Search - City of the Living Dead on DVD

MPAA Rating: NR Content Advisory: Adult Situations, Not For Children, Gore Movie Release: 1980 DVD Release: 05/23/2000 Format: DVD - Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV Audio Tracks: English SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 33 mins Studio: Anchor Bay Members Wishing: 16 Genres: Horror See Also: City of the Living Dead

This gruesome horror film from cult director Lucio Fulci posits a priest's suicide opening the gateway to Hell, freeing bloodthirsty zombies to roam the town of Dunwich. The main attractions are startlingly explicit special effects by Franco Rufino, including two of the horror genre's most memorable deaths. One involves perennial victim Giovanni Lombardo Radice (also known as John Morghen) having his head run through with a power-drill, and the second is the notorious scene of a woman vomiting up all of her internal organs in a nauseating torrent of blood and guts. Fulci does manage one nice moment of splatter-free horror, as hero Christopher George struggles to free a woman who has been buried alive. As his pick-axe enters the coffin repeatedly, it comes ever closer to her face, causing the audience to wince with each strike. Aside from these scenes, though, Fulci's direction is somewhat plodding, as he substitutes slow pacing and clouds of fog for real suspense. Horror fans will still want to seek this film out, however, if only for the effects work and a familiar cast including Catriona MacColl, Janet Agren, Carlo de Mejo, Antonella Interlenghi, and Daniela Doria. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide

Christopher George - Peter Bell
Carlo de Mejo - Jerry
Antonella Interlenghi

Much of Lucio Fulci's reputation within the horror genre stems from a handful of gory, deliriously plotted films made during the late '70s and early '80s. Though he had already directed some rather excellent giallos up this point -- Una Lucertola con la Pelle di Donna (1971) and Non Si Sevizia un Paperino (1972) -- it wouldn't be until Fulci unleashed his 1979 splatterfest Zombi 2, his apocalyptic zombie classic L'Aldila (1981), and Paura nella Citta dei Morti Viventi (1980), that his reputation would be branded on the imaginations of horror fans around the world. Anchor Bay Entertainment's release of the latter film is a must for the hardcore horror fan, and though it isn't as chock full of digital goodies as their release of L'Aldila, it is still required viewing. The film has never looked better than it does on this DVD. Viewers can now safely discard their washed-out videotape copy. Though the film is indeed grainy in spots, the colors on this disc are appropriately Bava-esque in parts. The disc's sound has also been upgraded to Dolby Surround 5.1, as well as a Dolby Digital 2.0 option. Unfortunately, there is no Italian-language option with English subtitles. The English-language trailer and a brief montage of stills from the film accompanied by radio spots are also included. ~ Derek Hill, All Movie Guide