As much as I love to crack on bad horror films, believe it or not, I do love cheesefests. If I can make through a sitting without groaning, growling, or getting just plain pissed-off, then I can categorize a knowingly bad horror film as cheese ball. In the case of Nightmare City aka City of the Walking Dead, my criteria is fit to a t!
The plot is like those of almost every zombie...errr...radiation sickness..movie. Zombies...errr....the radiated sick...invade...only these ones walk normally, and carry weapons(uzi, machetes, you name it). Instead of brains, they prefer to drink blood. The subplot is a reporter and his wife seeking sanctuary(no, not the Iron Maiden song) from the chaos ensuing around them.
On the surface, the pisspoor makeup(I'm sure Quaker Oats sued director Umberto Lenzi and his backers over the use of their oatmeal as makeup), the stiffer-than-laundry-starch acting, the not-so-scary radiated dead, and the fuck-you ending should have made me cast this movie out along with the likes of Troll 2, Don't Go in the Attic, Crazy Fat Ethel II. But somehow, I like this film. I can't help but laugh at how serious this movie tries to portray itself.
The kill scenes are mostly top-notch and to its credit, it doesn't bore us, it just gets to the gory chorus. Plus, some of the scenes are priceless. The plane landing, the interruption of the dance show, the amusement park climax. Then, you have the church scene, a rather effective few minutes that make you realize nothing in this movie is scared. Overall, it's bad but it's soooo good.
1 comment:
Awesome movie! This is Umberto at his most Umberto... This has long been one of my favorites. This isbad cinema at its finest...
http://www.zombiehall.com/2012/02/nightmare-city.html
If you really did get THIS one in a dollar bin, then, seriously, WHAT A DEAL!
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