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Paura nella cittą dei morti viventi
(1980)
PRESS
1981
Cinefantastique vol.11 no.1 (Summer (1981)
p.11 (USA)
The film is pedestrian when it comes to creating atmosphere or subtle
horror (...) The grueling violence in City of the Living Dead
- in one scene an electric drill is shown boring into a man's
head - tends to overpower some well crafted suspense - Mike Childs and
Alan Jones
1982
Screen International no.341 (1 May 1982)
p.20
This has a far more coherent story than the same director's The
Beyond, though it has a similar theme of zombies emerging
from an exit from the underworld and either could well be the blueprint
for the other. As such gruesome horrors go, it is enjoyably sick, with
the shock effects verging on black comedy (...) Indeed, it is outrageous
fun for the viewer who is not nauseated beyond endurance by worms and
maggots all-alive-o and the sight of squashed brains oozing from crushed
skulls. Given a packed house of consenting adults reacting vocally,
a good time should be had by all except for those who are throwing up
- Marjorie Bilbow
Films and Filming no.333 (June 1982) pp.33-34
If The Beyond
recalls Romero
or Cronenberg
at their most visceral, then City is more reminiscent
of Tourneur (one of Fulci's favourite directors) in its greater reliance
on the power of suggestion, it's crepuscular air and its conjuration
of a nightmarish Other World out of simple everyday reality (...) The
ending is somewhat incomprehensible and acting and dialogue as usual
leave a good deal to be desired. However, one doesn't look to the 'fantastique'
for that kind of thing. What is its attraction then? Well,
as Fulci says "I believe that the 'cinema fantastique' is profoundly
liberating - Clint Eastwood's films are much more dangerous." For
"liberating" read "subversive" and you realise why
they always fall foul of people like James Ferman. - Julian Petley
1983
Variety 25 May 1983 pp.18, 24
Story, which unfortunately bears no resemblance to Lovecraft's
tales of ancient evil attacking Earth from other dimensions and characters
are prosaic, with film's real stars as usual being its grisly makeup
effects. An extremely realistic drill-through-the-head routine is Fulci's
major setpiece, amidst the usual outpouring of butcher shop bright red
animal parts that have been diverting a sizeable fringe audience since
Herschell Gordon Lewis' Blood
Feast twenty years ago. Acting is unimpressive, with Fulci
maintaining a brisk pace and effective control of atmosphere and tension.
Color is drab in the extreme, with cheapie production values below par
for the genre. - Lor
Last Updated:
1 January, 2009
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