“The Godfather of Gore” Lucio Fulci worked across all genres, but it’s his horror output that’s most remembered thanks to his knack for visceral violence, gore, and unconventional storytelling. All of these are on prominent display in his Lovecraftian “Gates of Hell” trilogy that began with 1980’s City of the Living Dead. While its atmosphere and gross-out gore gags are the standout reasons to watch, City of the Living Dead also happens to make for a stellar Halloween hidden gem.
The premise is simple: a priest commits suicide in a Dunwich village cemetery and unwittingly opens the gate to Hell. The death is observed in visions by a medium, Mary Woodhouse (Catriona MacColl), as she’s conducting a séance in her New York apartment. Mary’s so overwhelmed by fear of the imminent evil encroaching that she collapses and is presumed dead, only to be rescued from her buried coffin just in the nick of time by journalist Peter Bell (Christopher George). The pair, along with others, race against the clock to close the gate. They have until All Saint’s Day, lest the gate remain open permanently, and the dead claim the Earth.
All Saints Day honors the lives of saints and martyrs. It’s a day of remembrance for the dead, and it’s also the day after All Hallow’s Day, or Halloween. City of the Living Dead takes place in the days leading up to All Saint’s Day, with the worst of its horror unleashing on Halloween.
It’s the holiday itself and its significance in relation to the dead that factors into the story. There’s no telltale Halloween iconography to be found. That production took place in New York and Savannah, Georgia, over Spring, which means no distinct signs of Fall, either. In other words, it’s a hidden Halloween gem because, other than the prominent staging of Halloween as a plot point, nothing about the City of the Living Dead screams Halloween.
What it lacks in jack-o-lanterns or trick-or-treaters, Fulci makes up for in mood and gore. Gino De Rossi’s (Zombie, Cannibal Ferox) SFX ensures that every maggot-infested wound oozes, scalps peel in tactile fashion, eyes bleed, and the deaths are beyond painful. The gory centerpiece, arguably the film’s most memorable, sees a woman regurgitate her own innards. For this scene, actress Daniela Doria purportedly spits out baby veal intestines from her mouth before they cut to a replica to draw out the moment. It’s beyond effective.
City of the Dead was followed by its “Gates of Hell” brethren, The Beyond and The House by the Cemetery, with lead Catriona MacColl appearing in all three as different characters. All three also feature a character named Bob, a gate to Hell, and no shortage of the gruesome gore that gave Fulci his reputation. That means that this hidden Halloween gem might make an excellent starting point for an All Hallows’ Day marathon that ends on All Saints Day.
Lucio Fulci’s first entry in his unofficial apocalyptic trilogy isn’t a conventional Halloween title, but the holiday is essential to its doomsday plot, foretold in the Book of Enoch. Thanks to an earworm score by Fabio Frizzi, moody vibes and atmosphere, and a string of memorable horror sequences that spill guts and viscera, City of the Living Dead makes for a surprisingly chilling entry in Halloween set horror. It’s now streaming on Tubi.
The post Hidden Halloween Gem: Lucio Fulci’s ‘City of the Living Dead’ and the Halloween Apocalypse appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.