage belongs to one of the men from the bar who clearly has it in for Bob. Granted, in an earlier scene the man did mention that Bob had taken his daughter into the woods years before, presumably to do to her what he wanted to the blow up doll, but what happens next still seems a tad over the top. The two men have a scuffle which ends with Bob having his head pushed into a power drill. Poor Bob. The effect is brilliantly done and Giovanni Lombardo Radice’s reaction really sells it.

Peter and Mary finally make it to Dunwich and bump into Gerry and Sandra. Mary explains that Father Thomas opened up the gates of hell when he hung himself and that they are there to try and stop the dead from rising on All Saints day. As Mary explains her horrific vision, the window blows open (why do people in Dunwich leave their windows unlocked all the time?) and a swarm of maggots begin to flood the room (although I’m fairly sure Mary says “worms”). Gerry answers the telephone to a call from John-John, who informs Gerry that Emily has just killed her parents. Gerry then explains to Peter and Mary that Emily died two days ago. The four rush over to collect John-John and Peter and Gerry go to see what has happened. Gerry explains that the parents have been “totally butchered” but we don’t actually see what happened to them. It’s a bit late to start getting prudish about showing gore Fulci!

Sandra takes John-John to her studio whilst the rest of the group search the morgue. Before Sandra is able to open the door to the studio, she gets the head grabby brain burster treatment from Emily, who then vanishes. John-John runs away only to be jumped on by Tommy, now in full zombie mode. Luckily John-John manages to get away and meets up with Gerry.

The police take John-John to safety while Gerry, Peter and Mary make their way to the graveyard to find the burial site of Father Thomas. As they enter, Mary realises that it has gone midnight and is now All Saints day. Oh, so they failed, that’s the end of that then. Back at the bar, the remaining drinkers are terrorised by zombies, including Bob. Yeah, you go Bob!

At the graveyard, the group find the tomb where Father Thomas has been placed and enter it only to find that the body has gone. They start to investigate the rest of the tomb when Sandra appears and then it’s Peter’s turn to get his head grabbed. Peter’s body drops to the floor and some rats start eating his exposed brain. I know this is probably meant to be horrific but the rats are bloody cute.

Mary and Sandra lock eyes and Mary begins to bleed from her pupils before Gerry rams a spike into Sandra’s stomach which seems to “kill” her. Gerry and Mary move deeper into the tomb and as Fabio Frizzi’s score kicks into full effect, the dead begin to rise up out of the ground. Father Thomas appears and Mary’s eyes begin to bleed again. Gerry finds a wooden crucifix nearby and punches through the Father’s stomach. Well, I think it’s meant to be his stomach, but frankly it looks more like the dick region. Father Thomas then goes up in flames, as do the other zombies that have surrounded them.

With Father Thomas defeated and the gates of hell closed, Gerry and Mary make their way out of the tomb where they are greeted by John-John and the police who had been looking after him. Gerry and Mary seem happy to see him at first, but as he runs over to them they begin to scream “No!”, and then we get a rather awkward freeze frame of John-John which quickly dissolves to black. The End.

Legend has it that the reason for the abrupt ending was due to coffee being spilt on the film negative, thereby destroying the actual climax, so this ending was cobbled together during editing. Whatever the reason though, I doubt the actual ending would have been anymore conclusive. I’ve seen a lot of Fulci films and they are often open-ended or don’t really tie up loose ends. In this case, however, it doesn’t take away from the enjoyment of the film. Mary wasn’t able to close the gates of hell before All Saints day, so despite destroying Father Thomas, the fact that the ending suggests that not all the evil has gone actually makes sense. Either that or they just really hate John-John.

“City Of The Living Dead” is a great film, although admittedly the plot is fairly thin and a large part of it feels like a series of gore set pieces, but the performances and atmosphere keep the film moving and it never gets boring.

Fabio Frizzi’s score is fantastic, the main “action” theme is perfect for ramping up the tension (very similar to the main theme he created for “Zombie Flesh Eaters”) while the rest of the score has a haunting, almost unnatural quality. Sometimes beautiful and sometimes creepy, Frizzi manages to compliment the surreal and visceral imagery created by Fulci.

Speaking of which, this film looks fantastic, especially during the Dunwich scenes. Dunwich seems to be constantly covered by a thick layer of fog and Fulci uses blue light to give it an eerie dream like quality. The howling wind feels like a character itself, making Dunwich feel threatening even when Father Thomas or the zombies aren’t around.

There’s a lot of fun to be had with “City Of The Living Dead”, so if you can stomach the gore and don’t mind the fact it is relatively light on plot but heavy on atmosphere, then you’ll certainly get a kick out of it. “City Of The Living Dead” is Fulci at the height of his powers and if you have never seen one of his films before, this is a great place to start. It’s got some lovely cinematography, a brilliant score, some classic Fulci staples such as close up shots of eyes (but no gouging) and drawn out but pleasingly grotesque gore effects, and it’s got Giovanni Lombardo Radice and Michele Soavi in it, so it’s a no brainer (pun intended).