1980
Lucio Fulci
Lucio Fulci
Somewhere along the line we lost sight of the supernatural
zombie. In the last decade and a half, the vast majority of zombies have had more realistic
origins, in so far as you can apply realism to anything with human corpses
shambling around. This more rote approach to the undead places emphasis on the
human characters, but it also creates predictability. A chosen film’s zombies
might be faster or smarter than expected but they still operate within expected
parameters. The irrational and
dreamlike nature of many of the Italian genre films of the 70’s and 80’s lends itself to something much more bizarre and unpredictable.
A priest (Fabrizio Jovine) hangs himself in a cemetery in a
town called Dunwich. This opens a door to hell and slowly strange undead things
begin seeping out into our world. A psychic (Catriona MacColl) is rescued from a possibly premature death in a coffin by a reporter (Christopher George). They both head to Dunwich and uncover a prophecy in the Book
of Enoch that states the gate to Hell must be closed before All Saints Day, or
the dead will overwhelm the Earth.
Straight away City of
the Living Dead establishes an air of surreal horror with the unexplained suicide of a priest and shots of a foggy graveyard backed by a
synth score. The film then launches into a series of unconnected yet
sinister scenes that slowly begin to coalesce into the relatively simple plot.
If you’re looking for a solid story, you’re not going to find it here. Although, I feel
that this is a secret strength as it feels like the slippery logic of a
nightmare is in play throughout the film.
This being a Fulchi film, there is a considerable amount of
gore. There are some true displays of bravdo, bleeding eyes, people vomiting entrails, and a magnificent drill press through a head moment that I still find
is a pretty astounding moment in pre-digital special effects. There’s a storm of
maggots, featuring real actors getting showered with real maggots. This all
strikes a visceral counterpoint to the ethereal tone of the rest of the movie.
There are if course a few missteps, none of the acting is particularly
noteworthy, although dubbed performances can make it difficult to know where
the blame lies. I‘m also not entirely sure what Fulchi was thinking with a scene
like the one featuring an aggressive inflatable sex doll, but this a film that
exists in a world of foreboding and dread and I suppose not every moment is
going to connect with every viewer. There has been much criticism of the end of
the film, but I think to end in a way that provided any sort of concrete
narrative closure would have robbed the film of much of its memorability.
Although it is not loved nearly as much as Zombi (1979), or The Beyond (1981), I think City of the Living Dead is a gruesome,
enjoyable, and unpredictable nightmare by a director at the top of his form.
I adore this movie. I used to watch it late at night with Jeff.
ReplyDeleteI heard the ending is the result of an accident that damaged the film after it was already shot (or out of cash by some accounts), but it's utter lack of coherence actually fits in pretty well with the rest of the film.
...I once ran a game of All Flesh Must Be Eaten partially inspired by this film, though with winged, fire-breathing zombies and somewhat less entrail vomiting.
I also dig the main theme, despite it being almost identical to the one from Zombi.