CITY
OF THE LIVING DEAD (1980)Anchor Bay Entertainment
Director: Lucio Fulci
CITY
OF THE LIVING DEAD (1980)It's hard to believe it, but Lucio Fulci's second feature to deal with rotting corpses, CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD, is celebrating its twentieth anniversary. Released in the U.S. in 1983 as THE GATES OF HELL, I was never too crazy for this gloomy opus, mainly due to my initial viewing of a cropped VHS tape when it was first released to home video. Thanks to Anchor Bay's excellent transfer, and with enough spooky gags to make even William Castle blush in repulsion, I now have newfound appreciation for one of Sir Fulci's best-known efforts.
The film opens with a seance in a Manhattan apartment during which Mary (Catriona MacColl), an attractive psychic has a vision of a priest hanging himself. The vision turns out to be true and leads to very strange happenings, culminating with the dead walking the earth. Mary is wrongly pronounced dead after the turmoil of the seance, only to be buried alive. In a clever nod to Poe, a nosy, cigar-smoking reporter, Peter Bell (miscast Christopher George in one of his last film roles), rescues her after hearing her shriek from below the ground.
Mary teams up with the Peter and they take a ride to the town of Dunwich to find out more about the priest and the various strange events. The film executes this by unfolding a series of very gory episodes (there are probably more maggots used in this film than any other!). This includes a girl who pukes up her entrails, brains being squeezed out of the back of people's heads, and the drilling of the village idiot's (John Morghern's) face, which is still one of the best effects that I've ever seen. Here, the burnt-faced zombies are in more of a supernatural vein, as they appear and reappear in the blink of an eye.
Although there is minor grain in parts (probably due to the age of the elements and the film stock used), the image is very crisp and well detailed. It is presented in a 1.85:1 letterboxed, anamorphic transfer. Whereas the old VHS tape was dark and totally lacked picture definition, this DVD truly depicts Fulci's macabre visuals. During the climax in the crypt, it is pleasing to finally be able to see all the important detail, including the image of the corpses advancing from the background. You'll also appreciate the skillful cinematography; a scene where a frightened child is running in the smog-filled streets is very reminiscent of Mario Bava's BARON BLOOD.
Anchor Bay has also remixed the film's soundtrack, giving us a choice of either a 5.1 channel Dolby Digital mix or Dolby Surround mix, which both adequately enhance the grisly sound effects, as well as the rousing score by Fabio Frizzi. Extras include a theatrical trailer, U.S. radio spots ("No one under 17 admitted without parent or CERTIFIED adult guardian!") which are accompanied by a photo gallery, and a Fulci bio that quotes the director himself.
Fulci is responsible for some of the scariest cinematic moments, and this film has its share of them. In an age where modern horror films of the last 15 years barely hold up now, and where recent releases are loaded with unappealing CGI effects and wooden teen TV actors, CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD comes out as a champ, twenty years later. (George R. Reis)