Diary entries forCity of the Living Dead
City of the Living Dead
Eye trauma. Brain trauma. Cool effects. Great music. Intestines pouring out. Zombies. A lot of worms Yep, it's a Fulci film, and yep, I love it
City of the Living Dead
Yet another fantastic film from Fulci. Bringing some of the best zombie terror that I’ve seen in a film, City of the Living Dead creates a sense of dread (which Fulci seems to embed in all of his films) that makes it stand out within the zombie genre. Part supernatural tale, and part zombie tale, this film works becuase of Fulci’s distinct style and great practical effects. An extremely fun film to watch, and is my favorite that I’ve seen from Fulci so far. I cannot wait to get deeper into his filmography, since I’ve really enjoyed everything he’s put out so far.
City of the Living Dead
A blood-curdling scream raises the curtain in City of the Living Dead. Promptly, we're introduced to a murky-looking graveyard in Dunwich that's fitted against a brooding soundtrack with a wicked pulse. It's also the scene of a priest's suicide, sending a good shock to Mary in New York who's leading a seance. Strangely, she's frightened to death. But it isn't the last of these obscure deaths to take place in the film; it's only begun. Is it the gates of hell reaching out perhaps? The alarm hardly suppresses the inescapable fear that will commence, instantly pumping terror inside both its characters and the uneasy audience watching within the slits between their trembling fingers. And you can be sure you'll see a cargo of disgusting spectacles. Even so, this gruesome flavor is a ridiculous sort of fun in what is a radically great flick from Lucio Fulci. Mary is played by Catriona MacColl, a truly great associate of Fulci. She can portray a pretty convincing seance leader, all the while looking very bodacious, and her startling frights are quite believable. She also has the best synced dubbing. The curly-haired lady's on the other hand is rather poor and mismatched; it's virtually a foreign dub. Let it slip though because Christopher George, the cool cat, is another great performer, bearing a smart mentality and a serene behavior that would infect any audience with a persuasive plaque of coolness. This dude in any setting is a bag of dandy. I loved most of the outside shots; it's a hazy and arcane picture that rather resembles the look inside a bucket of dry ice, ultimately breeding a kind of mysterious fear. You don't know what's lurking out there. There's also an incredible close-up of one living dead member strolling towards the camera. It's since become one of my favourite close-ups of all time. A dead-glare-stare complimenting a crimson face situated ahead of a misty alleyway is godly mesmerizing. I can't say ditto about Fulci's invasion of zooms that are quite fatigued at intervals but otherwise somewhat appropriate. Although if there is an intense zoom on gore it usually wins. Let's face it, the gore is the finest aspect. Lucio Fulci delivers an onslaught of grisly sights and easy carnage. If it's so disgusting and grim, why can't I look away? Immense kudos to that. Crunch goes the back of an innocent's head, and gawk goes my eyeballs. Hell, I was tempted to squish my blu-ray copy to see if it would seep blood. Funny enough, I should mention that the goriest death is inflicted by a human towards another. The soundtrack with a riveting pulse knocks hard. It's drained throughout the film, which does eventuate a somewhat unfitting finale. It could have been well more bombastic with a far fresh and intense track. Nonetheless, the main theme is still a harrowing classic, and as always, the finale is a drop dead buffet of terror and amazement. It follows the same route as Fulci's other zombie classic The Beyond. City of the Living Dead's last minute though is a confusing finish to a consistently straight forward film. It almost feels like Fulci is toying with his audience. Yet, it does strike an abrupt and memorable scare no matter how befuddling, which I do respect. For all the frights, there is an array in the center of the film that feels unclapsed within it's characters and story; a little too much can be going on, yet the payoff is fantastic. When our four protagonists finally meet, it's a nice touch, and a good paving to the righteous finale. For fans of horror, this is a brilliantly zombified festival and an in-your-face parade of beautiful gore. It's almost a see-it-to-believe-it type movie.
City of the Living Dead
“𝘊𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯?” “𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘣𝘴!” A paired down Fulci that comprises its special effects but does not obstruct the director’s obsession with crushing skulls until goops of brain pour out. Fulci uses jump cuts to make the evil appear and disappear, same with the dead. In low-budget fashion, this works to his advantage without looking too cheap or campy, but plays into giallo fashion. Runs into the issue of not really knowing where to end in its final moments as Fulci is having a good time, which makes this great good spooky fun.
