"Woe be unto him who opens one of the seven gateways to Hell, because through that gateway, evil will invade the world."
One of my favorite zombie movies is Lucio Fulci's CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD. And today we have word that Arrow Video is bringing the classic gut-puking flick to Limited Edition Blu-ray soon, presented here in an exclusive 4K restoration with a wealth of extras, Fulci’s gore-drenched classic can now be devoured as never before!
From the Italian godfather of gore comes a notoriously nauseating, compellingly corporeal masterpiece of apocalyptic zombie horror! It follows:
A medium who has a mysterious vision of a priest hanging himself… A seemingly dead woman awakes screaming in her coffin… And in the sleepy New England town of Dunwich, a local girl vomits up her intestines and a town misfit has a drill-bit ploughed into his cranium… These hallucinogenic, often grotesque visions punctuate a skeletal storytelling of a reporter (Christopher George, The Exterminator, Pieces) and a psychic (Catriona MacColl, The House by the Cemetery, The Beyond) who must race against time to prevent hordes of rotting corpses spewing forth from the gates of hell…
Stridently going beyond the classical stylings of his horror hit Zombie Flesh Eaters, CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD sees Fulci eschew conventional narrative logic in favor of a delirious, oneiric mode of storytelling which stresses style, surrealism and atmosphere as well as offering up bucket-loads of brains, blood, and guts!
LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS
Brand new restoration from a 4K scan of the original negative by Arrow Films
High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
Original uncompressed 1.0 mono and optional 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
Original English and Italian soundtracks
Newly translated, optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing for the English soundtrack
Newly translated English subtitles for the Italian soundtrack
Audio commentary with star Catriona MacColl and journalist Jay Slater
Audio commentary with star Giovanni Lombardo Radice and writer Calum Waddell
We Are the Apocalypse, new interview with writer Dardano Sacchetti
Through Your Eyes, new interview with Catriona MacColl
Dust in the Wind, new interview with cameraman Roberto Forges Davanzati
The Art of Dreaming, new interview with production designer Massimo Antonello Geleng
Tales of Friendship, new interview with cinematographer Sergio Salvati
I Walked with a Zombie, new interview with actor Giovanni Lombardo Radice
They Call Him "Bombardone", new interview with special effects artist Gino De Rossi
The Horror Family, new interview with father and son actors Venantino and Luca Venantini
Previously unseen interview with composer Fabio Frizzi
Archival interview with actor Carlo De Mejo
Building Fulci’s City, a new video interview with Stephen Thrower, author of the definitive tome, Beyond Terror: The Films of Lucio Fulci
Reflections on Fulci, a new appraisal of Fulci’s Gothic period by actor, writer and director Andy Nyman (Ghost Stories)
The Dead Are Alive!, a new video essay by Kat Ellinger on Lucio Fulci and the Italian zombie cycle
Behind the scenes 8mm footage with Roberto Forges Davanzati audio commentary
Alternative US Gates of Hell opening credits
Original trailers and radio spots
Extensive image gallery featuring over 150 stills, posters and other ephemera from the FAB Press and Mike Siegel archives
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Wes Benscoter
Double-sided fold-out poster
6 lobby card reproductions
Limited 60-page booklet featuring new writing by Travis Crawford and Roberto Curti, an archival interview with Lucio Fulci, and original reviews
You can check out the awesome artwork and all the extra bits and pieces in a series of pictures below. And then remember to mark your calendars as Lucio Fulci's CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD hits Limited Edition Blu-ray via Arrow Video October 8th. Pre-order via Arrow HERE. I know I will be snagging a copy or two for me and my loved ones (who dig solid gore flicks). But note that this is a U.K. release.