Nightmare City
Alternative Titles: City of the Walking Dead; Incubo sulla città contaminata
Director: Umberto Lenzi
Year: 1980
Starring: Hugo Stiglitz, Laura Trotter, Maria Rosaria Omaggio, Francisco Rabal
Context:
Born from a producers desire to ride the Italian zombie splatter cycle, and marketed as such on later DVD releases, Lenzi wanted to differentiate the film and base it roughly on the Seveso disaster of 1976, an industrial accident which saw the local population exposed to a chemical outbreak, although any references or thoughts on this are submerged by the sheer zombie-esque action and preposterous scenes.
In fact, even director Lenzi doesn’t see this as a zombie film, going some way to distance it (similar to that of Boyle and 28 days later) but in spite of all this, it has to be included as it fits in nicely with the early 80-s Italian splatter cycle and retains some elements of zombie-lore (such as having to destroy the brain) and rightly or wrongly it is still lumped in with zombie films and who are we to argue with history.
Synopsis:
Our story begins with the arrival of an ominous, seemingly unmanned craft making an unscheduled landing at a European airport. Now surrounded by military personnel, the aircraft doors open and the waiting soldiers get a nasty shock when out bursts a horde of flesh-hungry, pizza faced radioactive ghouls!
Review:
Exploitative, cheesy and now over 35 years old, this often overlooked gem by respected Italian
director Umberto Lenzi (CANNIBAL FEROX and much more) has been given a new lease of life thanks
to Arrow Video. It is a forerunner of the running infected 'zombie' film, despite the misleading,
alternative English title City of the Walking Dead which smacks of a cash-in on the growing zombie
craze of the time, when one looks at the literal translation of the Italian title, NIGHTMARE CITY:
CONTAMINATED, we are given a slightly more accurate title.Benefitting from a surprisingly decent cast,
including Mel Ferrer (WAR AND PEACE and more famously Audrey Hepburn’s one time husband),
Francisco Rabal and Hugo Stiglitz (CEMETERY OF TERROR, SURVIVE), it is rumoured that a number of
the cast were demanded by the Mexican and Spanish financiers, who wanted the cast to improve the
sales prospects of the film rather than for any acting or suitability purposes and sadly (or sometimes
hilariously) this shows throughout.
In the film, a renegade reporter Dean Miller (Stiglitz) travels to the airport to wait for the famous doctor, Professor Hagen-Dazs or Haggenbach or something, and while searching for which runway the esteemed Professor will arrive on, an unmarked airplane comes in for an emergency landing, causing the emergency services to respond and surround the plane. Not one to miss the action, Stiglitz and his cameraman cover the scene where the plane opens and the Professor slowly steps out, and stabs a police officer before contaminated disfigured individuals charge out of the plane and a massacre begins as the city starts to fall under the sway of the infected.
From television's that explode when thrown to a zombie that looks like Dot Cotton in Eastenders, NIGHTMARE CITY is an enjoyable and fun romp that never takes itself too seriously despite the constant pensive (or should it be permanently tired) look of Stiglitz, well from what you can see behind the beard anyway. As a zombie fan (which you are if you are reading this) even the most hard-line Romero-zombie fan such as myself, you forgive the fact that these mutants are car-driving, gun toting super strength Toxic Avenger look-a-likes with a penchant for drinking blood and you go with it, and thankfully due to Lenzi’s competence you are rewarded.
Special mention has to go to Pino Ferranti who was the make up artist on the film as he and his team do a fantastic job with both the distinctiveness and necrology of the horde. As the newly contaminated are bloody and slightly scaly to those who are further down the line with their radiation poisoning who are an oozing, pulsating bloody mess of boils, blood and pustules. Certainly giving the effects of Gino De Rossi a run for his money.
The unattractive and charisma repelling leading man Stiglitz just oozes the look of the early 80s, but thankfully for a reporter he not only has the brains to work out what is happening but also the moves to fight his way out of trouble when needed, even if he does have that odd cinematic trait of feeling the need to sometimes stop then wait and look around to see if he is being followed. This must be a rare film where you just want the main guy to get himself into trouble rather than out of it. This feeling is intensified as, quite frankly he is not a nice guy and unless you are his lady he won't exactly go out of his way to try and save you, rather only himself.
While the pacing drops at points, the film ends on a fantastic final 10/15 minutes as Lenzi ramps things up a notch almost ZOMBIELAND-style as things get crazy, as well as treating us to a hilarious scene on top of a rollercoaster which is reminiscent of the end of Fulci’s ‘Don’t Torture a Duckling’, before what is undoubtedly a marmite ending threatening to overshadow the film.
Ultimately you are left with a film that is big on explosions, breasts and hilarity - in particular the slowed down massacre of the pans people summing up the film perfectly. And despite being riddled with errors, convenient and illogical plot gaps the film still works and is a must view for fans of the genre pre-dating the likes of 28 Days Later and other modern sprinter/infected films.
Version Reviewed:
We reviewed the 2015 Arrow Video release. Arrow present the viewer with two versions; the first from the original negative, which sadly does suffer from chemical deterioration and one made from a dupe reversal negative which reduces this issue but at the cost of a loss in resolution. Rather fantastically (and informatively) Arrow have also included a guide to what this actually means as they show us the difference - going far beyond what other companies would and providing a detailed explanation using this release and their back catalogue to explain it. Brilliant for those less technologically minded such as myself.
It is worth noting that the difference brought about by the chemical deterioration is significant but any ill feeling held by internet keyboard warriors should be mitigated thanks to not only the explanation but the inclusion of both transfers.
In regards to the actual extras, Arrow go all out and give us a plethora of choice. The ten minute 'Zombies gone wild!' with Eli Roth is enjoyable and despite polarising the horror community I actually have a lot of time for Roth and his fanboy enthusiasm for Italian cinema and his love for the films comes across in this short time. No doubt this film in particular contributed to his PLANET TERROR flick.
Also contained is a twenty-eight minute interview with Umberto Lenzi where the director explains how and why he rewrote the script, altering its direction and bizarrely he makes a few strange statements about his films such as that he has never made fiction or horror movies just ones where there are real facts. While there is an element on truth in that, it is a very misguided view on his final output in my opinion. The interview itself is very interesting and one of the best I have seen with the man. An inteview with starlet Maria Rosaria Omaggio is also included and sounding like someone who has smoked way too much her interview does not provide much insight.
Other extras include almost obligatory trailer, and alternative opening titles and a terrific collectors booklet featuring new writing on the film by John Martin. Once again, Arrow have put together a tremendous package.
