PAURA NELLA CITTÀ DEI MORTI VIVENTI - Lucio Fulci - "City Of The Living Dead" (The Gates Of Hell) (1980)

 
Rosina Sul Fiocco E Qui Andiamo!
It's tomb for another Saturday Night Special Halloween Countdown from way down deep in the nasty, dirty, and dusty catacombs of The Dungeon!

The devil fiddles at midnight, does he not, and it was just a harvest moon, so what did you expect, exactly?

You're in trouble!
Lucio Fulci started his film career working on musicals, comedies, and westerns, but it was no time at all before he would be tagged as "The Godfather Of Gore," and/or "The Spaghetti Splatter King!"

I'm thinking this movie might have some bad juju that goes along with it, because while writing this, my computer went into some weird cluster mode I've never experienced before!

If this event would not have happened, there would be no story! I'll be honest with you, "City Of The Living Dead" cornfused the Heck out of me, but then I am just a country boy, "But the train's coming round the bend!" I've also been listening to a lot of Velvet Underground lately!

If you've got a weak stomach, then keep a barf bag handy, because you're gonna need it!

Fulci went all out on the budget! I'm absolutely sure that finding this station wagon, and acquiring the Junie's Lounge location must have put him back at least 20 bucks!

This is it!
 Just about the only still I could get that wasn't gross, disgusting, disturbing or confusing!

"The City Of The Dead" is quite stark as you would imagine!

Christopher George has a special place in The Dungeon, we've just never quite figured out where it is, and here's why! He's always just a little different and it really shows in movies like
"Project X," and "Graduation Day!"

With Fulci at the helm, get ready for shots like this!

Great shot of this bomb!

Now it's time for the maggot storm which asked a lot of the actors involved I'm sure!

Here's a sneak preview of the new retro iPhone 13 witch is due to come out at the end of civilization!

"I'm really thirsty, got anything to drink?"
and now, it's.....

......Time for a word from our sponsor,
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SCHLITZ!!!

Here's my biggest problem with "City Of The Living Dead," although it is set in New England, and despite the story line, and the fact that a lot of the locations were shot in America, it still seemed to me like it was happening in Italy!

Oh, Damn, that smarts!
Yeah, you got it, there are no heroes!

Fractured, Splintered, or any way you want to put it, in the vernacular.
There ain't no happy ending, and this isn't a movie for the faint of heart, or kids!

"Paura Nella Città Dei Morti Viventi" was also released as ..
"The Gates Of Hell,"
witch might actually be a more accurate title! And if you live anywhere near this place, don't let your kids go out trick or treating! Actually, don't let them go out at all!

EATEN ALIVE / Mars Productions Corporation - 1976

It's Friday, and, time for more Halloween Countdown fodder for the masses!.. This story is about Judd, he runs the run down Starlight Hotel out in a swampy place outside of town and is unfortunately a real nut job, and, has a crocodile conveniently placed in the water below the hotel's front porch railing! The monster will eat just about anything, as the hapless guests at the hotel are about to find out! A reformed hooker and the father and sister of the girl all suffer various types of terror as Judd tries to cover up the crimes.

This Toby Hooper production stars Neville (WITHOUT WARNING) Brand as Judd, Mel (NIGHTMARE CITY) Ferrer as Harvey Wood, Carolyn (THE ADDAMS FAMILY) Jones as Miss Hattie, Marilyn (THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE) Burns as Faye, William (PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE) Finley as Roy, Stuart (SHOCK TREATMENT) Whitman as Sheriff Martin and Robert (Freddy) Englund as Buck.

Get used to this spot in the movie, it's the railing that has a giant crocodile that dwells in the water at Judd's beat up Starlight Hotel. Here's Judd tossing a woman into the water after attacking her with a steel rake!

Visiting Roy is drunk on his ass and wants to shoot a crocodile, you know, booze and guns! They use a red filter to designate dusk here. Anyway, Judd attacks Roy with his trusty sickle, then, as he's laying against the rail, the croc pulls his ass into the water, never to be seen again!!

Later, Sheriff Martin takes Harvey over to see Miss Hattie to discuss his problems. She gives him some insight into the disappearance of his daughter and they leave.

Harvey goes back to the hotel to confront Judd about his daughter, Judd grabs his sickle again and charges at the unsuspecting victim!

In a bizarre scene, the sickle gets stuck through Harvey's neck, pretty sickening! Judd has trouble getting the sickle out of Harvey's neck but he eventually tosses him into the water just like all the others!!

Buck and his girlfriend are horny and go to the hotel for some fun, but, Buck ends up in the water and the crocodile chomps away on him too! Wow, Robert looks so young here!

Oh yeah, there's a little girl there that gets chased by Judd, she hides under the hotel and has to crawl through a ton of creepy spider webs!! Judd is ready to grab her when the Sheriff shows up, whew!..

Back in the mad hotel, Judd is trying to catch two girls that got loose. He charges at one of them and almost falls out the window, then, pushes the other girl through the railing and she ends up on the floor below, battered!

Then, the little girl barely escapes when the croc chases her under the hotel. She gets hung up on the wire fence and is an easy target for the monster that has gone back into the water!

Judd is trying to shake the little girl loose from the fence, when, the wounded girl shows up and pushes Judd over the fence and onto the ground at the edge of the water. And, guess what happens next?!..

So, there you have it, the little girl is saved and everything turns out as good as it could! Tune in tomorrow when Eegah!! takes the pumpkin by the vines!!

ALONE IN THE DARK - The Sick F*cks - "Chop Up Your Mother" (1982)

 I'm gonna get my first part of this Halloween Countdown started with some scary 80's shit called,

"ALONE IN THE DARK!"

"Alone In The Dark" is a weirdass movie that comes across as a violent TV movie that includes nudity and cussing! Three of the main characters are a trilogy of incomparable talent, which makes it even more confusing! I started working on this post last week before the shootings in Las Vegas, otherwise I would have picked out something less violent. Violence in the movies is one thing, an escape, but when reality becomes so repugnantly ugly, senselessly savage and innocent people are killed or injured, it's a different story. I think it's time to try and go back to the 60's, you know, "C'Mon people now, smile on your brother, everybody get together, try to love one another,
right now!" - The Youngbloods

This initial dream sequence is pretty surreal, and every bit as good as a lot of David Lynch's best work!

Clutter is okay as long as it's organized!

This is a beautiful looking place, but if you're not rich, upkeep would be a nightmare unto itself!

One of the main cast members is the always amazing and entertaining Donald Pleasence as the pot smoking Doctor who thinks there's good in everybody, even blood thirsty psycho-maniacs! He's going to have to learn a lesson, and find out the truth, the hard way!

About 80% of 80's horror movies are garbage, but there is usually some kind of saving grace that makes it all worthwhile, and for me, tonight's feature is no exception! The new Doctor on the job who the patients don't like because they think he killed their old Doctor, who really just got a better job, has a sister who comes to town as played by Lee (Pulsebeat, Stargate, TekWar) Taylor-Allan. She's younger, and looking like she just stepped off the set of "Get Crazy," so it's time to go out to a club!!

And they end up in a club where the notorious New York punk band The Sick Fucks, also known as The Sick F*cks, are playing a sweet and sentimental ode to Mom!

My audio software is  screwing up, so thanks to all the people who put up clips like this on Youtube! I'm not quite sure why they made this clip so long, so just cut to the 4:50 mark to get to the good stuff!

The Sick Fucks - Chop Up Your Mother

No kidding, the two female singers in the band, Tish and Snooky, now own a very successful cosmetics and hair dye business in New York that is still going strong today!
Chop, Chop, I guess!!

The Psychotic Four Horsemen Of The Apocalypse!

Then there were three! That's Martin Landau on the left, and Jack Palance on the right with Erland (The Running Man) van Lidth stuck in the middle! I can only hope that you know who both Martin Landau and Jack Palance are. These two guys have done it all! The 6'6" Erland is less known, only because he died at the age of 34. Just for the record, Erland was also an accomplished opera singer!

35 years later, and the world is no better off!

Martin (Mission Impossible) Landau won an Oscar for his role as Bela Lugosi in the 1995 movie "Ed Wood." He was also nominated for two other Oscars, won three Golden Globes, and was nominated for six Emmys. He was a unique personality!

"Alone In The Dark" is pretty brutal at times!!

Martin Landau does a damn fine job at being bat shit krazy!

Carol Levy as Bunky the babysitter found out that it was safer and she could make a lot more money selling real estate in New York!
Now you know where the image on that poster came from!

This is the cover of one of my favourite paperbacks! I've had it for over 50 years and I need to read it again before it disintegrates, so I thought I'd share it before it's gone forever! The bottom line here is that if you're "Alone By Night," or "Alone In The Dark," neither is a good place to be on Halloween!
So just find somebody to hold your hand, and everything will work out right!