City of the Living Dead - Limited Edition [Blu-ray]

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The film was released on DVD in the United States by Anchor Bay in 2000, and on DVD and Blu-ray by Blue Underground in 2010. [17] In 2018, Arrow Video released a limited edition 4K remaster of both the City and the Gates versions in the United Kingdom. [18] In 2020, the Gates version was given a Blu-ray release in the United States as an online exclusive item. [19] Reception [ edit ] Contemporary [ edit ] A priest hangs himself in a cemetery in Dunwich, Massachusetts, setting off a chain of events that will lead to the opening of the gates of Hell, bringing the end of humanity. Mary Woodhouse has a vision of the priest during a séance in New York and apparently dies of fright. Journalist Peter Bell is investigating the case and while visiting her recently dug grave, discovers she is in fact still alive and he saves her. Together, they head to Dunwich to close the gates and save the world. Once there, they meet a therapist, his patient, their friends and a squirrelly social misfit named Bob. They also run into the living dead, who teleport around town and crush people’s brains. Can they survive, or is this truly the end of the world? Cinematographer Sergio Salvati ( Crawlspace, Cellar Dweller) creates a picture rich with atmosphere and a strong visual style. Fulci loves close-ups of people’s eyes, usually involving some sort of trauma but also within simple dialogue scenes. One particularly harrowing sequence finds Mary waking in her coffin and the efforts to free her. Another key element is the hypnotic score by Fabio Frizzi ( Zombie, Pieces) with its steady, pulse pounding beat helping to build suspense as the evil forces swell. Extensive image gallery featuring over 150 stills, posters and other ephemera from the FAB Press and Mike Siegel archives Less than 250 limited edition copies remain of both Convoy Busters and Shanghai Joe. Thanks for your support on these titles and making them a success! For those that haven’t yet secured their copies, now is the time.

Regardless of whether or not Fulci and Sacchetti drew any inspiration from Lovecraft, there’s nothing especially Lovecraftian about City of the Living Dead. There aren’t necessarily any dreams in the Witch House of Dunwich horror that they conceived for the film, though that’s obviously open to interpretation. With or without Lovecraft’s influence, the atmosphere of Fulci’s supernatural horror films frequently has been referred to as “dreamlike,” and City of the Living Dead is no exception. Yet that’s arguably a rather facile and superficial description that doesn’t quite do justice to the uncanny ways in which Fulci was able to get under the skin of viewers (or into their eyeballs, as the case may be). In City of the Living Dead, the spatial discontinuity of Lovecraft’s dream worlds has been replaced by a kind of temporal discontinuity instead. As a result, trying to connect the dots of the genuinely incomprehensible narrative is an exercise in futility. Any attempt to understand or interpret the plot of the film is the equivalent of tilting at windmills: it’s an endeavor doomed to failure from the start. That’s all beside the point, anyway. City of the Living Dead is really about mood, not story, and the best way to experience it is to let go of the need to rationalize everything and just to let that mood work its magic. There’s no rationalizing the inherently irrational nature of the supernatural anyway. A medium has a mysterious vision of a priest hanging himself… A seemingly dead woman awakes screaming in her coffin… And in the sleepy New England town of Dunwich, a local girl vomits up her intestines and a town misfit has a drill-bit ploughed into his cranium… These hallucinogenic, often grotesque visions punctuate a skeletal story telling of a reporter (Christopher George) and a psychic (Catriona MacColl) who must race against time to prevent hordes of rotting corpses spewing forth from the gates of hell.” Donahue, Suzanne Mary (1987). American film distribution: the changing marketplace. UMI Research Press. p.296. ISBN 9780835717762. Please note figures are for rentals in US and CanadaBuilding Fulci's City, a new video appreciation by Stephen Thrower, author of the definitive tome, Beyond Terror: The Films of Lucio Fulci In Dunwich, a young vagrant named Bob visits an abandoned house but flees after seeing a rotting carcass. Across town, Gerry, a psychiatrist, is in consultation with Sandra, a neurotic patient, when Emily Robbins, his 19-year-old girlfriend and personal assistant, arrives. She tells Gerry that she's on her way to meet with Bob, whom she has been trying to help. That evening, Emily finds Bob at a derelict garage exhibiting strange behavior. The supernatural apparition of Father Thomas then appears as Bob runs away, smothering to death a frightened Emily with a maggot-covered hand. The next morning, Emily's body is found. Emily's father tells the sheriff and Gerry of his suspicions about Bob due to Bob's previous history of crime. Meanwhile, Peter and Mary leave New York and embark upon their search for the town of Dunwich. Fresh out of theaters, currently available on VOD and now streaming exclusively on SCREAMBOX, Bloody Disgusting’s Onyx the Fortuitous and the Talisman of Souls is coming home for the holidays, arriving as a Collector’s Edition Blu-ray on December 19, loaded with bonus features, extended/deleted scenes, commentaries and an exclusive slipcover. NEW A Trip Through Bonaventure Cemetery (4:49) - this featurette was produced in October 2022 by Cauldron Films. A camera on a drone glides above and navigates below to survey the graveyard in this Savannah, Georgia cemetery. This was one of the filming locales for City of the Living Dead.

Building Fulci’s City, a new video interview with Stephen Thrower, author of the definitive tome, Beyond Terror: The Films of Lucio Fulci Archival Audio Commentary with Actress Catriona MacColl Moderated by Jay Slater - this older commentary was intially recorded for the 2003 UK PAL DVD part of the Vipco Screamtime Collection. In English, not subtitled. Here, he joins Bartok and his mysterious delegation to raise the spirit of an ancient demon for a once-in-a-lifetime ritual. City of the Living Dead (1980), starring Christopher George, Catriona MacColl, Carlo de Mejo, Antonella Interlenghi, and Giovanni Lombardo Radice. The release is scheduled to arrive on the market on August 15. Carlo of the Living Dead, an archival interview with actor Carlo De Mejo (1080p; 18:13)– An interview with Carlo De Mejo in English from a previous release.Reflections of Fulci – a new appraisal of Fulci’s Gothic period by actor, writer, director Andy Nyman (Ghost Stories) CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD 4K Blu-ray Coming this October - Dread Central". www.dreadcentral.com. 28 July 2018. This stunningly crisp Arrow Video release, exclusive 4K restoration of City of the Living Dead is out on the 8 th Oct. 2018 on Blu-ray in the UK. Seamless branching - watch in English Language w/ English credit sequences and watch Italian language w/ Italian credit sequences.