| City of the Living Dead | |
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Italian theatrical poster |
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| Directed by | Lucio Fulci |
| Produced by | Giovanni Masini Robert E. Warner |
| Written by | Lucio Fulci Dardano Sacchetti |
| Starring | Christopher George Catriona MacColl Carlo De Mejo Antonella Interlenghi Giovanni Lombardo Radice Daniela Doria Fabrizio Jovine Luca Venantini Michele Soavi |
| Music by | Fabio Frizzi |
| Cinematography | Sergio Salvati |
| Editing by | Vincenzo Tomassi |
| Distributed by | Motion Picture Marketing (theatrical; U.S.); Anchor Bay Entertainment (DVD) |
| Release date(s) | August 11, 1980; April, 1983 (U.S.) |
| Running time | 92 min |
| Language | Italian |
City of the Living Dead (Italian: Paura nella città dei morti viventi, also known as The Gates of Hell) is an Italian horror film from director Lucio Fulci. It has numerous alternate titles, such as Gates of Hell. It is the first installment of the unofficial Gates of Hell trilogy which also includes The Beyond and The House by the Cemetery. Fulci makes an uncredited cameo as Dr. Joe Thompson in the film.
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After Father William Thomas (Fabrizio Jovine) hangs himself in a cemetery, the gates of Hell are opened. Zombies with the abilities of super strength, teleportation and levitation appear and start killing off people in a remote town. Psychic Mary Woodhouse (Catriona MacColl) dies of what appears to be fright at a seance, and is buried – only to revive, buried alive, in her own coffin. Investigating reporter Peter Bell (Christopher George), who is intrigued by the case, is present at the grave-site and rescues her – only to learn it is all fated as part of a prophecy in the Book of Enoch. The death of the priest is only the beginning, and they both must travel to the rural town of Dunwich, New England, and close the portal to Hell before All Saints Day, or the spirits of the dead will overtake the earth.
During the movie, actress Daniela Doria actually vomited sheep entrails during the intestine purging scene.[1]
The film was initially released uncut in Germany under the title Ein Zombie hing am Glockenseil and banned shortly afterwards. Since then the film has been rereleased several times under various titles (Ein Toter hing am Glockenseil, Eine Leiche hing am Glockenseil, and various other international titles) in cut and uncut form. All of these releases have subsequently been banned. The only exception is a version named Ein Kadaver hing am Glockenseil which is missing nine minutes of footage and has been rated 16 by the FSK.
In the early 1980s, this film was passed by the BBFC for cinema exhibition with only the infamous "Head drilling scene" cut. The same "X" version was released on video around the same time. It was never targeted by the DDP. Post Video Recordings Act, it was submitted to the BBFC for official video release and received further cuts to the vomiting scene, and to the brain removal scenes. In 2001, it was re-submitted and passed uncut.
On 25 May 2010 Blue Underground released the Blu-ray, which includes the documentary Making of City of the Living Dead.[2] A Special Edition DVD (Region 1) was also released the same day, with the making-of documentary on it as well.
On 24 May 2010 in the UK, Arrow Video released the definitive 1-disc edition on Blu-ray and 2 disc DVD.
Extras include:
– Introduction by actor Carlo de Mejo (16:9; 0:36)
– Audio Commentary by actor Giovanni Lombardo Radice
– Audio Commentary by actress Catriona MacColl moderated by Jay Slater
– International Trailer (16:9; 2:55; in English or Italian)
– FULCI IN THE HOUSE documentary (16:9; 17:50)
– CARLO OF THE LIVING DEAD – interview with actor Carlo de Mejo (16:9; 17:28)
– DAME OF THE DEAD – interview with actress Catriona MacColl (16:9; 24:51)
– FULCI'S DAUGHTER – interview with Antonella Fulci (16:9; 27:34)
– PENNING SOME PAURA – interview with screenwriter Dardano Sacchetti (16:9; 18:12)
– PROFONDO LUIGI – interview with Luigi Cozzi (16:9; 16:59)
– LIVE FROM THE GLASGOW THEATRE (16:9; 24:47)
– THE MANY LIVES (AND DEATHS) OF GIOVANNI LOMBARDO RADICE (16:9; 50:26)
– GALLERY OF THE LIVING DEAD (16:9; 3:35)
– Booklet with liner notes and featuring additional text interviews.
– Double-sided poster
– Four sleeve cover artwork options
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