Umberto Lenzi's Nightmare City - December 31, 2013

[Undeadcow]

Coming from Raro Video

Nightmare City Blu-ray



Announced on Facebooks: https://www.facebook.com/pages/RaroV...089?ref=stream

Future releases: "NIGHTMARE CITY" directed by Umberto Lenzi.
New HD transfer and digitally restored.DVD & BR.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYWD5vPf8xA

We are now working on the new HD transfer from original 35mm negative print and the production of new special features. Soon we will post he release date.....

[HuggyBear73]

Blind buy for me.

[shiki76]

Is this further proof that Blue Underground is dead?

[Miho]

Stiglitz!

[deepbreathsanddeath]

Originally Posted by shiki76

Is this further proof that Blue Underground is dead?

I wish they would open and honestly announce what the status is of their company. It's not dead because after a long time they announced one new title which was 'Snuff' of all movies. This indicates they're obviously having financial difficulties but it would be nice to hear it from them.

I can't feel bad for them though. Honestly, look at the titles they've been putting out towards the end of their "hiatus" or whatever. Obviously personal favourites that look downright crap on blu-ray. The fact that they look the way they do isn't BU's fault. It's just the source material and that's fine.

I also have no problem with the fact that they keep putting out personal favourites. However to keep a business alive, you've got to release "fan favourite's" too. Titles that will actually sell decently and make back enough money so you can slip personal favourites in there aswel.

There are countless other titles everyone's been mentioning they'd love to see and would buy day 1 if they released them, and they chose Snuff? I don't get it. The best move would've been to pick a title that's really desired on blu-ray to get the juices flowing again and restore peoples faith in the studio.
Releasing Snuff is basically business suicide at this point.

Honestly, it just looks like they're releasing yet another favourite of theirs and are too stubborn to just release more mainstream and well loved titles aswel.

I hope they get their shit sorted because I like them.

[Brett C]

Awesome, I am glad it is getting a release on BD.

[DarknessBDJM]

Sweet, it's campy, but damn is it fun.

[Brian81]

Originally Posted by shiki76

Is this further proof that Blue Underground is dead?

This is one of those old titles, dating back to Anchor Bay.

[Mr. Movie Fan]

Originally Posted by shiki76

Is this further proof that Blue Underground is dead?

Looks like it.

[dadaluholla]

Just preordered this last night from Raro. Super excited to have it in my collection.

[Metallix87]

Do they charge your account right away, or only at time of shipping?

[txfrightmare]

Originally Posted by Metallix87

Do they charge your account right away, or only at time of shipping?

It's Paypal only.

[Todd_Gaines]

That was simple. Ordering from their site was a breeze. I was debating between this release, or the 2014 Arrow release.

[JYokogawa]

Originally Posted by Todd_Gaines

That was simple. Ordering from their site was a breeze. I was debating between this release, or the 2014 Arrow release.

By default I would think Arrow's release would be better. Just given their track record.

I'm really excited for early 2014 Arrow. Nightmare City and Big Trouble in Little China are two of my all-time favorite films.

[Sithlorde77]

Is it better than the dvd release?

[Ruined]

Originally Posted by Sithlorde77

Is it better than the dvd release?

Just grab the region free Arrow UK release. Better all around.

[Splatterpunk]

Umberto Lenzi may not be on the A list of Italian horror directors, but he certainly made an impact with his output. Last night, I checked out his NIGHTMARE CITY from 1980 for the first time. It seems that this film was the first instance of fast zombies, predating 28 DAYS LATER by decades. However, I wouldn’t categorize either film as having actual zombies although they utilize the zombie apocalypse framework. In Danny Boyle’s post 9/11 thriller, the monsters are vicious mindless plague victims, and in Lenzi’s film, they’re semi intelligent mutated bloodthirsty ghouls. Nevertheless, both films obviously influenced the zombie genre. In any case, I enjoyed NIGHTMARE CITY despite it dipping pretty far into cheesiness.

The plot is pretty standard zombie apocalypse fare. An outbreak starts and spreads out into the city. Authorities, including the media, the military, and the government, bungle the situation and chaos interrupts routine as the general population is taken unaware by the sudden explosion of mass homicide. What sets NIGHTMARE CITY apart is the energy lent to the action sequences by the sprinting ghouls. As they’re also able to effectively utilize guns and possess at least a limited intelligence, they present a different threat than the typical shambling Romeroesque creature. The film wields this unique aspect effectively, making chase scenes thrilling.

Performances are fine for this type of film. Hugo Stiglitz plays the stoic and capable newsman Dean Miller who is thwarted in his attempts to warn the public and goes on to search for his wife. As an aside, Lenzi insults Stiglitz fairly extensively in the DVD featurette included on the Anchor Bay DVD. Evidently, Stiglitz was forced on the director by producers of the film. Portrayed by Laura Trotter, Dr Anna Miller eventually reunites with her husband but unfortunately devolves into hysterics as the film progresses. She does what she can with the role, but as with most of the female characters in the film, she’s not given much to do outside of being damsels in distress. Other notables include Francisco Rabal as a dutiful army Major, Maria Rosaria Omaggio as the Major’s artisticly inclined wife, and Mel Ferrer as the General who tries to reassert control over the escalating carnage.

Makeup and effects are a mixed bag. There’s some completely amateurish elements like gunshots leaving no holes in clothing, not to mention the lack of blood but there’s also some nicely executed grue such as an axe wound crushing a skull that spurts blood. The ghouls themselves look great with their faces and hands looking authentically scabrous and irradiated. Stunts are well done with actors rolling off of speeding cars and dangling from perilously high positions. The film itself also has that pleasingly sleazy look common to grindhouse films of that era. It’s a murky and lurid comic book palette that adds something unexplainable to the dread. Speaking of dread, Stelvio Cipriani’s score is creepy and memorable, layering more tension to the proceedings. Additionally, I was impressed with the production’s use of aerial photography, the utilization of a helicopter and a large military plane, and the final amusement park set piece.

While the plot has more than a few groan worthy and head scratching points, and Lenzi is shameless in his predilection for making sure female victims are disrobed for his leering camera, NIGHTMARE CITY is a fun and kinetic watch. Briskly paced and concisely edited, the film’s indefatigable mutants are an indisputably effective wrinkle on the zombie formula. It might not completely work and the ending is a bit too wtf, but it’s a must see for zombie film fans.

[The Great Owl]

In the aftermath of a nuclear plant accident, the citizens of a major European city find themselves in a decidedly unfavorable situation when bloodthirsty radioactive zombies emerge from a military cargo plane, kill everyone at the airport, and spread their contagion exponentially through the metropolis as they infect the living. Unlike the slow, lumbering, and mindless figures that populate films like Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead, these undead villains are still in the prime of their zombiehood and are able to overtake their victims by running at top speeds, firing guns, and even setting calculated traps. As civil defense soldiers engage in a futile struggle to contain the outbreak, a television reporter and his wife manage to escape to the countryside. Our resourceful protagonists ultimately make their way to an abandoned amusement park, only to find that what is waiting for them is most definitely not amusing.

The 1980 Italian-Spanish co-production, Nightmare City, directed by exploitation horror extraordinaire Umberto Lenzi (Cannibal Ferox, Seven Blood-Stained Orchids), caught my eye during childhood when I saw a commercial trailer for it on television after it was released here in the United States under the title, City of the Walking Dead. My young imagination was captivated by the preview images of dozens of zombies walking across a field while frantic radio transmissions warned about radiation contamination. More than anything, though, I was excited by the title itself, which indicted that people were under attack by not just one, not just two, but an entire city of the ghoulish flesh eaters.

Conventional wisdom dictates that there is no possible way that a film called City of the Walking Dead can live up to the promise of its name, but this Lenzi film, God bless it, delivers on its pledge in full. Soldiers being gunned down by zombies at an airport before being eaten? Yes, please. A troupe of beautiful dancers in leotards being eliminated by zombies while in the middle of a television performance? Yes, please. A crowded elevator full of hysterical people encountering countless zombies waiting for them as soon as the elevator door opens? Yes, please. An unfortunate character hitting multiple metal beams while falling from the top of a roller coaster? Yes, please. A large hospital turning into a morgue in mere seconds after energetic zombies run through its doors? Yes, please.

Nightmare City (City of the Walking Dead) lacks any semblance of logic, and is more or less a series of vignettes featuring unfortunates who meet their demises by way of bites, bullets, knives, and explosions. The dialogue is laughably bad. The creature effects are pretty abysmal, with the zombies being portrayed merely by people with faint traces of caked makeup on their faces. These shortcomings are gracefully redeemed, however, by the fact that a whole city of zombies is on the loose. Did I mention that this film features an entire city full of zombies? Case closed. This is cinematic excellence.

The Raro Video Blu-ray of this movie features a flawed video presentation, with softness and print damage all over. For those who don't expect this particular feature to receive the same loving restoration attention as, say, The Wizard of Oz, however, the end result is certainly watchable. Maybe someday, this film will receive the beautiful restoration and transfer that it deserves, because a story about an entire city of flesh-eating zombies deserves no less. For now, though, what we have is still a good old time in high definition.

The long supplementary with Lenzi is a treat, because he is proud of this movie. He should be, because, after all, it features an entire city of zombies.

[Surge92]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

Maybe someday, this film will receive the beautiful restoration and transfer that it deserves, because a story about an entire city of flesh-eating zombies deserves no less. For now, though, what we have is still a good old time in high definition.

There already is a superior release courtesy of the Arrow UK disc. Aside from some unfortunate irreversible damage to the negative in the early airport sequence, it looks fantastic.

[philldesade]

theyre not zombies theyre infected people watch lenzis black demons for a zombie flick