It's been a while since I've seen City of the Living Dead, but the first entry of Fulci's Gates of Hell trilogy never disappoints, and I had actually forgotten how unsettling this film can be at times. The story isn't really anything to talk about, but the atmosphere is to die for. Superb tension building, excellent gore, and buckets of Italian genre film weirdness. What's not to like?!!?
All the close up eye-shots are really something.
This movie is just as random as every other silly Italian horror movie. It's a chore to get through.
Definitely NOT my first (probably not my last, either!) time to watch this; I think I've watched it three other times already but this is my first time commenting on it here on Trakt. City of the Living Dead has to rank up there as one of my favorite (if not my favorite) zombie movie and it's certainly my favorite Lucio Fulci movie (although Fulci has some good ones out there). Watched this again today just for the fun of it (it was a slow day at work) and laughed at how completely cheesy and lame the acting is. And the eyes... oh god, if you've watched one Lucio Fulci movie, you KNOW he's going to do the ultra-closeup zoom-in on the eyes in at least ONE scene and this was no exception. The "Bob" character was great, and the leering grin he throws in the direction of the inflatable doll still makes me laugh. It's definitely dated by today's standards but City of the Living Dead (released in the US as The Gates of Hell ) is still great fun to watch!
09/29/2023 - UPDATE Watched it again just because I was bored. As cheesy as it is, it never fails to entertain. So hilarious and gory and stupid and just absolutely awful but man it's fun to watch. And I still don't get the ending. LOL
Moment of Truth: I'm only rating this one an "8" for two reasons: (1) the gore factor was great, even for a movie as dated as this one, and (2) pure nostalgia. When I saw this back in the 80's it was entitled The Gates of Hell and I remember being absolutely awestruck with it. I can watch it now, and it's almost laughable - and for the life of me, I still can't figure out that closing scene?!!! - but the gore effects are still very good. Whoever came up with the idea of a young woman literally vomiting up her own intestines...blood running from her eyes...skulls being tore open and brain matter scooped out, etc... this was classic zombie stuff, and (IMO) one of Lucio Fulci's finest ever. If you watch it, you'll either love it or hate it (and wonder how anyone could rate this as an "8") but this movie still appeals to me, like some of Fulci's other works. If you're a fan of super gross, gory, sub-par acting cheesy movies, this will probably be right up your alley. And the kid who played the retard... that leering grin with the blow-up doll in that abandoned farmhouse was classic! LOL Watch this just for the fun of it!
i honestly don,t understand why this movie is so highly regarded, the movie is very slow and plodding to begin with and the acting is terrible to say the least. it only starts to get good towards the end, but thankfully, the story itself was interesting enough to keep me watching. the gore is what you would expect from a lucio fulci movie but was kept to a minimum. not much more to recommend
My local indie theater surprised us with City of the Living Dead tonight; a few funny scenes with dumb dialogue and some cool gore effects as expected from Italian horror director Lucio Fulci. The only actor I recognized was Christopher George from his infamous "best death scene ever" in Enter the Ninja.
I really wished for this film to be good. It started that way: a cemetery, a priest committing suicide. Unfortunately, it all went pear-shaped from there. The priest turns up at all points in time and there wasn't even a twist to the killings which just felt...uncared for, which feels strange to say. C'mon! It's funny murders, but the film isn't fun, nor scary. As such - nah!
Shout by cmc333333BlockedParent2021-12-30T00:07:56Z
“City” isn’t a masterpiece and doesn’t bring a ton of novelty to the horror field, but it has its memorable moments. Like a Stephen King novel, the film intersperses scenes that’ll stick with you (if only because of their ridiculousness) into an otherwise snails-pace story-arc (consider: several irrelevant characters and multiple tight-framed staring contents). Don’t seek “City” out, but if the movie pops up on the television, it won’t disappoint.
Be aware of some gross scenes (though nothing realistic). You might also find the epilogue-of-an-ending frustrating!