Review of City of the Living Dead (1980) by Dougal S — 21 Apr 2011

Made when Fulci was at his gore splattered best this film delivers his unique brand of zombie mayhem like only Fulci knows how.

The usual cast of Fulci regulars are flung into the usual nonsensical plot about the gates of hell opening in a small midwest town, sparking a race against time to close them before All Hallows Eve. To be fair this is perhaps Fulci's most coherent plots from this period, lacking the bizarre logic jumps and random plotting of films like The Beyond and House by the Cemetery.

The gore quotient is ratcheted up as various cast members get munched by zombies (or in Giovanni Radice's case he gets his head impaled on a power drill for no real reason.) Fulci had obviously picked up some new effects as the same gags are used several times (bleeding eyes and the back of the skull being ripped out are obvious favourites here. He does top it all off by giving us a young woman who literally vomits up her own intestines as well.

All in al it's pretty standard video nasty stuff and won't be to everyone's taste - Fulci and the other Italian horror maestros are a bit of an acquired taste but for the fans this one delivers in spades.