The biggest problem with Lucio Fulci's zombie movies is that you never get a feeling that there truly is a zombie apocalypse going on. Take his Gates of Hell trilogy. The trilogy is made of three films (City of the Living Dead, The Beyond, The House by the Cemetery) that all in some way have to do with the end of society at the hands of zombie or otherworldly invaders. Yet none of the films operates on a large enough scale to really convince the viewer that there are more than just a handful of zombies attacking a small group of people. Perhaps that is why The House by the Cemetery is the best film of the trilogy: it is about the trials of a single family dealing with a portal to hell under their house. City of the Living Dead, the first film of the trilogy, deals with a (surprise, surprise) portal to hell being opened in Dunwich, New England, the town built over the ruins of Salem, Massachusetts, after a local priest commits suicide. A small group of people realize that they must close the portal to hell before All Saints Day or else the dead will conquer the earth. The film contains some of Fulci's most provocative and disturbing imagery, much of which doesn't actually have to do with decapitations or kills. One scene in a bar where windows break and walls crack open is particularly effective. But again, Fulci tries to convince us that the zombies are taking over the world. We only see enough zombies and victims to populate a Main Street. Still, the film isn't a total loss. Among Fulci's oeuvre, City of the Living Dead is one of his more rewarding pictures for those who want a little story with their gore.
6/10
No comments:
Post a Comment