Nightmare City hits Blu-ray on December 31st from Raro Video and Kino Lorber
Nightmare City is all like: “I throw up both middle fingers at “Romero Rules” Zombies. My scab-face zombies will run after you and stab you and then grab a machine gun and empty a clip in you.”
But then director Umberto Lenzi is all like: “True, but my film isn’t a zombie film. The creatures aren’t really dead, and they want to suck your blood.”
And then modern-day horror audiences are all like: “Whoa, I thought this conversation first happened surrounding the 28 Days Later franchise, who knew fantastic zombie movies existed before I was born?”
Nightmare City (1980) is a pretty spectacular old-school Italian genre film. This is the kind of movie where blood-crazed zombies inexplicably make sure to tear off a woman’s shirt and expose her boobs before eating her. Where hysterical females are offensively slapped in the face to “cool them off” and afterwards they hug and kiss their slappers. Where horribly shaky and bouncy helicopter shots are left in the movie because, well, it cost a lot to rent that helicopter. “We’ve got production value to think about!” Nightmare City is the kind of movie that gives our main characters, on the run from intelligent hordes of nuclear-radiation-poisoned mutants, plenty of time to wax eloquently and ham-handedly about the societal implications of using nuclear power.
To be honest, if I were to have seen this film in 1980, I’m not sure how kind I would have been to it. Sure, it totally upends the “rules” of the classical, Romero zombies and gives the creatures a unique look, origin, and skill-set. (But don’t worry, there’s a thoroughly scientific explanation as to why it still works to shoot them in the head). And the gore is over-the-top, if sporadic. So it has that going for it. But with the derivative plot and attempts to shoehorn social commentary into the mix, you do have to roll your eyes a little bit at the misplaced sincerity of it all.
I can’t believe I just typed that above sentence, however, because in the long run, I’m never one to criticize sincerity. I’m just suggesting that if I caught this film in 1980, its heyday, I might have been less kind to its attempts at relevance. As it stands today, I loved every second of the paper-thin, nuclear-power-questioning messaging. There are at least two scenes when our otherwise non-intellectual male and female leads (Hugo Stiglitz as TV reporter Dean Miller and Laura Trotter as Dr. Anna Miller) take a moment to simply ponder the depravity of mankind even as hordes of blood-sucking nuclear zombies stalk their every move.
Here in 2013, Nightmare City is shocking and endlessly entertaining. The aforementioned sincerity comes from director Umberto Lenzi, who directed countless Italian genre films in the ‘60s-’90s, bouncing to whatever genre was selling at the time, from giallos to police thrillers to cannibal and zombie movies. Nightmare City happens to be the first Lenzi film I have seen, despite being an avid fan of Italian genre cinema for many years now. The mere fact that I have seen dozens and dozens of vintage Italian genre films from this era but had somehow never seen a Lenzi film speaks to why this era is so lovable. So much crazy stuff was coming out of Italy in the ’70s and ’80s that brand new, never-before-seen delights come into my realm of knowledge all the time. In an extensive (and super busted and hilarious) video interview found here on this Blu-ray from Raro, I absolutely fell in love with director Umberto Lenzi. I’d love to use Nightmare City as my springboard to get more invested in his filmography in the coming years. He seems thoughtful, passionate, reflective, and proud. He’s still alive and I’d love to see what he would do with a small indie budget in 2014.
Lenzi, it is clear, loves cinema. He lives and breathes it, and was willing to go wherever the winds of popularity blew in order to keep making movies. If Nightmare City is any indication, the guy knows how to generate a fun time for the populace. You’ve got the Dracula-inspired opening sequence, in which a giant military plane illegally lands on a runway and appears to be empty, only to unveil a horde of infected creatures who spark off a massacre within 5 minutes of screen time. Then there is all the hilarious military research that lets the audience in on the “message” of the film and the “rules” of these particular non-zombies, who have scabby faces and super human strength due to exposure to atomic energy, but who also have an insatiable appetite for blood (and at least a passing interest in boobs). All of it culminates in a massive showdown in a ruined amusement park which is merciless and endlessly entertaining.
In classic Italian genre form, you’ve got a few name actors such as Stiglitz, Mel Ferrer (War and Peace, here playing General Murchison) and Francisco Rabal (Spanish Actor with over 200 screen credits, here playing Major Holmes). All actors on set appear to have spoken whatever language they saw fit, making your choice to watch the Blu-ray in English or Italian somewhat challenging. I watched the first act in Italian with English subtitles, but then realized most of the leads were probably speaking English anyway, so switched over to “dubbed” mode.
If you find practical gore, Italian genre sensibilities, and overly-sincere intellectualized horror to be your thing, Nightmare City is a goldmine for you. See this at your earliest possible convenience. I had a blast with this spin on the zombie genre, no matter how hard it worked to distance itself from George Romero, or to ape Lucio Fulci.
The Package
As I mentioned above, there is a video interview with Umberto Lenzi from about 2005 that runs a solid 45 minutes and absolutely endeared me to this man more than many bonus features ever have had the power to do. He constantly wipes his mouth as he speaks over-excitedly to an interviewer who nods his head incessantly. The video and audio quality is poor even by 1980s home video standards, but the content captured is pure gold. I loved listening to this heretofore unknown (to me, at least) maestro speaking passionately about Italian cinema and his place in the pantheon.
As with all of the Raro Video releases I’ve encountered this past year, the package also includes a booklet with an essay by Chris Alexander that displays a knowledge and love for the genre without ever crossing into any form of pretension. There is also a Lenzi biography and filmography featured in the booklet, all of which I appreciate. I think the booklet inside of a home video release is an often overlooked treasure trove of information and design, and I love that Raro goes that extra step to include it here.
More than anything else, though, what matters is the film itself. While Nightmare City was never going to be the kind of film to win awards for camera work or design, this low budget nuclear zombie movie does look pretty incredible. I’ve never been a tech-head and don’t always know the specs behind a film’s HD conversion, but I can’t imagine this film ever looking much better. Crisp and bright picture with just the right amount of vintage late-1970s grain made me a happy exploitation viewer. Zombie completists must seek out Nightmare City as soon as possible, and this Blu-ray is absolutely the best way to do it.
And I’m Out.