Umberto Lenzi's Nightmare City - December 31, 2013

[agent999]

I have the Raro disc and was quite surprised by the positive review and some others that I've read. It does look to me as if the grain has been sucked out of it. Annoyingly on the menu screens on the disc there is extreme grain in the image. I assume it's a layer of fake grain that has been added (as there are also blood splashes etc. superimposed over the top as well), but it would be terrible if this was actually how the raw transfer looked before being royally screwed with. Sadly there's too much crud on top of the menu images to compare them to the actual movie to see if there is more detail there or not.

[mlock]

I don't suppose anyone has heard any info regarding specs on the Arrow release?

[beadelf]

Originally Posted by mlock

I don't suppose anyone has heard any info regarding specs on the Arrow release?

yes Id like to know that as well as im waiting for the arrow realease

[mlock]

Still too early I suspect

[Beauvoir]

I was about to order this but if Arrow has a version coming up, I'll happily wait and see how the reviews are for that edition first.

[drat]

I found Raro's Nightmare City to be totally unwatchable and stopped the disc after the first few minutes. I did the same thing with their version of The Conformist. Totally unwatchable.

The transfer looks like a bad 80's video strobe effect -- anything in motion looks clunky, jerky, and like it's missing frames. A total disaster. I'm not sure how anyone could think this disc isn't a total mess.

I will never buy anything from Raro again. I own four of their discs and half of them I couldn't even get past the 5 minute mark due to the worst visual presentations I've ever seen.

Raro simply can't be trusted.

[Ruined]

Question: When this movie was reviewed, a lot of reviewers complained of macroblocking. I know of at least one other Raro release where the review discs had macroblocking but the retail discs did not.

Was the macroblocking fixed for the retail release?

[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.

[philldesade]

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

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by philldesade

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

I call them zombies because they keep coming after victims even when they are shot multiple times. Either that or just really persistent people.

Thanks for the Black Demons recommendation! I’ll go look.

[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]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

I call them zombies because they keep coming after victims even when they are shot multiple times. Either that or just really persistent people.

Thanks for the Black Demons recommendation! I’ll go look.

was being facetious on the blue underground lenzi interview he kept saying theyre not zombies theyre infected people in his signature italiano accent rest him such a legend in cinema miss him daily great review also check out black demons lenzi claimed that was his favorite film he made

[Surge92]

Originally Posted by philldesade

...also check out black demons lenzi claimed that was his favorite film he made

I think I still have the Black Demons DVD that was part of a Shriek Show triple pack, but I don't think I ever got around to watching it. I'll have to check it out.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by philldesade

was being facetious on the blue underground lenzi interview he kept saying theyre not zombies theyre infected people in his signature italiano accent rest him such a legend in cinema miss him daily great review also check out black demons lenzi claimed that was his favorite film he made

He was pretty insistent about the infected people in that interview. That was part of the charm.