“The Godfather of Gore” Lucio Fulci worked across all genres, but it’s his horror output that’s most remembered thanks to his knack for visceral violence, gore, and unconventional storytelling. All of these are on prominent display in his Lovecraftian “Gates of Hell” trilogy that began with 1980’s City of the Living Dead. While its atmosphere and gross-out gore gags are the standout reasons to watch, City of the Living Dead also happens to make for a stellar Halloween hidden gem.
The premise is simple: a priest commits suicide in a Dunwich village cemetery and unwittingly opens the gate to Hell. The death is observed in visions by a medium, Mary Woodhouse (Catriona MacColl), as she’s conducting a séance in her New York apartment. Mary’s so overwhelmed by fear of the imminent evil encroaching that she collapses and is presumed dead, only to be rescued from her...
The premise is simple: a priest commits suicide in a Dunwich village cemetery and unwittingly opens the gate to Hell. The death is observed in visions by a medium, Mary Woodhouse (Catriona MacColl), as she’s conducting a séance in her New York apartment. Mary’s so overwhelmed by fear of the imminent evil encroaching that she collapses and is presumed dead, only to be rescued from her...
- 10/31/2023
- by Meagan Navarro
- bloody-disgusting.com
Since launching in 2020, Cauldron Films has quickly established itself as a boutique label to watch for cult film fans. In addition to unearthing and restoring obscurities like The Crimes of the Black Cat, American Rickshaw, and Frankenstein ’80, they’ve secured a few heavy hitters. Their most recognizable title to date is Lucio Fulci’s City of the Living Dead (originally released in the US as The Gates of Hell). Following an exclusive slipcase edition last year, a standard retail version of the 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray set is available this week.
The 1980 Italian horror film is significant for kicking off Fulci’s thematically connected Gates of Hell trilogy, followed by The Beyond and The House by the Cemetery the next year. Developed in the wake of Fulci’s success with Zombie in 1979, City of the Living Dead features more undead ghouls but this time as accoutrements rather than a centerpiece.
The 1980 Italian horror film is significant for kicking off Fulci’s thematically connected Gates of Hell trilogy, followed by The Beyond and The House by the Cemetery the next year. Developed in the wake of Fulci’s success with Zombie in 1979, City of the Living Dead features more undead ghouls but this time as accoutrements rather than a centerpiece.
- 8/28/2023
- by Alex DiVincenzo
- bloody-disgusting.com
A new episode of The Manson Brothers Show, the video series hosted by the writers/stars of the horror comedy The Manson Brothers Midnight Zombie Massacre – Chris Margetis (Stone Manson) and Mike Carey (Skull Manson) – has just been released, and in this one the Boys take a tour of the City of the Living Dead… or at least, they watch and discuss the 1980 film with that title (which you can watch Here). To find out what they had to say about City of the Living Dead, check out the video embedded above!
Directed by Lucio Fulci, who also crafted the screenplay with Dardano Sacchetti, City of the Living Dead has the following synopsis: The seven gates of Hell have been torn open, and in 3 days the dead shall rise and walk the earth. As a reporter and a psychic race to close the portals of the damned, they encounter a seething nightmare of unspeakable evil.
Directed by Lucio Fulci, who also crafted the screenplay with Dardano Sacchetti, City of the Living Dead has the following synopsis: The seven gates of Hell have been torn open, and in 3 days the dead shall rise and walk the earth. As a reporter and a psychic race to close the portals of the damned, they encounter a seething nightmare of unspeakable evil.
- 3/22/2023
- by Cody Hamman
- JoBlo.com
By Todd Garbarini
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Lieutenant Fred Williams (Jack Hedley) is easily the horror cinema’s most pedestrian, laid back, and disinterested police detective in recent memory. In Lucio Fulci’s infamous slasher outing The New York Ripper (1982), a spate of brutal crimes involving young women being sliced up by a knife-wielding maniac who quacks like a duck lands right smack into Williams’s lap and he couldn’t be more bored by it. Mr. Hedley’s characterization of this by-the-book investigator was no doubt in the script, but his character just meanders through his scenes with such an aloof attitude that it’s amazing no one calls him out on it. The few times Williams does appear to spring to life are when the sex lives of his victims are revealed, which he reacts to with a judgmental shrug and smirk when he’s...
Normal 0 false false false En-us X-none X-none
Lieutenant Fred Williams (Jack Hedley) is easily the horror cinema’s most pedestrian, laid back, and disinterested police detective in recent memory. In Lucio Fulci’s infamous slasher outing The New York Ripper (1982), a spate of brutal crimes involving young women being sliced up by a knife-wielding maniac who quacks like a duck lands right smack into Williams’s lap and he couldn’t be more bored by it. Mr. Hedley’s characterization of this by-the-book investigator was no doubt in the script, but his character just meanders through his scenes with such an aloof attitude that it’s amazing no one calls him out on it. The few times Williams does appear to spring to life are when the sex lives of his victims are revealed, which he reacts to with a judgmental shrug and smirk when he’s...
- 7/14/2019
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
“This morning she was inside a coffin at the funeral home, and now she’s here in my kitchen!”
Gates Of Hell screens midnights this Friday and Saturday (January 2nd and 3rd) at The Hi-Pointe Theater (1005 McCausland Ave., St. Louis, Mo 63117)
Man, Italian director Lucio Fulci made some great gory zombie horror films and Gates Of Hell is certainly one of them! This marks the fourth Fulci film, after Zombie, The Beyond, and House By The Cemetery to play at Destroy the Brain’s Late Night Grindhouse midnight series (and, after Pieces, the second to star Christopher George!). Gates Of Hell is (perhaps) better known under its DVD title City Of The Living Dead, but it will always be Gates Of Hell to me! I saw Gates Of Hell several times at the drive-ins back in the early 80s but don’t think it ever played in St. Louis at a hard-top,...
Gates Of Hell screens midnights this Friday and Saturday (January 2nd and 3rd) at The Hi-Pointe Theater (1005 McCausland Ave., St. Louis, Mo 63117)
Man, Italian director Lucio Fulci made some great gory zombie horror films and Gates Of Hell is certainly one of them! This marks the fourth Fulci film, after Zombie, The Beyond, and House By The Cemetery to play at Destroy the Brain’s Late Night Grindhouse midnight series (and, after Pieces, the second to star Christopher George!). Gates Of Hell is (perhaps) better known under its DVD title City Of The Living Dead, but it will always be Gates Of Hell to me! I saw Gates Of Hell several times at the drive-ins back in the early 80s but don’t think it ever played in St. Louis at a hard-top,...
- 12/29/2014
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Chicago – The great cult movie studio Blue Underground continues their pattern of excellent Blu-ray releases for unheralded horror gems with the recent releases of the Lucio Fulci zombie film “City of the Living Dead” and one of the most underrated westerns ever made in “Django”. While they don’t have much in common outside of studio and cult status, both are worth a look.
Blu-Ray Rating: 3.0/5.0
“City of the Living Dead”
Even though I admire some of his technique and willingness to do whatever inspired him, I was never a huge Lucio Fulci fan. The man has often been called the Italian Herschell Gordon Lewis and is probably most well-known for “Zombi II” and “The Beyond,” two films from the late-’70s and ’80s that earned Fulci a reputation for extreme gore. A large number of his films have been banned around the world and his “The New York Ripper...
Blu-Ray Rating: 3.0/5.0
“City of the Living Dead”
Even though I admire some of his technique and willingness to do whatever inspired him, I was never a huge Lucio Fulci fan. The man has often been called the Italian Herschell Gordon Lewis and is probably most well-known for “Zombi II” and “The Beyond,” two films from the late-’70s and ’80s that earned Fulci a reputation for extreme gore. A large number of his films have been banned around the world and his “The New York Ripper...
- 6/1/2010
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
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