Beware, this is a movie by a director known as 'the master of gore'. I discovered the work of Lucio Fulci, after having first discovered the work of Dario Argento (Suspiria) and Mario Bava. All three are from Italy and I love their work, for different reasons.
This 1980 horror is part one of Fulci's 'death' trilogy. It was followed by The Beyond (1981) and House on the Cemetery (1981). All three of these movies are very much worth watching. Preferably in the right order.
This is what I wrote down about City of the Living Dead in my film journal. After having seen it on the 12th of July 2011:
Extremely atmospheric film, that once again - just like 'Don't torture a Duckling' - seems to denounce Catholicism. It contains a couple of extremely gory moments, but is - nevertheless - very entertaining.
Let me repeat that: it contains some very gory scenes. If you're not into gore but you like horror (kind of contradictory, I guess), you could just block your eyes during the gory scenes. I promise you that the biggest part of the film is merely very entertaining.
This is the second zombie movie by Lucio Fulci. A year earlier, in 1979, he directed Zombi 2. A film that I will definitely talk about in a future blog post.
So, if you didn't get that yet from the title, this is a zombie movie and a very entertaining one. If you don't focus too much on story and acting - usually not the strongest points in horror films - there's plenty to enjoy. Soundtrack, atmosphere, special effects, make up, there's so much good stuff to be found in this production. Just don't expect the quality of the average Dario Argento movie.
Here's the trailer:
As always, I enjoy to read your replies. I'm very curious if any of you has seen this one.
Earlier movie recommendations:
Sorcerer (1977)
The Birds (1963)
Suspiria (1977)
Battle Beyond the Stars (1980)
Nightcrawler (2014)
Ghost Story (1953)
Alice in the Cities (1974)
Altered States (1980)
Wake in Fright (1973)
