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City of the Living Dead – Cauldron Films (4k UHD/Blu-ray Combo)

Theatrical Release Date: Italy, 1980
Director: Lucio Fulci
Writers: Lucio Fulci, Dardano Sacchetti
Cast: Christopher George, Catriona MacColl, Carlo De Mejo, Antonella Interlenghi, Giovanni Lombardo Radice, Daniela Doria, Fabrizio Jovine, Luca Venantini, Michele Soavi, Venantino Venantini, Enzo D'Ausilio, Adelaide Aste, Luciano Rossi, Robert Sampson, Janet Agren

Release Date: August 29th, 2023
Approximate Running Time: 92 Minutes 52 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Widescreen / 2160 Progressive / HEVC / H.265 / Dolby Vision HDR10
Rating: NR
Sound: DTS-HD Mono Italian, DTS-HD Mono English
Subtitles: English, English SDH
Region Coding: Region Free (4K UHD), Region A (Blu-ray)
Retail Price: $54.95

"When a priest hangs himself in a cemetery, he opens the gates of hell in the mysterious New England town of Dunwich. At the same moment, Psychic Mary Woodhouse (Catriona MacColl- House By the Cemetery, The Beyond) enters a trance and witnesses the cosmic events unfold, causing her to seemingly die of fright. After being buried alive, she is rescued by skeptical reporter Peter Bell (Christopher George - Pieces, Enter the Ninja, Rat Patrol) who joins her on the journey toward Dunwich to help close the gates of hell before evil is unleashed upon the world! Will they be able to close the gates in time or will the souls of Dunwich be forever stuck in the twilight void?” – Synopsis provided by the Distributor

Video: 5/5 (4k UHD), 4.5/5 (Blu-ray)

Here’s the information provided about this release's transfer, "an updated 4K restoration, with a brand new Dolby Vision™ color grade, exclusively commissioned by Cauldron Films".

City of the Living Dead comes on a 66 GB dual layer 4K UHD

Disc Size: 60 GB

Feature: 52.7 GB

I have never seen the Scorpion Releasing Blu-ray for City of the Living Dead; I have only seen screenshots from that release. That said, it appears that this new release from Cauldron Films uses the source that Scorpion Releasing used. I do, however, own the Arrow Video 2019 4K remaster, and I will be comparing the Cauldron Films release to that release. Just looking at the screenshots that are provided at the bottom of this review, it is clear that Cauldron Films release is the superior transfer. Arrow Video’s transfer looks too bright, colors don’t look as good, and there is a noticeably thick layer of grain, while Cauldron Films has done a much better job handling the grain.

City of the Living Dead comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 29.4 GB

Feature: 25.9 GB

This Blu-ray uses the same master that is used for the 4K UHD disc.

Audio: 5/5 (DTS-HD Mono Italian, DTS-HD Mono English)

This release comes with two audio options, a DTS-HD mono mix in Italian and a DTS-HD mono mix in English. You really cannot go wrong with either mix; they both sound excellent. Dialog always comes through clearly, everything sounds balanced, ambient sounds are well-represented, and the score sounds robust. Included are non-removable English subtitles for the Italian language track and removable English SDH for the English language track.

Extras:

Extras on the 4K UHD disc include an audio commentary with film historian Samm Deighan, an archival audio commentary with film historians Troy Howarth and Nathaniel Thompson, an archival audio commentary with actress Catriona MacColl, moderated by Jay Slater, and an archival audio commentary with actor Giovanni Lombardo Radice, moderated by Calum Waddell.

Extras on the Blu-ray disc with the film include an audio commentary with Samm Deighan, an archival audio commentary with Troy Howarth and Nathaniel Thompson, an archival audio commentary with Catriona MacColl, moderated by Jay Slater, and an archival audio commentary with Giovanni Lombardo Radice, moderated by Calum Waddell.

Extras on a second Blu-ray disc include an image gallery (lobby cards/posters/stills/other promotional materials), three theatrical trailers (6 minutes 35 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English and Italian with non-removable English subtitles for the Italian language theatrical trailer), a location featurette titled A Trip Through Bonaventure Cemetery (4 minutes 49 seconds, LPCM stereo), Catriona Maccoll video intro from 2001 (5 minutes 14 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an archival Q&A with composer Fabio Frizzi titled Music for a Flesh Feast (29 minutes 25 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English and Italian with a translator who translates Italian to English), an archival Q&A with Catriona MacColl from the Glasgow Theater (20 minutes 8 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), a Q&A with actor Venantino Venantini and filmmaker Ruggero Deodato titled On Stage (46 minutes 3 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), an archival interview with actor Carlo De Mejo titled Carlo of the Living Dead (18 minutes 13 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an archival interview with special effects artist Gino De Rossi titled The Meat Munching Movies of Gino De Rossi (26 minutes 34 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with non-removable English subtitles), an interview with Giovanni Lombardo Radice titled Requiem for Bob (28 minutes, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), an interview with production designer Massimo Antonello Geleng titled Zombie Kings (45 minutes 46 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), archival interview with cast & crew from “Paura Lucio Fulci Remebered Vol. 1” with comments Catriona MacColl, Carlo De Mejo, Antonella Interlenghi, Luca Venantini, Fabrizio Jovine, Venantino Venantini, Michele Soavi, Dardano Sacchetti, Massimo Antonello Geleng, Gino Gino De Rossi, Rosario Prestopino and Sergio Salvati (42 minutes 42 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English and Italian with non-removable English subtitles for Italian), and an easter egg; an alternate version titled City of the Living Dead sourced from a VHS tape (92 minutes 10 seconds, 4:3 aspect ratio, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles).

Other extras include reversible cover art.

Summary:

Directed by Lucio Fulci, a versatile Italian filmmaker who worked in and excelled in just about every genre that was popular in 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s Italian cinema, His notable films are Massacre Time, Beatrice Cenci, A Lizard in a Woman’s Skin, Don’t Torture a Duckling, My Sister in Law, Zombie, Contraband, The Beyond, and The New York Ripper. He would often appear in his films, and in City of the Living Dead, he has a brief cameo as a doctor.

The narrative revolves around an evil clergyman whose suicide opens the gates of hell.

On the production side, City of the Living Dead features many of Lucio Fulci’s key collaborators, like composer Fabio Frizzi, cinematographer Sergio Salvati, and editor Vincenzo Tomassi. The Italian title for the City of the Living Dead is "Paura nella città dei morti viventi", which translates into "Fear in the City of the Living Dead". When it was released in the U.S., the film went by the alternate title The Gates of Hell.

After the success of Zombie, it would not take long for Lucio Fulci to return to the world of the living dead with City of the Living Dead. Structure- and content-wise, there are many similarities between City of the Living Dead and the aforementioned Zombie. Inspirationally, the film owes just as much to the writings of H.P. Lovecraft. With the biggest nod to the works of H.P. Lovecraft, the accursed town in City of the Living Dead is named Dunwich.

A criticism often cited about City of the Living Dead is its anemic narrative, which at times defies logic. when compared to Lucio Fulci’s other zombie films. The plot and mystifying aspects of the story are in line with his other zombie films. The one area where City of the Living Dead excels the most is its gore set pieces, which include a man being buried alive, a woman vomiting her intestines, and a young man who has a power drill driven through his head. And the death scenes are brutal, gory, and effectively pulled off.

The cast features many familiar faces like Christopher George (Pieces), Catriona MacColl (The Beyond), Carlo De Mejo (Terror Express), Giovanni Lombardo Radice (House on the Edge of the Park), Janet Agren (Eaten Alive), Michele Soavi (Cemetery Man), and Luciano Rossi (Death Walks at Midnight). Performance-wise, the cast is more than adequate in their respective roles, with the standout performance coming from Catriona MacColl in her first of three films that she made with Lucio Fulci. The scene where her character is buried alive and a pickaxe breaks the coffin she is trapped in This scene stands out as one of the most tense scenes that Lucio Fulci ever directed. Ultimatley, City of the Living Dead is another superbly directed tale of the macabre from Lucio Fulci that has an abundance of tension and atmosphere.

City of the Living Dead gets an excellent release that comes with a solid audio/video presentation and wealth of informative extras, highly recommended.

Cauldron Films Blu-ray screenshots.