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 and screenplay), Dardano Sacchetti (story and screenplay)

Stars:

Christopher George, Catriona MacColl, Carlo De Mejo

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Christopher George	...	Peter Bell
Catriona MacColl	...	Mary Woodhouse (as Katherine 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	...	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:

bleeding from the eyes | zombie | suicide | drill through head | gore | 

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Taglines:

The Dead Shall Rise And Walk The Earth

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Genres:

Horror

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Release Date:

6 May 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

Did You Know?

Trivia

Lucio Fulci: The pathologist at the crime scene who examines Emily's dead body.

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Goofs

In Emily's house, she lays the .38 pistol down on her work bench and pours herself a glass of Jack Daniels and sits the glass back down beside the pistol and bottle. When her visitor pours himself a drink a minute later, same spot, the bottle has become a Dewar's bottle. Two minutes later, the Jack Daniels bottle is across the room on a low end table with the glass beside it.

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Quotes

[reading a porno magazine]
Blonde gravedigger: Will you check her out? Talk about a "box lunch".
Gravedigger: I'm telling you, you'll end up a dirty old man reading that stuff. A pervert. A peeping tom. I saw this porno flick once. This guy in the audience got so carried away with it, he humped himself to death.
Blonde gravedigger: Yeah, but what a way to go.

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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

Featured in Censuren - En thriller (2011)

User Reviews

Another Fluci classic for the whole family! (Or maybe not)

In the small New England town of Dunwich, a priest commits suicide by hanging himself in the church cemetary 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. Lucio Fluci's "Gates of hell" is a tremedous achievement for the horror genre. Creepy, Insperational, extremely gory....It has every thing a horror fan could want! I love the drill scene..OUCH! Recommended for the Anchor Bay DVD. 10/10.