During the early ’80s, there was a major change in the production of Italian movies. Instead of merely hiring American actors to help their chances of distribution in the USA, quite a few of well-known directors came to the USA to shoot part of their films. They wanted people to think these were really American films. Lucio Fulci had ended the ’70s by sneaking into New York City to shoot parts of Zombie. They even stole a shot on the Brooklyn Bridge. After the film proved a success, he arrived in Savannah, Georgia to crack open the gates of Hell without shooting on the sly. The Southern town was eager to be City of the Living Dead would be a Lovecraftian tale that grossed out horror fans as the dearly departed rise up from their graves.
During a seance in a New York apartment, Mary Woodhouse (The Beyond‘s Catrona MacColl) sees a priest hanging himself at the Dunwich cemetery and more disturbing images. She breaks the circle, falls on the ground and is later declared dead. Meddling reporter Peter Bell (Pieces’ Christopher George) pokes around and even visits her fresh grave looking for a story. And he gets one when he hears her screaming from inside her coffin. He busts her free and they return to visit the Medium. After hearing about Mary’s visions, the Medium declares that the priest’s suicide has opened the gates to Hell and the dead will rise on All Saints Day that’s just around the corner. Wicked things are already happening in the small town of Dunwich that includes a lot of maggots and really gross stuff. By the time Mary and Peter arrive, the town is in a bit crazy time. The things that happen to drifter Bob (Cannibal Ferox’s Giovanni Lombardo Radice) makes Dunwich not a sweet little town anymore. Bob gets to experience both ends of the nightmare. Mary and Peter need to head to the graveyard and see if they can close the Gates to Hell.
Lucio Fulci was able to one up Zombie by giving us another gross out movie, yet we get a sense that there is hope for humanity to stop this undead onslaught. Not sure how reassuring it can be that the guy from Rat Patrol has to figure out how to close the Gates to Hell. There’s a chance that humanity is still doomed. Fulci coming to America does have a bit of location comedy. The characters talk about Dunwich being built on the site of Salem, Massachusetts. Yet the location is so obviously in the South. There’s Spanish moss in the frame which is something you don’t quite see dangling around the trees of Greater Boston. But what really matters is that the Lovecraftian nightmare spreads across the screen. Fulci delivers. The cast keeps up the scares. This might be the best performance from Christopher George in a European movie. He is the right fit for the rather jerkish reporter. Catriona MacColl seems so right for Fulci’s cinematic imagination that it’s not surprising that she was also in his next to supernatural films The Beyond and The House By the Cemetery that were also partly shot in America. Lucio Fulci understood that he needed to take his blend of horror beyond Italy to scare the world.
The Video is 1.85:1 anamorphic. The 4K transfer finally lets us all enjoy the cinematography. Previous releases looked rather ragged as if they’d been transferred off a Super 8 dub. The scene with the girl spitting up her guts is 10 times as nasty as before. The Audio is DTS-HD MA 2.0 mono. They cleaned up the track so you’ll hear all the mushy and gushy sounds as well as the drill going through a guy’s head. The movie is subtitled in English.
Audio commentary with film historian Samm Deighan has her delighted to talk about one of her favorite films. She gives plenty of context to the film’s original release. This was how as a teenager she discovered Italian horror and cult films. She gets into Lucio Fulci’s movies and elements that make him an exceptional director.
Archival audio commentary with film historians Troy Howarth and Nathaniel Thompson talking about why they like the film and Fulci so much. Troy Howarth has written a book on Fulci. They get into the era of Italians coming to make films in Georgia.
Archival audio commentary with actress Catriona MacColl moderated by Jay Slater. She admits that it is her scream at the start of the film. She stuck around long enough to dub her own voice in post-production. She did a lot of screaming in the sound booth. She gets into her movies with Fulci.
Archival audio commentary with actor Giovanni Lombardo Radice
moderated by Calum Waddell. He gives a lot of background on cast and crew from the shoot. He mentions a few cast member who he’s become friends with years after the shoot when they kept crossing paths at Horror conventions.
Blu-ray with the movie and commentaries. Also all the non-commentary bonus features are on the second Blu-ray.
Zombie Kings (45:46) is an interview with Massimo Antonello Geleng. He talks about getting into film production that led him to becoming a major production designer in Italian Cinema. He got his big break working on Fredrico Fellini’s Roma. He realized that working in “B-movies” would allow him to be more creative than working with the major directors. He talks about the uncommon experiences his job afforded him. He has a few tales from making Cannibal Holocaust. Besides getting to see his place in the country, Geleng shares many of his production drawings. He gets into working with Lucio Fulci.
Requiem for Bob (28:00) meets up with Giovanni Lombardo Radice who played Bob. He talks of loving Hitchcock films as a youth, but he wasn’t a fan of horror. Deep Red and Alien got to him. He talks about working with Fulci and the scene in City of the Living Dead that has him duck out of the theater during revival screenings. He gets into shooting in Georgia. We also get to meet his dogs. Radice passed away last April.
Carlo of the Living Dead (18:13) is an archival interview with actor Carlo De Mejo. He got alogn with Fulci so well that they also made The House By the Cemetary and New York Ripper. While Fulci was loud on the set, Carlo said it was with intent and not a tantrum. He explains where he was during the two gross out special effects. He gives a shout to the dubber who also did Robert Redford in Italian movies. Carlo passed away in 2015.
On Stage: Q&A with Venantino Venantini & Ruggero Deodato (46:03) has them discuss how the major studio in Hollywood coming to Rome to make Biblical epics really got the industry going and gave Venantini his start in the business with Ben Hur. He talks about his early career. He also appeared in a few Emanuelle movies. Venantini passed in 2019 and Ruggero in 2022.
Catriona MacColl Q&A from The Glasgow Theater (20:08) was taped in 2010 after a screening of The Beyond. She talks about Fulci and how she didn’t mind running around and screaming for him since he didn’t make her deal with a gross special effect. As of this writing, Catriona is still alive. She talks about how he didn’t direct the actors, but let them do their thing. This is why she worked with him on three films including House By The Cemetery.
Fabio Frizzi Q&A (29:25) has the composer talking to the audience during the Glasgow Film Theatre in August of 2012. He gets into what music influenced him. He goes into how he puts together his band for the soundtracks. He worked on quite a few Fulci films. Frizzi is still alive and recently appeared on Joe Bob Briggs’ Last Drive In as the music director for the band when they played Zombie.
The Meat Munching Movies of Gino De Rossi (26:34) has him talk about his love of creating special effects for movies. He worked with Fulci on Zombie and City of the Living Dead. He found Fulci adorable. He gives the documentary makers a tour of his worship. He explains how the drill through the head effect worked. He admits the girls was spitting up animal intestines in another scene. De Rossi passed away in the Spring of 2021.
A Trip Through Bonaventure Cemetery (4:49) is a visit Savannah, Georgia last October. They used a drone to get cool shots over the graves that are beneath the Spanish Moss. Parts of the place look the same from when they filmed City of the Living Dead.
Catriona MacColl video intro (5:41) is from a 2001 release. She admits she hasn’t seen the film in a while. She didn’t think the films would gain such a loyal cult following.
Archival Interviews with cast and crew from Paura, Lucio Fulci Remembered Vol. 1 (42:42) has a lot of people focused on how the director operated on the set. Catriona MacColl gets into the iconic photo of Lucio on the bridge. Garlo De Mejo gets into a scene that went weird in Georgia when a prop went missing.
Trailers (6:35) has the time the film was released as The Gates of Hell: Uncut. There’s one as City of the Living Dead which talks about the gates of Hell. Finally there’s an Italian Trailer.
Image Gallery (8:41) is a montage that includes lobby cards, posters, press kit, VHS box, press photos and a tattoo.
Gates of Hell (92:10) is the VHS release of the movie. It’s hidden away so poke around to get it.
Mystery Suprise is a magazine article about one of the stars. I won’t tell you which star or magazine.
Cauldron Films present City of the Living Dead. Directed by Lucio Fulci. Screenplay by Lucio Fulci & Dardano Sacchetti. Starring Christopher George, Catriona MacColl, Carlo de Mejo, Antonella Interlenghi, Giovanni Lombardo Radice, Daniela Doria, Fabrizio Jovine & Janet Agren. Running Time: 93 minutes. Rating: Not Rated. Release Date: August 29, 2023.
