City of the Living Dead (1980)

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 their graves.

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 Mac Coll)
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	...	Deputy Sheriff
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:

drill through head | bleeding from the eyes | zombie | suicide | sex doll | 

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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:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

When theatrically released in the United States in 1983, the original title was 'Twilight of the Dead.' Due to the fact that both the title and poster art were derivative of Dawn of the Dead (1978), United Film Distribution Company filed a cease and desist order against Motion Picture Marketing. Posters and prints of the movie bearing the title 'Twilight of the Dead' were pulled, altered and sent back out with the new title 'The Gates of Hell'.

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Goofs

Mary could not have been buried alive as she would not have survived the embalming.

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Quotes

Peter Bell: Hi, officer. I'm looking for Sergeant Clay. Is he in there?
Policeman outside apartment building: And who are you?
Peter Bell: Oh, my name's Peter Bell. I'm with...
Policeman outside apartment building: Don't tell me. You're a newspaper reporter. I can smell you guys a mile away.
Peter Bell: You're right. I'm actually a journalist. Listen, there's a rumor going around your station house that some young woman died mysteriously in an apartment up on the third floor and I was wondering if I can talk to Sergeant Clay about it to investigate more about this mystery.
Policeman outside apartment building: There's no mystery around here. I'm ...
[...]

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Alternate Versions

The British Cinema version was cut by around 1 minute to remove the drill sequence. This version was released on video in the UK before 1984, after which all videos were required to be submitted to the British Board of Film Classification. When it was finally given a video certificate by the BBFC, further cuts were made to remove the intestinal vomit scene, and the brain squashing scenes. The UK video has a total of 2m 21s of cuts.

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Connections

Referenced in Violent Shit: The Movie (2015)

User Reviews

Vivid and ironic zombie movie.

This is a much cleverer film than its reputation , and the chortling audience, might suggest. Fulci's use of space is always impressive, the way he opens out a flat composition at the approach of menace. Alternately, the claustrophobic scenes in the catacombs (which really smell like death!), and the premature burial is horribly vivid. The Gothic decay of the content is contained by Fulci's form, his neo-classical use of symmetry, mirrorings, patterns, echoes, fooling his audience into a false sense of reassurance. Shame about his storytelling abilities.

Details

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Release Date:

8 April 1983 (USA)

Also Known As:

Twilight of the Dead

Filming Locations:

Incir De Paolis Studios, Rome, Lazio, Italy

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