The ZombieTastic Review of:
Nightmare City
Nightmare City
Director: Umberto Lenzi
Year of Release: 1980
Country of Origin: Italy
Type of Zombie Film: Paramilitary Non-Zombie Zombies Eat People
Also Known as: Incubo sulla citta contaminata, City of the
Walking Dead
Part of a series?: No.
The Scoring
Plot: Radiation, the source of which is never revealed, causes regular people to morph into
savage killing machines intent feeding upon the blood of the living. As I'll touch on later, the
film never adequately resolves whether or not these people are actual zombies (i.e. the
dead returned to life) or just murderous weirdoes a la C.H.U.D. or The Mutants of 2051 A.D..
Score: 3
Exposition: Nightmare City is reasonably fast-moving, which means that mercifully, it
doesn't have much time for exposition. Aside from a briefing at military H.Q., the film keeps
explanatory dialogue to a minimum, and gives us what we really want out of a zombie
movie (and/or life in general): people getting naked and/or eaten.
Score: 4
Plausibility: Let me ask you something: if you were being attacked by anyone, let alone
bloodthirsty (literally) zombies, would you call (a) the police, (b) your grandma, (c) The A-
Team, or (d) "civil defense"? I don't think I have to tell you which choice is made by some of
the people in this film. As if the notion of civil defense isn't implausible enough, there's also
the moment in the film when the military decides to implement something called
"Emergency Plan H", with plan B "in reserve". H before B? What the fuck kind of a system
is that? Alas, the implausibility in Nightmare City doesn't stop there. At one point, a woman
becomes hysterical in the face of the zombie onslaught, and a man backhands her to
restore some sense to her terror-addled brain. What’s her response to this? She initiates
a makeout session with the guy in question. I guess the moral of this is clear: sucking face
with someone who physically assaults you is a much more palatable idea than calling civil
defense.
Score: 2
Production Value: For a movie that revolves around the idea that the living are being
attacked by beings who want to eat their blood, the fake blood sucks (no pun intended).
That should tell you all that you need to know about the Nightmare City's production value.
Score: 2
Special Effects: Let me repeat the point of the last section (what?): the fake blood in
Nightmare City sucks (again, no pun intended). That's not to say, however, that all of the
effects in the film are sub-par--there are numerous throat slashes that are executed well
(pun intended--bet you didn’t see that coming), in addition to quality effects including an
arm being blown off and a hatchet to the back of the head. All of that is just sweet, sweet
dessert, however, to this film's special effects main course, an amazing instance of movie
magic that I've never seen in any other film, let alone in any other zombie movie: I can only
be talking about the jaw-dropping sequence in which we see a lawnmower driving itself!
That's right, at one point the character of Sheila Holmes hears something behind her
house; walking outside to investigate, she discovers a lawnmower driving itself across her
back lawn. This scene is self-evidently chilling, and this chilliness is only highlighted by the
fact that we're not sure whose lawnmower it is...is it Sheila's? Is it a neighbor's? Who the
hell knows? Now, some of you might be thinking, "Gee, what an ass hole, a lawnmower
driving itself seems like a pretty lame effect." Well, to you I say that you're clearly and
unforgivably forgetting the Bruce Campbell Corollary, which states, as we all know, that the
awesomeness of an appliance or power tool as a weapon in a horror movie is inversely
proportional to the mass of the person wielding said appliance/tool. That's why it's
awesome when a slim, fit person like Ash uses a chainsaw to combat demons in Evil Dead
II, and why it sucks when a big fat loser like Larry Drake kills people with medical
appliances in Dr. Giggles. It also explains why the slightly-smaller version of Leatherface in
the original The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is far superior to the beefier version featured
in the remake. But, I'm sure you know all of this, I'm only reminding you of it to highlight the
fact that a menacing lawnmower trumps most of these others films when it's not being
wielded by anyone; it's so good, I'm willing to overlook the fact that Nightmare City commits
the cardinal sin of trying to pass off a limp dummy as a real person falling off of a
rollercoaster during the film's climax. Regardless, my words cannot do the "unpiloted
lawnmower" scene justice. For it alone I recommend that you rent Nightmare City. Or, just
look at the handy still from the film that I've added below...and prepare to have your mind
blown...WITH HORROR.
Score: 4
Year of Release: 1980
Country of Origin: Italy
Type of Zombie Film: Paramilitary Non-Zombie Zombies Eat People
Also Known as: Incubo sulla citta contaminata, City of the
Walking Dead
Part of a series?: No.
The Scoring
Plot: Radiation, the source of which is never revealed, causes regular people to morph into
savage killing machines intent feeding upon the blood of the living. As I'll touch on later, the
film never adequately resolves whether or not these people are actual zombies (i.e. the
dead returned to life) or just murderous weirdoes a la C.H.U.D. or The Mutants of 2051 A.D..
Score: 3
Exposition: Nightmare City is reasonably fast-moving, which means that mercifully, it
doesn't have much time for exposition. Aside from a briefing at military H.Q., the film keeps
explanatory dialogue to a minimum, and gives us what we really want out of a zombie
movie (and/or life in general): people getting naked and/or eaten.
Score: 4
Plausibility: Let me ask you something: if you were being attacked by anyone, let alone
bloodthirsty (literally) zombies, would you call (a) the police, (b) your grandma, (c) The A-
Team, or (d) "civil defense"? I don't think I have to tell you which choice is made by some of
the people in this film. As if the notion of civil defense isn't implausible enough, there's also
the moment in the film when the military decides to implement something called
"Emergency Plan H", with plan B "in reserve". H before B? What the fuck kind of a system
is that? Alas, the implausibility in Nightmare City doesn't stop there. At one point, a woman
becomes hysterical in the face of the zombie onslaught, and a man backhands her to
restore some sense to her terror-addled brain. What’s her response to this? She initiates
a makeout session with the guy in question. I guess the moral of this is clear: sucking face
with someone who physically assaults you is a much more palatable idea than calling civil
defense.
Score: 2
Production Value: For a movie that revolves around the idea that the living are being
attacked by beings who want to eat their blood, the fake blood sucks (no pun intended).
That should tell you all that you need to know about the Nightmare City's production value.
Score: 2
Special Effects: Let me repeat the point of the last section (what?): the fake blood in
Nightmare City sucks (again, no pun intended). That's not to say, however, that all of the
effects in the film are sub-par--there are numerous throat slashes that are executed well
(pun intended--bet you didn’t see that coming), in addition to quality effects including an
arm being blown off and a hatchet to the back of the head. All of that is just sweet, sweet
dessert, however, to this film's special effects main course, an amazing instance of movie
magic that I've never seen in any other film, let alone in any other zombie movie: I can only
be talking about the jaw-dropping sequence in which we see a lawnmower driving itself!
That's right, at one point the character of Sheila Holmes hears something behind her
house; walking outside to investigate, she discovers a lawnmower driving itself across her
back lawn. This scene is self-evidently chilling, and this chilliness is only highlighted by the
fact that we're not sure whose lawnmower it is...is it Sheila's? Is it a neighbor's? Who the
hell knows? Now, some of you might be thinking, "Gee, what an ass hole, a lawnmower
driving itself seems like a pretty lame effect." Well, to you I say that you're clearly and
unforgivably forgetting the Bruce Campbell Corollary, which states, as we all know, that the
awesomeness of an appliance or power tool as a weapon in a horror movie is inversely
proportional to the mass of the person wielding said appliance/tool. That's why it's
awesome when a slim, fit person like Ash uses a chainsaw to combat demons in Evil Dead
II, and why it sucks when a big fat loser like Larry Drake kills people with medical
appliances in Dr. Giggles. It also explains why the slightly-smaller version of Leatherface in
the original The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is far superior to the beefier version featured
in the remake. But, I'm sure you know all of this, I'm only reminding you of it to highlight the
fact that a menacing lawnmower trumps most of these others films when it's not being
wielded by anyone; it's so good, I'm willing to overlook the fact that Nightmare City commits
the cardinal sin of trying to pass off a limp dummy as a real person falling off of a
rollercoaster during the film's climax. Regardless, my words cannot do the "unpiloted
lawnmower" scene justice. For it alone I recommend that you rent Nightmare City. Or, just
look at the handy still from the film that I've added below...and prepare to have your mind
blown...WITH HORROR.
Score: 4
| She's clearly terrified, and I for one don't blame her. |
Makeup: I can't figure out if the makeup in Nightmare City is utterly brilliant, or utterly crappy.
Essentially, the way the audience tells the 'zombies' from the 'normies', aside from the fact
that the former are the ones doing all the killing and eating, is by looking at their heads: if it
looks clean, it's a human; if it looks like it's covered in mud, it's a zombie. I guess what I'm
saying is that I think overall the mud-zombie-effect is kind of cool and menacing looking,
even if it looks kind of half-assed AND doesn't appear to apply to any other parts of the body.
Score: 3
Scariness: For me, the scariest moment in Nightmare City occurs when the characters of
Dean and Anna are hiding out in an abandoned gas station, and we see a cat drinking milk
out of a bowl, while pictures of Elvis Presley and Robert Redford in the role of The
Sundance Kid silently watch. How did this cat get milk in its bowl, and why were the owners
of the gas station such big Redford fans? I'm not sure that I even want to know the answers
to such questions. But, do you see what I mean? CREEPY.
Score: 2
Goriness: While Nightmare City is gory, it's not quite as gory as it seems to think it is, which
renders some of the gore kind of lame. Still, the film features a pretty sweet eye stabbing,
and tons of shots of knifes twisting around in wounds, so it earns some points here.
Score: 3
Final Scene: The final scene in Nightmare City...yikes, what can I say about this? After the
movie reaches a violent climax, the character of Dean wakes up in his bed and realizes that
"it was all a dream". However, he then goes to work and encounters events exactly as they
happened in the dream (including hearing conversations between guys hundreds of feet
away from him). Somehow, dipshit doesn't seem to remember that these events are
identical to his dream, and thus, at the very point in the film when the original bloodbath
began, the image on the screen freezes and the phrase "The nightmare becomes reality..."
crawls across the screen, followed by the credits. Pardon my French, but WHAT THE
FUCK? So, the whole movie was a dream, but then it really happens? Or is this second
time also a dream, to be repeated much like the first one was, complete with the same
ending? Was the intention of the film to show us a city facing a nightmarish situation that
actually is a nightmare, or was this just a serendipitous mistake? Is Nightmare City some
sort of low-rent Italian version of Groundhog Day, and if so, where the hell is Chris Elliott? I
could go on and on with these questions. Ultimately, I guess it's true what they say: just
because something works for Bob Newhart, that doesn't mean that the rest of us should try
it.
Score: 1
Comedy: There isn't much comedy, intentional or otherwise, in Nightmare City, but the film
does have a lot of facial hair in it, and that's got to count for something, right? Right.
Score: 2
Originality: All things being equal, Nightmare City is reasonably unique amongst zombie
movies from this era. As the director Lenzi points out on the DVD extras, when he made the
film, he was trying to put a different stamp on zombie movies, instead of trying to be a
Romero or Fulci copycat. For that he should be commended. And actually, upon reflection,
this movie also seems to have been rather influential; it seems to be an obvious reference
point for 28 Days Later, thematically and in terms of the types of "zombies" featured in the
film. So, good for you, Umberto Lenzi: your movie sucked much less than it could have.
Score: 4
Rewatchability: I think Nightmare City is definitely worth another look or two. I mean,
there's definitely enough violence to keep it interesting, and aside from that, I'd like to watch
it again just so that I could attempt to determine which ghoul is wearing the coolest, most
Cosby-worthy sweater. Seriously--one of the enjoyable threads in this movie is the fact that
many of the zombified people are wearing garish, striped sweaters that would not be out of
place in an episode of The Cosby Show. Maybe if the army had given these zombies Jell-O
Pudding Pops, they would have been pacified, and the world would have been spared such
intense carnage. All I'm saying is that in these troubled times, in addition to examining
military solutions to conflicts, we should examine dessert solutions as well. Just a thought.
Score: 3
Datedness: Nightmare City doesn't hold up very well in terms of datedness; I mean, there's
an entire sequence that revolves around zombies attacking a television studio during the
broadcast of a dance show that has Solid Gold written all over it. Then again, I think we all
know that Italy is pretty far back on the coolness curve, so maybe the movie is only dated to
my American eyes. On that note, I think I'll shut my American mouth before I say too much.
Score: 2
Essentially, the way the audience tells the 'zombies' from the 'normies', aside from the fact
that the former are the ones doing all the killing and eating, is by looking at their heads: if it
looks clean, it's a human; if it looks like it's covered in mud, it's a zombie. I guess what I'm
saying is that I think overall the mud-zombie-effect is kind of cool and menacing looking,
even if it looks kind of half-assed AND doesn't appear to apply to any other parts of the body.
Score: 3
Scariness: For me, the scariest moment in Nightmare City occurs when the characters of
Dean and Anna are hiding out in an abandoned gas station, and we see a cat drinking milk
out of a bowl, while pictures of Elvis Presley and Robert Redford in the role of The
Sundance Kid silently watch. How did this cat get milk in its bowl, and why were the owners
of the gas station such big Redford fans? I'm not sure that I even want to know the answers
to such questions. But, do you see what I mean? CREEPY.
Score: 2
Goriness: While Nightmare City is gory, it's not quite as gory as it seems to think it is, which
renders some of the gore kind of lame. Still, the film features a pretty sweet eye stabbing,
and tons of shots of knifes twisting around in wounds, so it earns some points here.
Score: 3
Final Scene: The final scene in Nightmare City...yikes, what can I say about this? After the
movie reaches a violent climax, the character of Dean wakes up in his bed and realizes that
"it was all a dream". However, he then goes to work and encounters events exactly as they
happened in the dream (including hearing conversations between guys hundreds of feet
away from him). Somehow, dipshit doesn't seem to remember that these events are
identical to his dream, and thus, at the very point in the film when the original bloodbath
began, the image on the screen freezes and the phrase "The nightmare becomes reality..."
crawls across the screen, followed by the credits. Pardon my French, but WHAT THE
FUCK? So, the whole movie was a dream, but then it really happens? Or is this second
time also a dream, to be repeated much like the first one was, complete with the same
ending? Was the intention of the film to show us a city facing a nightmarish situation that
actually is a nightmare, or was this just a serendipitous mistake? Is Nightmare City some
sort of low-rent Italian version of Groundhog Day, and if so, where the hell is Chris Elliott? I
could go on and on with these questions. Ultimately, I guess it's true what they say: just
because something works for Bob Newhart, that doesn't mean that the rest of us should try
it.
Score: 1
Comedy: There isn't much comedy, intentional or otherwise, in Nightmare City, but the film
does have a lot of facial hair in it, and that's got to count for something, right? Right.
Score: 2
Originality: All things being equal, Nightmare City is reasonably unique amongst zombie
movies from this era. As the director Lenzi points out on the DVD extras, when he made the
film, he was trying to put a different stamp on zombie movies, instead of trying to be a
Romero or Fulci copycat. For that he should be commended. And actually, upon reflection,
this movie also seems to have been rather influential; it seems to be an obvious reference
point for 28 Days Later, thematically and in terms of the types of "zombies" featured in the
film. So, good for you, Umberto Lenzi: your movie sucked much less than it could have.
Score: 4
Rewatchability: I think Nightmare City is definitely worth another look or two. I mean,
there's definitely enough violence to keep it interesting, and aside from that, I'd like to watch
it again just so that I could attempt to determine which ghoul is wearing the coolest, most
Cosby-worthy sweater. Seriously--one of the enjoyable threads in this movie is the fact that
many of the zombified people are wearing garish, striped sweaters that would not be out of
place in an episode of The Cosby Show. Maybe if the army had given these zombies Jell-O
Pudding Pops, they would have been pacified, and the world would have been spared such
intense carnage. All I'm saying is that in these troubled times, in addition to examining
military solutions to conflicts, we should examine dessert solutions as well. Just a thought.
Score: 3
Datedness: Nightmare City doesn't hold up very well in terms of datedness; I mean, there's
an entire sequence that revolves around zombies attacking a television studio during the
broadcast of a dance show that has Solid Gold written all over it. Then again, I think we all
know that Italy is pretty far back on the coolness curve, so maybe the movie is only dated to
my American eyes. On that note, I think I'll shut my American mouth before I say too much.
Score: 2
| The almost-Solid Gold dancers, shortly before being butchered. |
Soundtrack: The music in Nightmare City, composed by Stelvio Cipriani, isn't really worthy
of praise, nor should it be the target of criticism. It's simply more of the moody synth stuff
that seems to be endemic to zombie movies from this period. Zzzzzzzzz.
Score: 3
Breast Factor/Nudity: Whoo whee, the titties they be a-flying in this film. Alas, despite
many, many boobie shots, the VAST majority occur during attack scenes, which is quite
disturbing. More on this later.
Score: 3
Lead Actor: Nightmare City features competing lead actors: Hugo Stiglitz as Dean Miller,
and Francisco Rabal as Major Warren Holmes. I didn't find either actor to be compelling or
horrible; however, on Nightmare City's DVD release, there's a mini-documentary about the
film that features Umberto Lenzi pointing out that he was forced to use Stiglitz in the film,
and that this is a shame because he was an incredibly "stiff" actor (wouldn't you want
someone like that in a zombie movie?). I didn't think he was that bad, and I didn't think that
Rabal was noticeably better than him, even though Lenzi seems convinced of his
awesomeness. So, I'm at a loss as to how to score this category. Let's just call it down the
middle on move on, shall we?
Score: 3
Sidekick(s)/Love Interest: Much like there are two leading men, the film features two love
interests as well, Laura Trotter as Anna Miller (Stiglitz's squeeze), and Maria Rosaria
Omaggio as Sheila Holmes (Warren Holmes' homely honey). Seeing as how the women
characters are never developed or fleshed out (unless their flesh is out, if you know what I
mean) in films like this, I guess I'll just say that both are competent actresses and are nice
to look at.
Score: 4
Overall Cast: What can I say here? Many of the dudes in the cast of Nightmare City
resemble porn actors, but they’re at least good enough to get the acting job done. What
more could you ask for? Nothing, that's what.
Score: 3
of praise, nor should it be the target of criticism. It's simply more of the moody synth stuff
that seems to be endemic to zombie movies from this period. Zzzzzzzzz.
Score: 3
Breast Factor/Nudity: Whoo whee, the titties they be a-flying in this film. Alas, despite
many, many boobie shots, the VAST majority occur during attack scenes, which is quite
disturbing. More on this later.
Score: 3
Lead Actor: Nightmare City features competing lead actors: Hugo Stiglitz as Dean Miller,
and Francisco Rabal as Major Warren Holmes. I didn't find either actor to be compelling or
horrible; however, on Nightmare City's DVD release, there's a mini-documentary about the
film that features Umberto Lenzi pointing out that he was forced to use Stiglitz in the film,
and that this is a shame because he was an incredibly "stiff" actor (wouldn't you want
someone like that in a zombie movie?). I didn't think he was that bad, and I didn't think that
Rabal was noticeably better than him, even though Lenzi seems convinced of his
awesomeness. So, I'm at a loss as to how to score this category. Let's just call it down the
middle on move on, shall we?
Score: 3
Sidekick(s)/Love Interest: Much like there are two leading men, the film features two love
interests as well, Laura Trotter as Anna Miller (Stiglitz's squeeze), and Maria Rosaria
Omaggio as Sheila Holmes (Warren Holmes' homely honey). Seeing as how the women
characters are never developed or fleshed out (unless their flesh is out, if you know what I
mean) in films like this, I guess I'll just say that both are competent actresses and are nice
to look at.
Score: 4
Overall Cast: What can I say here? Many of the dudes in the cast of Nightmare City
resemble porn actors, but they’re at least good enough to get the acting job done. What
more could you ask for? Nothing, that's what.
Score: 3
| Porn star or army officer? You make the call. |
Token Scientist: There’s some colonel dude that shows up about 28 minutes into the film
and does some scientisty-type stuff. Works for me.
Score: 3
Token Fat Guy: I'll be blunt: Nightmare City doesn't feature any fat guys, thus making it more
of a nightmare than it realizes.
Score: 1
Best Line: Unfortunately, Nightmare City doesn't have a truly great line on which to hang its
hat. I guess some of the dialogue is memorable, just in a baffling way, as in, for example,
the scene in the hospital when the victims of zombie attacks are being carted in by the truck-
full, and someone comments that "They're coming in like flies!" Um, what? I mean, do flies
get sick a lot? And if so, do they then go to the hospital? What kind of insurance rates do
they get? I guess I could understand flies being frequently sick--I suppose they do spend
the better part of their day sitting on piles of feces. Anyways, "best line honorable mention"
has to go to this line: "I don't give a damn about the Defense Department!", simply because
I myself have said that on a number of occasions. Alas, when that's the best line in the film,
nobody wins, zombies or otherwise.
Score: 1
Intangibles: Despite some of its flaws, the overall moodiness and randomly violent nature
of Nightmare City elevate it above the status of "just another zombie movie." Again, I have
to point out that at least the film does a lot of things in its own way, and its seeming
influence on 28 Days Later has to count for something.
Score: 3
Zombie Believability: The zombies are more than reasonably believable in Nightmare City,
as they act cunning in the way that only those who are SERIOUSLY thirsty for blood could do
(don't ask me how I know this). I mean, they stage coordinated assaults, they effectively
use a variety of weapons, they cut phone lines, they ransack a car, and perhaps most
importantly: they attack a work of art...if there's one thing that I know about the living dead,
it's that they hate self expression.
Score: 4
and does some scientisty-type stuff. Works for me.
Score: 3
Token Fat Guy: I'll be blunt: Nightmare City doesn't feature any fat guys, thus making it more
of a nightmare than it realizes.
Score: 1
Best Line: Unfortunately, Nightmare City doesn't have a truly great line on which to hang its
hat. I guess some of the dialogue is memorable, just in a baffling way, as in, for example,
the scene in the hospital when the victims of zombie attacks are being carted in by the truck-
full, and someone comments that "They're coming in like flies!" Um, what? I mean, do flies
get sick a lot? And if so, do they then go to the hospital? What kind of insurance rates do
they get? I guess I could understand flies being frequently sick--I suppose they do spend
the better part of their day sitting on piles of feces. Anyways, "best line honorable mention"
has to go to this line: "I don't give a damn about the Defense Department!", simply because
I myself have said that on a number of occasions. Alas, when that's the best line in the film,
nobody wins, zombies or otherwise.
Score: 1
Intangibles: Despite some of its flaws, the overall moodiness and randomly violent nature
of Nightmare City elevate it above the status of "just another zombie movie." Again, I have
to point out that at least the film does a lot of things in its own way, and its seeming
influence on 28 Days Later has to count for something.
Score: 3
Zombie Believability: The zombies are more than reasonably believable in Nightmare City,
as they act cunning in the way that only those who are SERIOUSLY thirsty for blood could do
(don't ask me how I know this). I mean, they stage coordinated assaults, they effectively
use a variety of weapons, they cut phone lines, they ransack a car, and perhaps most
importantly: they attack a work of art...if there's one thing that I know about the living dead,
it's that they hate self expression.
Score: 4
| Take that, Picasso. |
Zombie Attack Scenes: Much to its credit, Nightmare City features a ton of zombie attack
scenes, which all take place in rather interesting locales, including an airfield, a television
studio, a power station, a hospital, and an amusement park. Seriously, these locations are
picturesque to the point that the film almost feels like a video game at times. I might regret
saying this, but I think I'd much rather play the Nightmare City video game than I would Pac
Man. It just seems more interesting.
Score: 5
Zombie "Orgy" Scenes: The film features a few full-on zombie "orgy" scenes, including an
extended one at a hospital which is almost worth price of admission by itself. Additionally,
there's one in a field filled with enough carnage to make it not unlike Woodstock. Which
Woodstock? You'll have to be the judge of that one.
Score: 4
Anti-Zombie Weaponry: Nightmare City features your normal assortment of anti-zombie
weapons, including all manner of firearm and club. Additionally, some of the people in the
film find hurling Molotov Cocktails made out of orange soda to be a quite handy anti-zombie
weapon. All of that being said, let me tell you what isn't an anti-zombie weapon in this film:
breasts. Honestly (and disturbingly), virtually every time that you see a woman's breasts in
this film, they're almost immediately stabbed or slashed or eaten. At one point, a zombie
actually severs a woman's breast before killing her. Thankfully, such bosom chicanery
(a.k.a., "boscanery") didn't seem to influence any subsequent zombie movies. Frankly, I
don't want to live in a world where zombies hate breasts almost as much as they hate
people. It just doesn't seem right.
Score: 5
scenes, which all take place in rather interesting locales, including an airfield, a television
studio, a power station, a hospital, and an amusement park. Seriously, these locations are
picturesque to the point that the film almost feels like a video game at times. I might regret
saying this, but I think I'd much rather play the Nightmare City video game than I would Pac
Man. It just seems more interesting.
Score: 5
Zombie "Orgy" Scenes: The film features a few full-on zombie "orgy" scenes, including an
extended one at a hospital which is almost worth price of admission by itself. Additionally,
there's one in a field filled with enough carnage to make it not unlike Woodstock. Which
Woodstock? You'll have to be the judge of that one.
Score: 4
Anti-Zombie Weaponry: Nightmare City features your normal assortment of anti-zombie
weapons, including all manner of firearm and club. Additionally, some of the people in the
film find hurling Molotov Cocktails made out of orange soda to be a quite handy anti-zombie
weapon. All of that being said, let me tell you what isn't an anti-zombie weapon in this film:
breasts. Honestly (and disturbingly), virtually every time that you see a woman's breasts in
this film, they're almost immediately stabbed or slashed or eaten. At one point, a zombie
actually severs a woman's breast before killing her. Thankfully, such bosom chicanery
(a.k.a., "boscanery") didn't seem to influence any subsequent zombie movies. Frankly, I
don't want to live in a world where zombies hate breasts almost as much as they hate
people. It just doesn't seem right.
Score: 5
| Is anybody thirsty? |
Zombification Explanation: We never really get an adequate explanation as to why people
are turning into mud-heads hell-bent on eating the blood on the living. Sure, at some point,
an attempt is made to explain that some sort of atomic radiation leak is causing people to
lose blood and go crazy and eat the blood of the living to stay "alive", but it's pretty
half-assed. Still, as long as the zombies keep killing people in cool ways, who really cares
why they're being zombified?
Score: 2
Zombie "Uniqueness": Considering that the overall film is, as mentioned, quite unique
(comparatively speaking), it should come as no surprise that the zombies themselves are
unique as well. In addition to their aforementioned weapon and assault skills, they can
also apparently drive cars and climb roller coasters. I've never seen zombies do that
before. And, as if all of that weren't enough, at one point, we actually see a zombie use a
candle as a club. AWESOME! Still, the notion of uniqueness brings to mind a nagging
issue at the center of this film (and, coincidentally enough, of 28 Days Later as well): can
we really consider the antagonists in this movie to be zombies? Sure, they're ugly as hell
and they like to eat people, BUT as near as I can tell, they're not corpses that have been
reanimated to walk the Earth, i.e. the "living dead"; rather, they're people who have been
mutated into mindless savages thirsty for tasty, tasty blood. Are flesh-munching undead
equal to blood eating freaks? I have no idea. I guess the answer is pretty obvious when
you consider that this movie was included in a 6-pack collection of zombie movies that I
purchased. Still, I think a case can be made that this isn't actually a zombie movie proper,
but rather one that belongs in that nebulous category of "movies that are kind of like and are
almost zombie movies because they feature mindless drones, but which have
impossible-to-ignore features which render them non-zombie movies" (a category, which,
while obnoxiously and unnecessarily verbose, contains such notable films as Shivers,
Shock Waves, and Scent of a Woman). But, I guess this is another topic for another time.
Score: 4
Zombie Consistency: The zombie consistency in this film is quite high--the zombies all act
alike, and of course there's that aforementioned sweater thing. The nice thing about this is
the fact that if the zombies aren't wearing sweaters, odds are they're wearing a sport coat;
such finery makes the zombies, as a group, look quite spiffy, and it makes them more
consistent than beings that don't wear any clothes at all, you know? Of course you do.
Score: 4
Signature Zombie: Alas, the fact that the zombies are so consistent unfortunately prevents
Nightmare City from having a signature zombie, because the zombies all look and act alike
at pretty much all times. Aside from one zombie who kind of reminds me of one of the dude
from The Hills Have Eyes, all of the living dead in this movie are indistinguishable from one
another. Would name tags have been too much to ask for? I don't think so.
Score: 1
are turning into mud-heads hell-bent on eating the blood on the living. Sure, at some point,
an attempt is made to explain that some sort of atomic radiation leak is causing people to
lose blood and go crazy and eat the blood of the living to stay "alive", but it's pretty
half-assed. Still, as long as the zombies keep killing people in cool ways, who really cares
why they're being zombified?
Score: 2
Zombie "Uniqueness": Considering that the overall film is, as mentioned, quite unique
(comparatively speaking), it should come as no surprise that the zombies themselves are
unique as well. In addition to their aforementioned weapon and assault skills, they can
also apparently drive cars and climb roller coasters. I've never seen zombies do that
before. And, as if all of that weren't enough, at one point, we actually see a zombie use a
candle as a club. AWESOME! Still, the notion of uniqueness brings to mind a nagging
issue at the center of this film (and, coincidentally enough, of 28 Days Later as well): can
we really consider the antagonists in this movie to be zombies? Sure, they're ugly as hell
and they like to eat people, BUT as near as I can tell, they're not corpses that have been
reanimated to walk the Earth, i.e. the "living dead"; rather, they're people who have been
mutated into mindless savages thirsty for tasty, tasty blood. Are flesh-munching undead
equal to blood eating freaks? I have no idea. I guess the answer is pretty obvious when
you consider that this movie was included in a 6-pack collection of zombie movies that I
purchased. Still, I think a case can be made that this isn't actually a zombie movie proper,
but rather one that belongs in that nebulous category of "movies that are kind of like and are
almost zombie movies because they feature mindless drones, but which have
impossible-to-ignore features which render them non-zombie movies" (a category, which,
while obnoxiously and unnecessarily verbose, contains such notable films as Shivers,
Shock Waves, and Scent of a Woman). But, I guess this is another topic for another time.
Score: 4
Zombie Consistency: The zombie consistency in this film is quite high--the zombies all act
alike, and of course there's that aforementioned sweater thing. The nice thing about this is
the fact that if the zombies aren't wearing sweaters, odds are they're wearing a sport coat;
such finery makes the zombies, as a group, look quite spiffy, and it makes them more
consistent than beings that don't wear any clothes at all, you know? Of course you do.
Score: 4
Signature Zombie: Alas, the fact that the zombies are so consistent unfortunately prevents
Nightmare City from having a signature zombie, because the zombies all look and act alike
at pretty much all times. Aside from one zombie who kind of reminds me of one of the dude
from The Hills Have Eyes, all of the living dead in this movie are indistinguishable from one
another. Would name tags have been too much to ask for? I don't think so.
Score: 1
| The Hills Have Zombies |
Total Points: 88
Verdict: I've dished out a fair amount of insults and/or backhanded compliments during this
review, but to honest with you, I quite enjoyed Nightmare City. It certainly has it's flaws, but
it never takes itself too seriously, and does a lot of the little things right, enough to the point
that it holds your attention all the way through to the ridiculous dream ending. I guess
ultimately this movie is a lot like making out with someone who's about to pass out: it's an
enjoyable enough experience, it's just disappointing at the end.
Next Time: Day of the Dead
Verdict: I've dished out a fair amount of insults and/or backhanded compliments during this
review, but to honest with you, I quite enjoyed Nightmare City. It certainly has it's flaws, but
it never takes itself too seriously, and does a lot of the little things right, enough to the point
that it holds your attention all the way through to the ridiculous dream ending. I guess
ultimately this movie is a lot like making out with someone who's about to pass out: it's an
enjoyable enough experience, it's just disappointing at the end.
Next Time: Day of the Dead
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