God, I love Italians! I love their fine cuisine, their hot blooded women, their designer clothes and most importantly...their teeth-to-the-headstone horror movies. Having adored Dario Argento for as long as I can remember, I have just recently been introduced to the wonderful world of Lucio Fulci. My quest started out with the relentless "Zombie" and now it continues with the mucho badass "Gates of Hell". After watching this flick, I immediately surfed the Net to read up on some reviews on what I believed to be a very potent horror dish. Much to my dismay, I found mostly negative reviews! What the fuck? Somebody isn’t drinking the right brand of Gin or isn’t getting his daily vicious beating.

I read up some more on Fulci and realized that unlike Argento, the man is criminally underrated and that’s a damn shame! Maybe all of his work isn’t the money, but the ones that hit, hit freakin' hard and you have to respect that. Personally, "Gates of Hell" firmly grabbed my throat from the get-go and had me RIP by the time the end credits rolled. This is true horror and I will go on record to say: although Argento is brilliant in slapping surreal polished style our way, I think Fulci tops the master when it comes to tapping into unrestrained, to the core, macabre horror imagery. Nobody shoots a cemetery like this dude, that’s for fucking sure! The bleakness of the grave scenes in this movie were so strong that I could almost smell the rotting flesh in my living room (or was that my dead date?).

Fulci thankfully injected the whole movie with that same pleasant morbid ambiance. If it wasn’t the incredibly spooky town giving me the willies (loved the constant wind and dust), it was Fulci’s able play with eerie sounds (baby cries, moaning) which put a spell on me. Fulci also successfully complements the film’s creepy aura with balls-to-the-walls gross-out moments that will have you chopping your dog’s head off in fervent joy. His zombies are some of the most disgusting/scary that I’ve ever seen and his kill scenes had me squirming, screaming, wincing and jacking off...all at once! YOU GO, MY MAN! Top all that bloody candy off with classy directing moments (loved the often tight shots on the eyes) and a gripping score and you get a picture that never failed to sway my black heart onto its side.

One pleasant surprise I had while watching this baby was on a narrative level, since the movie is more than just another tale of lumbering zombies waking up and causing a ruckus. There’s a strong supernatural current that drives the story and I relished the uniqueness of that angle (in terms of zombie movies). The more ambitious storyline gave this undead flick license to put out some striking horror scenarios that nearly had me popping wood out of my pants. For example: the mirror that cracked and then dripped blood, the tornado of maggots bursting into the room and the deliciously unpleasant scene of a gal being buried alive, all unapologetically bitch-slapped me to horror heaven. THANK YOU!

Sure, I do have some ice pickings with this one, nothing really crucial but it should be said. First, there are so many characters in this mortuary of fun that I never really got the chance to invest myself totally into any one of them. The only exception to that rule was Mary (MacColl), who was just too yummy looking for me not to give a fudge about. Then there’s the dialogue and the acting, which did lean towards the AWFUL every now and again. Lines like “What the dickens is this?” and that robotic Detective early on couldn’t help but make me belly laugh out loud. I also wasn’t too fond of the zombie’s whole "peekaboo" appearing and disappearing acts. I guess I’m just not used to seeing zombies using such powers. The first thing that came to mind when I saw the undead teleport was: “So that’s where Jason Voorhees learned his tricks for "Friday the 13th: Part 8”! And last but not least, can somebody please explain the last frame to me (with the boy)? I didn’t get it or maybe I did...I’m not 1000% sure.

Director Michelle Soavi ("Stagefright") plays the role of Tommy in this flick.

The film is also known as: City of the Living Dead / Fear in the City of the Living Dead / Fear, Father Thomas / Twilight of the Dead.

Lucio Fulci died on March 13, 1996 of a diabetes related illness.