Following a priests' suicide in a local cemetery, a psychic brings her boyfriend and friends to the cursed town trying to find a way of stopping the supernatural horror afflicting the town when the dead emerge from their graves and get caught up in their plight as well.This was one of the most enjoyable and entertaining Italian gore efforts. Among the numerous great qualities to this one is the utterly outstanding atmosphere present throughout here that literally drips off the screen. This manages to include an old-school Gothic horror sensibility within the confines of a true gore-drenched epic that's utterly nauseating while generating the kind of atmospheric dread that's just infectious as so many scenes here exploit this setup. The opening here, which shows the priests' death in the cemetery that enacts the curse, is a prime example while other great scenes here from the early scenes of the town falling victim to the after-effects of the curse become even better. Breaking windows, cracked walls, disappearing and reappearing bodies, half-eaten corpses showing up out of nowhere, bleeding apparitions and ghostly zombie-like beings that appear out of nowhere all contribute to give this a feverishly delirious pace as these demented scenes produce an amazing atmosphere continuously being utilized one after another by the grand decision on making this one so supernaturally-charged. It's entirely possible for hallucinations, raining maggots and decomposing bodies to walk around here in what's set as a traditional zombie effort here by infusing that story with the supernatural themes present here from the curse that starts here from the opening actions. These are not only incredily fun but get wrapped into the zombie effort which gives this one some outstanding and gruesome zombies scenes, from tose early attacks nad appearances of the ghouls running loose through town in the last half, the attack on the bar patrons and the spectacular scenes down in the underground tunnels that are littered with Gothic overtunres in the skeletons and the general vibe of the crypt which is wonderfully dark, chilling and makes for a superb setting here with the walkthrough of them rising amongst the skeletons and zombies while the action to finally end the curse offers incredibly enjoyable Gothic action as they go up in flames rather nicely. On top of all this great atmosphere, the film features two legendary gore gags that make this one of the messiest, bloodiest films in the genre, which comes from the fact that there's some gruesome makeup on the zombies to give them that familiar decayed look that works so well here. All of these make this one so much fun that the few flaws are inconsequential. The fact is that the finale, through no fault of its own, is one of the most haltingly disjointed and confusing entries that ever was released and manages to really end this on a downer-note as that's something that must be dealt with here. Otherwise, there's not much else wrong here.Rated Unrated/NC-17: Extreme Graphic Violence and Language.

Yet another Fulci zombie film, CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD has a number of differences from Fulci's other zombie flicks in order to make it enjoyable even for those who are familiar with his work. THE BEYOND was a dream-like fantasy, ZOMBIE FLESH EATERS was an old-fashioned adventure romp, while CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD is a detective story mixed in with typical zombie mayhem. Even those who are fans of Fulci's other films tend to criticise this one for its shoddy production values. In this case I am forced to disagree. I found this to be an atmospheric, intriguing film with characters I cared about (they're more fleshed out here than in other similar slices of celluloid) and at times I would even call the film scary. Firstly though, the criticisms.There were a number of elements which were uncomfortably similar to the same director's ZOMBIE FLESH EATERS, especially when the music began a slow beat and a zombie came out of the ground, which was almost exactly like the previous year's effort. The film was also rather dark which was in some cases annoying, but it wasn't too bad. The special effects weren't as pronounced as in Fulci's other films, in particular the zombies looked like they were covered in makeup instead of the fantastic, undead Spanish Conquistadors from ZFE. There was also a noticeable lack of gore (for Fulci that is - to a mainstream viewer, this would appear as sick as hell), apart from the two infamous "vomit" and "drill" scenes, and all around the special effects aren't used as well here as in Fulci's other 'masterpieces'.What we do have in the film's favour is an excellent second half, with the disappearing zombies playing tricks on our minds. These scenes are truly unnerving, especially the dead zombie in the kitchen. A very chilling scene. The acting is also good all round for a change. Catriona MacColl plays much the same type of character - a woman caught up in evil around her - as she did in THE BEYOND, but it's impossible to deny that she is a very warm and likable actress. Christopher George, star of countless cheap horror and exploitation films (THE EXTERMINATOR for example), is excellent as the typical American detective, I loved his performance. Carlo de Mejo (THE OTHER HELL) is bearded and sometimes unintentionally hilarious as the psychiatrist, and John Morghen (described once, by John Martin I believe, as the "whipping boy" of Italian horror) is creepy as the town weirdo. Michele Soavi, the guy in the mask from DEMONS, has a small role too.I don't know why this film gets so much criticism, really. It may be clichéd with all the shock scenes but they are very effective and enjoyable. I was also actually scared by some moments, which is rare for me in a horror film. To the film's credit, there are a couple of times Fulci tries something a little different from his usual formula. The death of Emily's parents is made more horrific as Fulci only suggests it by having blood dripping through the ceiling. He could easily have set up some rubber corpses but it's made all the more worse as he leaves the deaths to our imagination. Another scene - the maggot storm - appears to have been borrowed from Argento's SUSPIRIA, but it's much more over the top and effective here.There's a heavy, claustrophobic atmosphere, helped once again by Fabio Frizzi's excellent score, which is a little reminiscent of his work for ZOMBIE FLESH EATERS but otherwise stirring. The film suggests the decay - both moral and physical - of small town life very well, and has a scary, unpleasant atmosphere where nobody is safe from the zombies. Well worth seeing, this gets a thumbs up from me.

The scene early on in this film where the zombie rises from a pile of leaves amuses me to no end. Most people- before being turned undead by whatever unseen forces- are usually buried in A COFFIN a few feet down- not literally right at the surface. Of course with all the goofs and lapses in plot and continuity, this is just one example, but I thought I'd point it out since viewers have mentioned most of the others.The infamous gore scenes are too fake-looking to be truly stomach- churning. If Tom Savini had done the FX on Fulci's movies..oh man think of how that would have been. Christopher George is always a pleasure and adds some respectability to the otherwise poor acting. The worms and maggots on some of the zombies were better actors!

This is the first film of Fulci's 'Gates of Hell' trilogy, all three starring the stunning Catriona MacColl. Anybody who knows Fulci knows he doesn't like to let trivial things like plot structure get in his way. It's all about atmosphere, mood, maggots and gore. Oh yes how can I forget the red stuff? Fulci has two nasty set-pieces as his main course in addition to the tasty tidbits he adds around them. The thing I liked most about this movie was that there was a genuine effort to generate suspense. The use of fog and Fabio Frizzi's amazing score create a truly unnerving atmosphere without ever needing cheesy jump scares. I would have given the movie an 8 if it hadn't been for a truly unnecessary tacked-on ending which is an example of lazy writing.The acting is par for the course with Christopher George adding a level of class to the proceedings. MacColl is okay enough though some ghastly writing lets her down. I must mention Daniela Doria who is part of one of the two nasty set-pieces and easily the most horrifying. Poor girl's career is littered with scenes in which Fulci has her do terrible things, none as ghastly as this one. Nicole Kidman and Charlize Theron got an Oscar for making themselves "ugly". What about this scene then?Overall, the film is a bit slow and meanders along but the gore and suspense make up for it. The disastrous ending doesn't kill the movie but does take away much of the bite. But this is still a very good horror film by Fulci though it was the beginning of his "Bizarro" phase.Do enter these Gates of Hell!