7.2 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.5 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
The Seven Gates of Hell have been torn open, a reporter and a psychic race to close the portals of the damned.
Starring: Christopher George, Catriona MacColl, Carlo de Mejo, Antonella Interlenghi, Giovanni Lombardo RadiceHorror | 100% |
Foreign | 33% |
Supernatural | 13% |
Video codec: HEVC / H.265
Video resolution: 4K (2160p)
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
Italian: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
English, English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Three-disc set (3 BDs)
4K Ultra HD
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 4.5 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
Debuting in its home country the same year as Argento's Inferno (1980), Fulci's City of the Living Dead has become a watershed in Spaghetti Horror. The picture enjoyed considerable distribution worldwide. It was not critically well received in the UK and US (where it was released as The Gates of Hell), however. For example, the Evening Sentinel (Staffordshire, UK) blasted it for its "breathtaking ineptitude and stomach-turning goriness....has an atrocious and wholly inappropriate electronic score by Fabio Frizzi....this is quite possibly the most revolting spectacle ever depicted on the cinema screen." Dick Fleming of the The Daily Times (Salisbury, MD) wrote that it "occupies a new low spot in the subterranean levels of tasteless filmmaking. Not only is it revolting for its gruesome content, it is so lacking in intelligence or creativity it makes the third Friday The 13th seem downright original. Most of the dialogue is dubbed, and although the story is set in New England, everyone — including George — speaks in weird guttural voices that are typical of many cheaply made foreign imports." Film critic Eleanor Ringel of The Atlanta Constitution blamed her experience on poor dubbing: "a badly dubbed, idiotic sleazefest with nothing to offer but an abundance of filmed animal innards. The Gates of Hell is nothing more than a garishly stupid rip-off of George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead that stoops to desperation schlock tactics. The only interesting aspect is watching the mostly-European cast try to adjust their Continental cadences to director Lucio Fulci’s muddled vision of Middle America — sort of a heartland smothered in mozzarella."
Has the priest become a Count Dracula?
Cauldron Films' late summer release of City of the Living Dead arrives as a 3-Disc Retail Edition. (The UHD is Region "All," Disc Two is Region "A," and Disc Three is Region "All.") My screener also came with a sheet of stickers featuring characters and props from the film. The film appears in its originally exhibited aspect ratio of 1.85:1. The UHD comes with a 4K (2160p) presentation with Dolby Vision and HDR10. It's important to keep in mind while watching CotLD the film stock used has a rough and gritty look. This is a terrific restoration undertaken by Cauldron. There's natural film grain and artifacts have been minimized. Daylight scenes, such as the opening cemetery scene in Dunwich, look the clearest. The darker image on the 4K sometimes accentuates murkier details. The HDR occasionally shows off its full effect. The image on the Blu-ray is noticeably brighter in the nighttime scenes and in general. The same scan appears to be used on Discs One and Two.
Cauldron offers "seamless branching" in which you can watch the film in the English language with English credit sequences, and also watch the Italian language version with Italian credit sequences. The BD-66 (feature size: 53.0 GB) delivers a mean video bitrate of 79.3 Mbps along with an overall bitrate of 81.7 Mbps for the full disc. The Blu-ray is given an MPEG-4 AVC-encode on a BD-50 (disc size: 31.64 GB), which carries an average video bitrate of 37138 kbps.
Screenshot #s 1-14, 17, 19, 21, 23, 25, 27, 29, 31, 33, & 35 = 4K Ultra HD (downsampled to 1080p)
Screenshot #s 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 32, & 34 = Blu-ray (2023 Cauldron Films BD-50)
Cauldron has provided twelve chapters on the first and second discs.
Cauldron has supplied an English DTS-HD Master Audio Dual Mono mix (1597 kbps, 24-bit) and an Italian DTS-HD Master Audio Dual Mono track (1132 kbps, 24-bit), the latter of which is accompanied with standard English subtitles. These mixes appear on both the UHD and feature presentation on the Blu-ray. The bass beats from Fabio Frizzi's score pulsate and boom along the fronts in the first reel. Antonella Fulci writes in the liner notes for Beat Records' 2019 album titled Lucio Fulci's Gates of Hell Trilogy that Frizzi utilized a Mellotron for the synth playing. That and the guitar riffs are employed to memorable effect.
The main weakness on the two mixes has to do with how sound was picked up, not for any subpar mastering effort on Cauldron's part. Dialogue sometimes comes across as too low and soft. It seems that there was dubbing on both the English and Italian tracks. Unlike reviewers at the time, I don't consider the English audio a bad dub. Fault is more attributed to the recording equipment. Stephen Hunter of The Baltimore Sun noted that it sounded like it was "re-recorded in a studio the size of a phonebooth on recording equipment that couldn't have cost more than $9.95 so that they are utterly without timbre or emotion; then they clumsily dubbed over actors who are speaking in Italian." While the Italian mix is the preferred track given that actors sound the most authentic in delivering their lines, the English track isn't a bad dub by any stretch. Fulci's innovative sound design should be applauded and reappraised. Terry Kelleher, an arts writer for the Miami Herald, observed: "When the dead start pushing against the sod, the sound effect is that of a squeaking door." The aforementioned critic Curtright noted that "as they [the dead/undead] ravage the countryside — that must have been taped in the jungle building of a nearby zoo at feeding time. They all sound like cackling parrots and chattering monkeys."
Cauldron spent several years prepping its own extras, which appear on physical media this year for the first time. Other bonus materials have appeared on prior DVD and BD editions. Cauldron has also ported over extras from Arrow Video UK's 2018/19 remastered re-release.
Disc 1: 4K UHD Feature (1:32:47, 2160p)
A bonafide classic of Italian zombie cinema, City of the Living Dead has high replay value. (That said, if you have a phobia of rodents like I do, you'll probably cringe and turn away at such moments.) Unless Arrow Video releases its own deluxe package in UHD/BD and adds more extras, this standard three-disc set from Cauldron Films will likely remain the definitive release. I am glad that Cauldron has offered two presentations of the picture on separate discs. I watched the Blu-ray in 1080p without any upscaling enabled on my player. I will likely revisit the BD more so than the 4K because the latter is too dark at times and occludes certain details. Cauldron has not remixed or upmixed either the Italian or English tracks, a smart technical decision. Supplements are bountiful. Cauldron put significant effort into the recent ones it produced. While the price tag is pretty steep, this set comes VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
The Gates of Hell / Paura nella città dei morti viventi
1980
City of the Living Dead / Paura nella città dei morti viventi / SOLD OUT
1980
SE Exclusive Slipcase
1980
Limited Edition
1980
Texas Frightmare Variant Slipcase
1980
City of the Living Dead / Paura nella città dei morti viventi
1980
Quella villa accanto al cimitero
1981
E tu vivrai nel terrore - L'aldilà | Glow in the Dark Cover | Limited Edition to 3000
1981
Zombi 2 / Zombie Flesh Eaters
1979
1980
1980
Gatto nero
1981
Standard Edition
1985
Dèmoni 2... l'incubo ritorna | Standard Edition
1986
Le notti del terrore
1981
1980
Un gatto nel cervello | Glow in the Dark Cover & Mini Portrait of Lucio Fulci Limited Edition to 3000
1990
Let Sleeping Corpses Lie / Non si deve profanare il sonno dei morti
1974
Profondo rosso | Special Edition
1975
Lo squartatore di New York
1982
Incubo sulla città contaminata
1980
AIP Cut | 60th Anniversary
1963
Alien Contamination | Limited Edition Slipcase to 1000
1980
The Mask of Satan / La maschera del demonio | The Mario Bava Collection
1960
Reazione a catena
1971
Eye of the Evil Dead | Standard Edition
1982