October 6th, 2012: City of the Living Dead

I put off watching City of the Living Dead last March when I was screening movies that I hadn't seen yet and wanted to use for this year's list.  After I saw Lucio Fulci's Zombie, I had no doubt in my mind that this film wouldn't let me down.  I also wanted to save a few movies that were new to me to watch this month so I could keep it interesting.  I love almost every movie that I post about but I still want to be able to post about something that is new to me. 

"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." -  Robert Firsching, Rovi

This film from 1980 did not disappoint me AT ALL.  It has easily made it on my list of favorite zombie movies and I am very critical when it comes to this type of sub-genre.  I watch these movies for the gore more than the actual story of how these people became infected and all that jazz.  I feel like a lot of zombie themed cinema spends way too much time telling a story that I've already heard before.  It turns out to be more of a science fiction disaster than a horror film.

Lucio Fulci supplies all of the elements to make the perfect zombie film.  City of the Dead is a gritty, grotesque, cringe-inducing gore-fest that touches on all sorts of phobias you couldn't even begin to imagine.  It's all there, from a full of maggots, to a claustriphobia so extreme it can only be rivaled by a scene in Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill.  Coincidentally, Tarantino is a huge fan of Fulci's work, so I wouldn't be surprised if he drew inspiration from this film while writing Kill Bill.

"City of the Living Dead is a film that deserves its place within your horror library." - Steve "Unce Creepy" Barton, Dread Central

ROTTEN TOMATOES RATING: 50%

I don't know what these critics were smoking when they were reviewing this film.  Despite some terrible acting, City of the Living Dead is everything you're looking for if you're fan of the zombie sub-genre.  The film provides a soundtrack that has that "heart pounding" feeling to it and perfectly collaborates with the dark, early Burton-esque set.  Do yourself a favor and watch this right now. If you can't find it, just order it on Amazon. If you appreciate zombies at all YOU. WILL. LOVE. THIS. 

-Colby.