hey guys im new to the site, i wanted to know if city of the living dead is any good.

[daz of the dead]

hey guys just joined the site, bieng a big fan of 'zombie' i have just ordered 'city of the living dead on dvd, i just want to know what you guys thought of it, thanks daz

[fulci fan]

Yeah, anything from Fulci is good. Is this a serious question? :D

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it isn't a straight up zombie movie, so be ready for that. Zombi 2 (not including Zombi 3) is Fulci's only true zombie film. The Beyond and City of the Living Dead are supernatural stories with some zombies in them. The ending of City of the Living Dead is confusing and leaves a lot of room for discussion. Is Zombi 2 the only Fulci movie you have seen?

[daz of the dead]

thanks mate, ive only ever seen 'zombie' so didnt really know what his other movies are like, but im looking forward to it

[fulci fan]

Not many people like Fulci for some reason. He is one of the few directors that worked in practically every genre. Here are some of his movies you should check out

-Don't Tourture a Duckling
-Lizard in A Woman's Skin
-Conquest
-Contraband
-Perversion Story
-The Four of the Apocalypse
-The House by the Cemetery

[slickwilly13]

I liked it. The movie has some good gore, most of his movies never made sense. I will also add The New York Ripper to the list of "must watch at least once".

[krisvds]

What's up fulcifan? No the Beyond in that list? It's one of my fave itallo-horrors.
@ daz: don't know if you have seen it or no but if you enjoyed those do check out 'Burial ground' (in some territories known as Zombi 3 or Notte del terrore). It's laugh out loud good ;)

[Eyebiter]

Just a word of warning, don't eat popcorn watching that movie. Never been able to look at a bowl of corn the same way since watching COTLD. Back in those days it was known as 'The Gates of Hell'.

[bassman]

Not a fan of Fulci. In fact, I consider most of his work to be complete garbage. Gore for the sake of gore and no real substance. I've never understood the fanbase this guy has. Just my two cents.

[JDFP]

Not a fan of Fulci. In fact, I consider most of his work to be complete garbage. Gore for the sake of gore and no real substance. I've never understood the fanbase this guy has. Just my two cents.

I don't always agree with Bass, but here I do. Fulci is pure crap and a great number of his films do not make any sense whatsoever. I definitely recommend to stay far far away from anything with the name Lucio Fulci on it.

j.p.

[fulci fan]

Bassman, JP: Seriously, what does not make sense to you? Everything isn't spelled out in his movies. I will be glad to explain anything that confuses you.

The reason why I didn't include The Beyond is because it is one of those movies that everyone knows about. I wanted to put some titles up that aren't as well known.

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And I know the ending of Gates of Hell will be brought up sooner or later so I will explain what happened:
SPOILER ALERT:
The Characters did not close the gate before All Saint's Day. So when they came back up, they were in another dimension. A dimension ruled by the living dead. That is why they get scared when the kid runs up.

[bassman]

For me, it's not that they don't make sense as if there is some kind of deeper meaning. It's just that they're horrible, cheesy, and poorly made films. His films are nothing more than an excuse to show off gore effects. Some people may get off on that alone, but the gore can only be as good as the story and execution, imo.

This is why Romero's films work well with the gore - there are great stories to back it up. Fulci's films do not have that.

[fulci fan]

How about in The Beyond when Catriona MacColl is talking to Cinzia Monreale (the chick with the dog) and all the sudden she is scared and runs out of the house? As a kid, that scene confused the hell out of me. They keep showing Emily and the Dicky (the dog) running out of the house. If you pay attention, there is no sound when Emily and Dicky are running out. But when Liza plays it back in her head and retraces Emily's steps, her feet make sounds on the floor boards. So why is this scene relevant? Because Emily and Dicky are ghosts. they are in the beyond, so their feet didn't make a sound when they ran across the floor.

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For me, it's not that they don't make sense as if there is some kind of deeper meaning. It's just that they're horrible, cheesy, and poorly made films. His films are nothing more than an excuse to show off gore effects. Some people may get off on that alone, but the gore can only be as good as the story and execution, imo.

This is why Romero's films work well with the gore - there are great stories to back it up. Fulci's films do not have that.

See, I feel the total opposite. Romero to me, is a cornball and luckily he made a couple good movies. Romero is always trying to make some bullshit political point and pays no attention the camera work. Also, he lets zombie extras have way too much freedom to do "their own zombie". Romero made about 4 good movies, man. Fulci made 56 in every genre.

To me, a zombie should be like a Fulci zombie; lifeless and barley standing. It is just there. it makes no sounds or facial expressions or any of that dumb nonsense you see in Romero's zombie movies. And his movies are not made for the sake of gore. I think you just don't understand what he was trying to do. In fact, most people don't. How many Fulci movies have you actually seen from beginning to end?

[bassman]

Ah, yes. The old "if you don't like it, you don't understand it" defense. ;)

[fulci fan]

Here is a quote from Fulci. He was asked about House by the Cemetery being connected to Inferno

The themes are different, but I won't deny there are some connections between Argento and myself. Both films, intentionally, have no structure. We tried in Italy to make films based on pure themes, without a plot, and The Beyond, like Inferno, refuses conventions and traditional structures, while there are some threads in my other films: The House is about a monster, The Ripper is an Hitchcockian thriller, City of the Living Dead deals with Evil, Zombi 2 with death and the macabre. I like The Beyond very much because I think it was an interesting attempt.

People who blame The Beyond for its lack of story have not understood that it's a film of images, which must be received without any reflection. They say it is very difficult to interpret such a film, but it is very easy to interpret a film with threads: any idiot can understand Molinaro's La Cage aux Folles, or even Carpenter's Escape from New York, while The Beyond or Argento's Inferno are absolute films.

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I hate that defense myself. But most of the time, it's true. I hate ICP. Why? because I don't understand why it is cool.

[daz of the dead]

Not many people like Fulci for some reason. He is one of the few directors that worked in practically every genre. Here are some of his movies you should check out

-Don't Tourture a Duckling
-Lizard in A Woman's Skin
-Conquest
-Contraband
-Perversion Story
-The Four of the Apocalypse
-The House by the Cemetery

i have seen 'the house by the cemetery, and i liked it, it had some very creepy moments in it.

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i will deffo check it out, cheers

[EvilNed]

Bashing COTLD and The Beyond for having no plot or being non-sensical is sorta like say that An Andalusian Dog is plotless and therefore crap.

COTLD and The Beyond (and Inferno, and a few others) were experiments into themes, suggestions and moods moreso than they were an attempt to tell a story or get a message across. Like it or not, but it's NOT meant to be showcasing gore for gore's sake, as Bassman suggested. That doesn't mean that they are enjoyable films or that people are stupid for not "getting them". Obviously, one would expect a story going into something like this. When there isn't one, it's percieved as shit.

What I like about those films are the references to Lovecraftian horror and it's otherwordly explanations. Different dimensions, diabolic gates to hell and such. The scene in The Beyond where they run out of the house and drive away and the dead start appearing in every window in the house is a classic image.

I like both COTLD and The Beyond, but I don't raise them to the skies. I do like Inferno a lot, however. Even if the plot itself is thin as a spaghetti strain.

[Eyebiter]

If you are trying to watch Fulci films sober, your doing it wrong.

[daz of the dead]

i finaly got round to watching this last night, and i must see this was pretty damn scary in parts, and not at all what i was expecting, the zombie make up was fantastic and the drill scene oh my dayz, after watching this, im even more looking forward to the beyond