City of the Living Dead (1980)
"Paura nella città dei morti viventi" (original title)

A reporter and a psychic race to close the Gates of Hell after the suicide of a clergyman caused them to open, allowing the dead to rise from the grave.

Director:

Lucio Fulci

Writers:

Lucio Fulci (story), Dardano Sacchetti (story),

Stars:

Christopher George, Catriona MacColl, Carlo De Mejo

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Christopher George	...	Peter Bell
Catriona MacColl	...	Mary Woodhouse (as Katriona MacColl)
Carlo De Mejo	...	Gerry
Antonella Interlenghi	...	Emily Robbins
Giovanni Lombardo Radice	...	Bob
Daniela Doria	...	Rosie Kelvin
Fabrizio Jovine	...	Father William Thomas
Luca Venantini	...	John-John Robbins (as Luca Paisner)
Michele Soavi	...	Tommy Fisher
Venantino Venantini	...	Mr. Ross
Enzo D'Ausilio	...	Sheriff Russell's deputy
Adelaide Aste	...	Theresa
Luciano Rossi	...	Policeman in apartment
Robert Sampson	...	Sheriff Russell
Janet Agren	...	Sandra

Storyline

In the small New England town of Dunwich, a priest commits suicide by hanging himself in the church cemetery which somehow opens the gates of hell allowing the dead to rise. Peter, a New York City reporter, teams up with a young psychic, named Mary, to travel to the town where they team up with another couple, psychiatrist Jerry and patient Sandra, to find a way to close the gates before All Saints Day or the dead all over the world will rise up and kill the living.

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Plot Keywords:

priest | suicide | death | reporter | psychic | 

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Taglines:

From the bowels of the earth they came to collect the living...

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Genres:

Horror

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

Italy

Language:

English Italian

Release Date:

1 May 1983 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Gates of Hell

Filming Locations:

Bonaventure Cemetery, Savannah, Georgia, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Dania Film, Medusa Distribuzione, National Cinematografica

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min 90 min (cut)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Each German release was banned over the course of over 20 years. The movie was first released on video with the title "Ein Zombie hing am Glockenseil" (A zombie hung on the bell rope) in 1982. It was banned in 1986 and a second video with the title "Ein Toter hing am Glockenseil" (A dead body hung on the bell rope) was released, with several cuts. Even that version was banned in 1988 and a final version was released with the title "Eine Leiche hing am Glockenseil" (A corpse hung on the bell rope), heavily cut without any gory scenes left. Rumors say the video distributors actually designed a new video release called "Ein Kadaver hing am Glockenseil" (A cadaver hung on the bell rope) in case this third version will get banned again. Surprisingly, this third version was also banned in 2001.

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Goofs

The people of Dunwich are said to be descended from "Salem witch burners", although no accused "witches" were ever burned in Salem (most were hanged).

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Quotes

[examining the dead body of Emily Robbins]
Dr. Joe Thompson: Well, she certainly wasn't strangled. There doesn't seem to be any kind of physical abuse.
Sheriff Russell: Well, what was the cause of her death then?
Dr. Joe Thompson: Some kind of cardiac arrest. Only that expression on her face is like pure fear, like something scared her to death.
Sheriff Russell: Scared her?
Dr. Joe Thompson: [to Emily's father] Excuse me, Mr. Robbins, do you know if your daughter had a heart condition?
Mr. Robbins: No... no...
Sheriff Russell: Well, what's our procedure?
Dr. Joe Thompson: Sit tight. Everything depends on the autopsy.
Sheriff Russell: All right, ...
[...]

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Connections

Referenced in Ban the Sadist Videos! (2005)

User Reviews

maybe Fulci's best

The Beyond somehow gets more acclaim from the self-proclaimed "artsy" crowd, but this essentially has the same formula, with the same juxtaposition of weak plot & characters and superb disgusting imagery, except with a more consistently oppressive tone and with less meandering, dull parts.

For those who are unfamiliar with Fulci and are just going by the title, there are zombies, but this isn't exactly a zombie flick, per se. It's more like a series of grotesque, surreal events that suggest Lovecraftian cosmic horror. Zombies teleport and make people vomit out their innards, by the way. I guess they're closer to zombie-like apparitions. Anyway...

It's a B-movie with rubbish acting, rubbish plot and all kinds of unintentionally hilarious stuff, so you can have a fun time watching this with friends, but at the same time you could cut the atmosphere with a knife. You'd have a hard time finding many other movies with such a doomed, godless atmosphere. Take the famous drill scene, for example. By now we've well established that humans are at the mercy of otherworldly forces, but there's nothing supernatural happening in this scene; it's a random act of extreme violence stemming from human malice, and this marriage of brutality and nonsense is one of the things that elevates Fulci from high camp into (potentially) genuinely scary, if you want it to be.

It plods a bit near the end, but good luck finding an Italian horror movie with perfect pacing. See it if you dig Fulci, it's just as good as The Beyond.