Reviews

Another in the long line of Italian and Spanish zombie flcks. This is slightly different in as much as the normally suffling and moaning zombies, become shouting and running zombies, all armed with domestic tools and sometimes guns. This makes for a faster paced movie than the norm, but all the bad qualitys normally associated with films of this type are still present. Bad dubbing, hopeless acting, shoddy editing and so on are all there. I watched this a week or so after seeing Lenzi's Cannibal Ferox which is one of the cruelist, if not the goreiest movies i have ever seen. Nightmare city is done in a much lighter fashion remeniscant of Bruno Mattei's Hell Of The Living Dead. Needless to say i was hoping for some effective gore, which is one of the primary reasons most people watch these films. It starts off quite weak in this department to begin with, but as the story unfolds, so does the effects budget, and we're trated to more grotesque wounds and some impressive head burstings. No feasting on intestines or other internals is present in this movie though. Sorry, to all those organ munchers out there!! Having said that, there is a good eye scene that fulci/zombie fans should be proud of. In all, its ok, and most viewers who get this movie will know what to expect. Few beers, few mates round, good fun. 6 1/2 out of 10.

I had this imported in its uncut form from the states, hoping for another decent Fulci shocker. Oh dear. What a yawn! Fulcis movies can tend to be a bit slow but are ultimately rewarding with decent cinematography, and great effects. This is the slowest of the lot. About a family moving to a house... by a cemetery. Their young boy is obviously a bit psycic, and has visions of a young girl telling them not to move there.

As if they would anyway. Do you fancy living in a forest with a cemetery on your front lawn and a tomb in the living room? Quite.

The previous owners leave some notes about the house and the father begins to do some research. Apparently there a bit of history, and he finds out some nasty things happened there. I have just summed up three quarters of the film, as it plods along like a slug in treacle for an hour or so.

Anyway, turns out some nutter doctor type lived there, and to the familys horror, still lives there (albeit filled with maggots)! The last part of the film (ten minutes) is Fulci gold, with a couple of really horrible, graphic, lingering deaths and some heart stopping moments as the family investigates the basement.

But you aren't going to know about it, because you'll be sound asleep clutching your teddy bear and dreaming about how you could have spiced up this dull effort. Shame, because it had much potential. Still, only cost six bucks, which is about four pounds in limey money! 4 out of 10

"Hell" is one of the worst rip offs i've ever seen. I know Italian film makers hold little respect for copyrights and so on, but this is taking the biscuit. Having said that, its not too bad. Obviously the director wanted to make an epic horror along the same lines as Romero, but had a budget that would barely finance a takeaway pizza. Chemical plant goes bang, zombies on the loose, swat team sent in, idiotic miscellaneous characters mill around and get eaten. Strangely its not the budget that causes this film to be rubbish, more the lack of thought thats gone into what the audience would see on screen. The swat team are a real let down, with their long hair, unshaven faces and cheap boiler suits. They look more like garbage men than soldiers. It does not help that as the film is rolling along, it suddenly cuts into old footage of monkeys in trees or birds flying in slow motion. Wouldn't be too bad if it wasn't so obvious from the film quality that it was filmed about ten years earlier for the discovery channel or something. Bruno's mind was probably filled with silver lined fantasies about taking the crown from Romero, so he had to pad the film out to around two hours, and susequently ran out of money or talent or both. Still, its not as bad as some i've seen, and there are some entertaining gorey moments. The annoying cast mostly get eaten and killed so its not all bad. A bit more care in preperation and i'm sure it would have turnred out better. At the end of the day it entertained me to a reasonable extent and i wasn't sorry i'd bought the dvd at the end of it. Don't pay too much for it though!!! 5 out of 10

I could write for hours about this movie. Its one of my favourites. I was new to Fulci when i first saw this, and was well impressed. Great filming, good story, wonderful eerie atmosphere, good characters (for the most part) and spectacular effects.

There are some oddities, like the shark scene, that ruin it a little. The dubbing is also a bit on the naff side, but the latest dvd version is presented with a 5.1 audio soundtrack so it sounds far better than other lesser zombie flicks. Many say dawn of the dead should wear the crown. I disagree, as Fulcis effort does not try to be too epic, and the zombies themselves are far more convincing. Plus, theres the fact that zombie is set on an island which helps with the isolated feeling that it brings across.

I don't want to write too much more for fear of getting carried away.

I'm a big fan of italian gore, and much as i hate to say it, most of them fail miserably to scare. They shock, but don't scare. Zombie does, and everytime i view it i get unsettled. To add to this, there are the technically amazing, graphic, and bloody effects. This is one italian movie that really deserves to wear the term "horror" 8 out of 10 Do not buy the British copy as it is still cut!!!!!!!!

As most Fulci fans would agree, his best movies came out in the late seventies and early eighties. In 1988 he had to pull out of directing the terrible Zombie 3 after only a few weeks, due to ill health. What that ill health was is anyones guess. But judging by Nightmare concert of 1990 vintage, he is obviously still suffering. I am of the opinion that producers were pressuring him to put his name to something, and in the end, this is what came out.

It is a real mish mash of a slasher story spliced with scenes from other movies. Of course, fulci plays the lead. Or rather, is on screen with things happening around him. He is supposed to play himself, though i doubt anyone could be that wooden in real life. It is often difficult to tell WHAT is happening as the film jerks from scene to scene with nothing to link them together. Fulci spends most of his time looking puzzled and shocked, just as i am sure you, the viewer, will be.

It has plenty of gore in it as you would expect and will be most peoples reason for acquiring this movie. Fair enough. Just don't expect the cinematic punch of Zombie or the Beyond. At the end of the day its a horror movie, albeit a confusing one. I think it did its job, as i was left feeling somewhat disturbed and unwashed afterwards. Get it if you're a real gore hound or a fulci fan, other than that theres not really much to recommend it. Very strange psycological gore fest. Hmmmmmmmmmm....... Poor Fulci.

I was hoping this was going to be a good movie. "Ooooooh the next instalment." I thought to myself. I plonked the dvd in the player and sat back. The first promising scene with the zombie with a machete really made me sit up. I, like many, am used to zombies shuffling around and moaning a bit. For those few moments i was quite excited. Then nothing entertaining happens for ages as the dull story plods along with little gore to spice it up. Then there is the flying head in a fridge scene, which made me soil myself from laughing so hard. I am glad i have the dvd, just so i can replay that scene again and again. What else can i tell you? The rest of the film is instantly forgettable, horrible dubbing, naff music and so on. If it had more gore then i would be more inclined to recommend it (yes, it is the uncut version i have). I'm sure had Fulci been more involved it would have been better. Oh well. 3 out of 10 for the flying head!!

This is a fun movie about some monster kind of thing coming to earth in a meteor and setting up home in someones basement. It then has loads of babies which go off and chew on the local residents, before a group of college kids figure out whats going on, and with the help of a little brother, do away with it. The effects are amusing, with the large alien looking something like a mutated venus fly trap and its offspring like toothed tadpoles. The film conjours up quite a good atmosphere with rubbish music kept to a minimum. It also helps that its raining throughout the entire picture, which makes it seem that much more bleak. It becomes quite engrossing as the events unfold, despite the main kids being somewhat annoying. Theres a nice little sub plot to keep things moving too. Gore effects are quite good and plentiful enough to keep gore hounds interested. Low budget fun, which will make you smile, although you may feel a little uneasy in the background. Nice to have something different to the usual stalk and slash stuff. 6 1/2 out of 10.

I saw this movie when i was about twelve in its BBFC cut form and thought it was good then. I've just got my hands on the latest uncut DVD and am quite impressed. I watch a lot of this kind of rubbish, so am no stranger to having to sit through wooden actors with painfuly bad dialogue and awful dubbing to see some nice homely gore scenes. The Burning however, manages to entertain at a higher level than the usual fodder. The acting is pretty good, the characters are believable, the sound is good and the gore is spot on. Savini's efforts are far better than Dawn of the Dead. Also Rik Wakeman does the soundtrack, which is suitably atmospheric and manages to give me goosebumps. Of course it won't win any oscars, but then how many movies like this do? Great gore scenes are aplenty, and the infamous raft scene with half a dozen kids getting sliced up is quite disturbing, but technically impressive. It has many other quality moments too, but you'll just have to watch. To sum up, its easily up there in the slasher stakes and as said, works on far more levels than the average gore movie. Although low budget it has good people working on it, and it shows through on the final cut. Recommended.

This sounded like a bit of a laugh, and i managed to get a "strong uncut" edition from Holland. Quite what was strong about it, i will never know. Strong smell of steaming offal perhaps...? No, thats a bit unfair. After all this movie was made for the price of a big mac meal. Zombies are on the scene almost at once as some bizzare old man in a cave ressurects them. However, unlike many zombie films, you soon forget about them, as the main cast members are so wierd, they draw all your attention (away from the other pitiful aspects). They truely are a strange bunch. What is going on with that kid!!!! There are a couple of reasonable gore scenes when people get chewed on, but the makeup is suspect and the editing is terrible. The sound is terrible, the acting is terrible, the rubber masked zombies are terrible, the cinematography is terrible, the cast is terrible, and that kid is just......wrong.. It really is one of the worst things i have ever seen. I don't don't care what kind of horror you watch, you have to see this!! After viewing, drink some methelated spirits, shower, and check your nipples are ok.. 1 out of 10....... Fantastic!!!!