City of the Living Dead

"From the bowels of the Earth they came...To collect the living!"

1980 1h 33m IT

👍

6.5

SOLID

★6.5TMDB · 462

HorrorFantasyMystery

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A psychic seemingly dies of fright during a séance where she sees a vision of a Dunwich priest hanging himself in a church cemetery. New York City reporter Peter Bell investigates and learns that the priest's suicide has somehow opened a portal to Hell that must be sealed by All Saints Day, or else the dead will overtake humanity.

“From the bowels of the Earth they came...To collect the living!”

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Cast

Christopher George
Peter Bell
Catriona MacColl
Mary Woodhouse
Carlo De Mejo
Gerry
Giovanni Lombardo Radice
Bob
Janet Ågren
Sandra
Antonella Interlenghi
Emily Robbins
Daniela Doria
Rosie Kelvin
Fabrizio Jovine
Father William Thomas

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Lucio Fulci
Writers: Lucio Fulci, Lucio Fulci, Dardano Sacchetti
Languages: English, Italian
Countries: Italy

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $0.4M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

46 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Italian.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Lucio Fulci, shot by Sergio Salvati. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Fabio Frizzi. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Edo Brizio shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Christopher George and Catriona MacColl and Carlo De Mejo carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "From the bowels of the Earth they came...To collect the living!".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Lucio Fulci directs. Sergio Salvati behind the camera. Fabio Frizzi scores. Edo Brizio cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Profitable at the box office. Produced in Italy. Dialogue in English, Italian.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $0.4M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
246 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
3Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Italian.
4Directed by Lucio Fulci, shot by Sergio Salvati. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Fabio Frizzi. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Edo Brizio shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Christopher George and Catriona MacColl and Carlo De Mejo carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "From the bowels of the Earth they came...To collect the living!".
9IMDB entry: tt0081318 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 11 themes, including "suicide", "cemetery", "supernatural", "halloween".
11Released under 18 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Sergio Salvati
Original score: Fabio Frizzi
Editing: Edo Brizio
Production design: Massimo Antonello Geleng
Costume design: Massimo Antonello Geleng
Makeup / hair: Franco Rufini
Stunt coordinator: Nazzareno Cardinali
Runtime: 93 min · 1h 33m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $400,000
Box office: $591,067
Return: 148% of budget
Original language: IT
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: City of the Living Dead (1980)

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Lucio Fulci

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Wuchak2025-09-19
★ 5/10
Not the same-old, same-old Zombies in this gory flick from Lucio Fulci In the village of Dunwich, a minister hangs himself and inadvertently opens the gates of the Underworld with recently dead people manifesting and causing havoc. A journalist and a woman who has visions from the Big Apple (Christopher George and Catriona MacColl) travel to the village and meet up with a psychiatrist and his patient (Carlo De Mejo and Janet Agren) to tackle the supernatural situation. "City of the Living Dead" (1980) is also known as “The Gates of Hell” with the original Italian title being “Fear in the City of the Living Dead” (translated). It’s a combination of the “Blind Dead” tetralogy, Romero’s zombie movies, “Kill, Baby… Kill!” and “The Fog,” which came out over six months earlier. Fulci is known as "The Godfather of Gore" or “The Poet of the Macabre” and so you can expect shocking scenes that are for shock’s sake and inorganic to the story, such as a woman’s eye being gouged out by splintered wood in “Zombie” from the year prior, aka “Zombi 2.” Here there’s a sequence that comes out of nowhere involving a drill going through a teenager’s head; yet it could be argued that the father was frustrated about his daughter’s issues and he (unjustly) takes it out on this kid. There’s another sequence where intestines gush out of a woman’s mouth (actually tripe in real life) as her eyes curiously bleed. I could care less about such scenes, but I’m sure gorehounds will appreciate them. And who can deny that they’re horrific? (Although I busted out laughing at one or two bits that were too over-the-top, the very opposite reaction intended). Nevertheless, the buried-alive sequence is well done (I guess it’s a good thing Mary wasn’t embalmed, huh?); and there’s a creepy Gothic atmosphere with quality locations/sets. The story feels nonsensical, which I’m sure is due to the low budget (or is it just Fulci’s unique style?), but everything makes sense for the most part if you put the pieces of the puzzle together (except for the bewildering ending). However, I liked the imaginative take on the living dead. Let’s just say: Don’t expect the Romero variety of zombies. Brunette Antonella Interlenghi is notable on the feminine front as Emily, the psychiatrist’s assistant and girlfriend, but not enough is done with her before, um, you’ll see. The film comes across too slapdash for my tastes, but there are enough positives for those wanting a movie akin to the ones noted. This just ranks with the least of ’em IMHO. It runs 1 hours, 32 minutes, and was shot in New York City and Savannah, Georgia, as well as Rome for studio work. GRADE: C/C+

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