Sure it may seem ridiculous to modern audiences, but it is important to remember this film was made several years before the Geneva Convention outlawed the use of knives and hatchets by zombies, as well as such zombie subterfuge tactics as cutting phone lines and sneaking up on people and choking them with a bit of rope, and the implementation of spear-guns. This is actually all quite historically accurate.
145 Reviews
Surprisingly entertaining.
Ky-D22 April 2005
Better known for his jungle cannibal opus "Make Them Die Slowly", Lenzi has here a much more accomplished and entertaining gut muncher.
On an unassuming day, a nuclear scientist is supposed to arrive with important research. His plane breaks flight patterns and lands unannounced. When authorities go to investigate, they find all the people on board are infected with strange kind of radiation poisoning and have turned into violent, cannibalistic zombies. The zombies then begin attacking any and every one in sight; hacking, shooting and eating all they can. Escaping the city is the only hope.
Coming out in 1980, this was pretty late in the cannibal/zombie movie cycle. Fortunately, Lenzi changes up the formula just enough to keep things from being stale. The zombies are are fast, intelligent and have no problem utilizing tools and weapons. Lenzi also ad hears to just enough genre clichés to keep fans happy. There is blood and gore aplenty, random flashes of nudity and some wonderfully cheesy dialogue.
On the technical side, the film is right on par with other films in the same category. Acting ranges from to OK to plain bad, lighting and sound get the job done but never excel, and the writing works well enough to move from point A to point B. One nice element is the pacing, which is refreshingly brisk and free of clutter.
Over all, this is one of the better made and more amusing of the cannibal/zombie films from days gone by. Genre fans should check it out.
7/10
On an unassuming day, a nuclear scientist is supposed to arrive with important research. His plane breaks flight patterns and lands unannounced. When authorities go to investigate, they find all the people on board are infected with strange kind of radiation poisoning and have turned into violent, cannibalistic zombies. The zombies then begin attacking any and every one in sight; hacking, shooting and eating all they can. Escaping the city is the only hope.
Coming out in 1980, this was pretty late in the cannibal/zombie movie cycle. Fortunately, Lenzi changes up the formula just enough to keep things from being stale. The zombies are are fast, intelligent and have no problem utilizing tools and weapons. Lenzi also ad hears to just enough genre clichés to keep fans happy. There is blood and gore aplenty, random flashes of nudity and some wonderfully cheesy dialogue.
On the technical side, the film is right on par with other films in the same category. Acting ranges from to OK to plain bad, lighting and sound get the job done but never excel, and the writing works well enough to move from point A to point B. One nice element is the pacing, which is refreshingly brisk and free of clutter.
Over all, this is one of the better made and more amusing of the cannibal/zombie films from days gone by. Genre fans should check it out.
7/10
The best of the best!! spectacularly entertaining and surprisingly original.
amazing_sincodek20 May 2009
disclaimer: obviously, if you don't have a pre-existing love for zero-budget Italian horror, this won't be your cup of tea.
But if you do! My, what a treat! I overlooked this film for years because I confused it with "City of the Living Dead." I otherwise exhausted the genre's offerings. When I realized I hadn't seen this one, I was very excited, but I didn't expect much. I was in for a pleasant surprise.
Ugh, I'm no good at paragraph format.
The Pros: 1. The title, "City of the Walking Dead," is appropriate. This really is a city-wide infestation. This is not a board-up-the-windows movie. The scale is epic. So often, low budget zombie films restrict themselves to a few characters on a farm or something to save money. This one doesn't. I can't imagine how he was able to use some of the locations. (Actually, I suppose the title isn't quite appropriate, because the antagonists are neither walking nor dead. They run, and they're sort of still alive.)
2. Breasts are present.
3. I usually don't like zombies that deviate from Romero's mold, but Lenzi takes a risk and scores. These creatures combine the hypnotic element of Romero's zombies with the overwhelming danger of running zombies. According to an interview on the DVD, Lenzi did not want to just do another Romero rip-off, and insisted on coming up with his own sort of creature. He did it well.
4. For the first 2/3 of the film, the characters are sufficiently believable for the viewer to care about them. For example, a reporter finds himself in the middle of the zombie outbreak, and desperately tries to get a hold of his wife, a doctor, who can't be reached because she's in surgery. This is a realistic, human element absent from most films in the genre.
Cons:
1. 2/3 of the way through, it kind of falls apart. The characters who haven't died reveal themselves to be one dimensional after all.
2. The special effects are really inconsistent. Sometimes killings are mimed bloodlessly. In other scenes, heads explode.
3. The soldiers are pathetic.
In short, highly recommended.
But if you do! My, what a treat! I overlooked this film for years because I confused it with "City of the Living Dead." I otherwise exhausted the genre's offerings. When I realized I hadn't seen this one, I was very excited, but I didn't expect much. I was in for a pleasant surprise.
Ugh, I'm no good at paragraph format.
The Pros: 1. The title, "City of the Walking Dead," is appropriate. This really is a city-wide infestation. This is not a board-up-the-windows movie. The scale is epic. So often, low budget zombie films restrict themselves to a few characters on a farm or something to save money. This one doesn't. I can't imagine how he was able to use some of the locations. (Actually, I suppose the title isn't quite appropriate, because the antagonists are neither walking nor dead. They run, and they're sort of still alive.)
2. Breasts are present.
3. I usually don't like zombies that deviate from Romero's mold, but Lenzi takes a risk and scores. These creatures combine the hypnotic element of Romero's zombies with the overwhelming danger of running zombies. According to an interview on the DVD, Lenzi did not want to just do another Romero rip-off, and insisted on coming up with his own sort of creature. He did it well.
4. For the first 2/3 of the film, the characters are sufficiently believable for the viewer to care about them. For example, a reporter finds himself in the middle of the zombie outbreak, and desperately tries to get a hold of his wife, a doctor, who can't be reached because she's in surgery. This is a realistic, human element absent from most films in the genre.
Cons:
1. 2/3 of the way through, it kind of falls apart. The characters who haven't died reveal themselves to be one dimensional after all.
2. The special effects are really inconsistent. Sometimes killings are mimed bloodlessly. In other scenes, heads explode.
3. The soldiers are pathetic.
In short, highly recommended.
Well constructed horror trash
amesmonde26 May 2011
On an airfield a plane's door opens and bloodthirsty zombies burst out and begin to overrun the city. TV news reporter Dean Miller must find his wife and escape the city's crazed killers.
Nightmare City (Incubo Sulla Cittá Contaminata)is a crude mix of the Crazies, Let Sleeping Corpse Lie to name a few. It also has a slight ambiance of Shivers and Rabid.
As you'd expect it's suffers from the failings of most Italian gore pictures of the time, bad dialogue etc. Nightmare City is certainly a product of its time. Nevertheless, while the makeup is terrible, the leads are more than effective. Umberto Lenzi's camera work, direction and starkness of the city setting are appealing. It's fast paced - packed with comic –like violence of stabbings, biting, hacking and shootings as the zombie maniacs cause blood soaked havoc in the city and surrounding areas.
The ending twist is quiet refreshing and although a cliché you don't see the device used these days. While not a zombie film in the truest sense, they move fast, can weld machetes and fire guns it's a competent splatter film that is far better constructed and executed than Bruno Mattei's Zombie Creeping Flesh (1980) made the same year.
Overall, it's one of the better trash horrors out there.
Nightmare City (Incubo Sulla Cittá Contaminata)is a crude mix of the Crazies, Let Sleeping Corpse Lie to name a few. It also has a slight ambiance of Shivers and Rabid.
As you'd expect it's suffers from the failings of most Italian gore pictures of the time, bad dialogue etc. Nightmare City is certainly a product of its time. Nevertheless, while the makeup is terrible, the leads are more than effective. Umberto Lenzi's camera work, direction and starkness of the city setting are appealing. It's fast paced - packed with comic –like violence of stabbings, biting, hacking and shootings as the zombie maniacs cause blood soaked havoc in the city and surrounding areas.
The ending twist is quiet refreshing and although a cliché you don't see the device used these days. While not a zombie film in the truest sense, they move fast, can weld machetes and fire guns it's a competent splatter film that is far better constructed and executed than Bruno Mattei's Zombie Creeping Flesh (1980) made the same year.
Overall, it's one of the better trash horrors out there.
Incubo sulla città contaminata: A weak link in Italian zombie cinema
Platypuschow19 September 2017
Once upon a time Italy was infamous for it's zombie movies, they became the stuff of legends and generally were of the highest quality especially considering the age. Sadly the 90's hit and they rapidly faded away.
Nightmare City is an odd one because the creatures featured aren't actually zombies, in fact it never truly establishes what they are.
With a zombie appearance but vampire thirst, they have a clear consciousness and desire for the use of weapons they weren't very appealing.
Thankfully the usual Italian tropes were there including the fitting soundtrack, but these creatures just didn't make entertaining antagonists.
Nightmare City is watchable but is highly anti-climatic next to the greats. Only to be viewed with the realization this is not a zombie film.
The Good:
Soundtrack
The Bad:
Standard 60's-80's red paint blood
Simply not very likable
Awful finale, just why would they do that?
Nightmare City is an odd one because the creatures featured aren't actually zombies, in fact it never truly establishes what they are.
With a zombie appearance but vampire thirst, they have a clear consciousness and desire for the use of weapons they weren't very appealing.
Thankfully the usual Italian tropes were there including the fitting soundtrack, but these creatures just didn't make entertaining antagonists.
Nightmare City is watchable but is highly anti-climatic next to the greats. Only to be viewed with the realization this is not a zombie film.
The Good:
Soundtrack
The Bad:
Standard 60's-80's red paint blood
Simply not very likable
Awful finale, just why would they do that?
Enjoyable gorefest has its "heart" in the right place.
gridoon26 December 2002
Despite the atrocious dubbing and the poor makeup effects, this is an extremely enjoyable zombie flick, with a unique "mood" that perhaps only an Italian production like this one could have captured. The mass attack sequences (which must have been great fun to shoot for the people involved, especially the "zombies") are all standouts. (***)
Yes is a nightmare
iliasalk3 October 2019
Cheap gore...Great fun!
Coventry27 June 2004
Thank you George A. Romero!! If it wasn't for your zombiefilms like `Night of the Living Dead' and `Dawn of the Dead', we never would have received all these fun Italian rip-offs. Umberto Lenzi was the man responsible for this `Nightmare City'. Lenzi is an enthusiast schlock-director with an unhealthy obsession for blood and guts. Within a period of only two years, he made 3 Italian gore classics including this one, `Eaten Alive' and top of the bill the notorious `Cannibal Ferox'. The latter is shocking
this film is just fun! An apocalyptic horror film with non-stop action and an constantly growing army of superzombies! Zombies according to Lenzi are a bit more energetic than usual
They drive cars and use guns! Technically, they're aren't even zombies but radioactively contaminated victims of a nuclear accident. They arrive in an airplane and soon, the whole city is infested.
The make-up effects are so cheap and nasty it almost becomes hilarious. It seems like the zombies' heads are covered in mud and you can almost smell their rotting flesh. Lots of heads are being shot off and multiple throats are being slit perfect entertainment if you're a horror lover in other words. Don't bother if you're an opinionated horror-hater or an amateur-critic, though. I'll spare you the effort: the script of `Nightmare City' is as weak as they come (with a very disappointing ending) and the acting is atrocious. If you're a diehard horror-freak with a soft spot for Italian cult, however, this will be one of the most pleasing films you'll ever see.
The make-up effects are so cheap and nasty it almost becomes hilarious. It seems like the zombies' heads are covered in mud and you can almost smell their rotting flesh. Lots of heads are being shot off and multiple throats are being slit perfect entertainment if you're a horror lover in other words. Don't bother if you're an opinionated horror-hater or an amateur-critic, though. I'll spare you the effort: the script of `Nightmare City' is as weak as they come (with a very disappointing ending) and the acting is atrocious. If you're a diehard horror-freak with a soft spot for Italian cult, however, this will be one of the most pleasing films you'll ever see.
Proves that you can make a really bad walking dead film.
silversprdave1 April 2001
Up until I saw this film, I thought a movie that followed the "walking dead" formula couldn't miss. It seemed to be the horror film equivalent of the blues; the same tune just keeps making good music. This movie proves that wrong. This badly dubbed Italian production is a cheap imitation of the walking dead film genre. The films initial setting at an airport and the cheap, unconvincing makeup make the zombies, who moved like regular people, appear to be some kind of indestructible terrorist group. How disgusting! A really bad ending makes for no merit whatsoever for this film. Where is that "zero" rating.
Weird Horror Movie
claudio_carvalho15 February 2009
The reporter Dean Miller (Hugo Stiglitz) is assigned with his cameraman to interview a scientist that is arriving in the local airport. While waiting for the arrival, an unidentified Hercules makes an emergency landing and is surrounded by a military force. When the doors open, a legion of blood thirsty creatures commanded by the scientist attack the soldiers, killing them with hatchets and drinking their blood. Dean tries to warn the population about the happening but is censored by General Murchison (Mel Ferrer). Later the military leaders discover that the creatures have not come from the outer space, but are human beings contaminated by radiation and needing to drink blood to stay undead. Dean unsuccessfully calls his wife Dr. Anna Miller (Laura Trotter) and heads to the hospital where she works, trying to escape from the city crowded of the increasing walking dead creatures.
The trash "Incubo Sulla Città Contaminate" a.k.a. "City of the Walking Dead" or "Nightmare City" is a weird horror movie that could be better and better with a best selection of the lead couple. The uptight Hugo Stiglitz is not tailored for the role of hero and is an awful selection from the producers, and Laura Trotter is too stupid for a doctor, recalling those women from the 40's or 50's that used to scream in every dangerous situation and run to the arms of the hero. The killers are not zombies like in "The Last Man on Earth" or the way George A. Romero has become famous in "Night of the Living Dead", with slow and gruesome movements, but actually a kind of unbeatable "warrior vampire" with appearance of zombie. My vote is six.
Title (Brazil): Not Available
The trash "Incubo Sulla Città Contaminate" a.k.a. "City of the Walking Dead" or "Nightmare City" is a weird horror movie that could be better and better with a best selection of the lead couple. The uptight Hugo Stiglitz is not tailored for the role of hero and is an awful selection from the producers, and Laura Trotter is too stupid for a doctor, recalling those women from the 40's or 50's that used to scream in every dangerous situation and run to the arms of the hero. The killers are not zombies like in "The Last Man on Earth" or the way George A. Romero has become famous in "Night of the Living Dead", with slow and gruesome movements, but actually a kind of unbeatable "warrior vampire" with appearance of zombie. My vote is six.
Title (Brazil): Not Available
"Aim for the brain."
morrison-dylan-fan9 January 2020
Warning: Spoilers
Nearing the end of my viewings for the Italian Challenge on ICM,I got in the mood to view a "new" flick from Umberto Lenzi. Despite this being one of the first Lenzi's I heard of,I've somehow kept missing the chance to play it,which led to me deciding to finally enter the city.
View on the film:
Stating in a interview on the DVD that he hated the script and was having constant rows with the producers over their demands for more "Zombie looking" baddies, the distaste director Umberto Lenzi had for the film bites down hard on the screen, as Lenzi's distinctive rapid-fire whip-pans plunge the viewer into burning red gore-dripping zombies (or as Lenzi demanded they were called "Contaminated People") Drive-In munching on naked fitties, but instead of panning towards a pulpy atmosphere, Lenzi pulls to stilted wide-shots on the sparsely dressed sets and stubborn close-ups on the poor burn marks-style zombie make up.
Nibbling at potential thanks to the writers giving hints the zombies are able to plan attacks and use weapons, the 3 writers (!) utterly wastes it all with a stop-start process which never allows the film to fully explore the cunning mind-set of the zombies, in order to push the humans whose on the run adventure hits a dead end as none of the relationships are built on in the nightmare city.
View on the film:
Stating in a interview on the DVD that he hated the script and was having constant rows with the producers over their demands for more "Zombie looking" baddies, the distaste director Umberto Lenzi had for the film bites down hard on the screen, as Lenzi's distinctive rapid-fire whip-pans plunge the viewer into burning red gore-dripping zombies (or as Lenzi demanded they were called "Contaminated People") Drive-In munching on naked fitties, but instead of panning towards a pulpy atmosphere, Lenzi pulls to stilted wide-shots on the sparsely dressed sets and stubborn close-ups on the poor burn marks-style zombie make up.
Nibbling at potential thanks to the writers giving hints the zombies are able to plan attacks and use weapons, the 3 writers (!) utterly wastes it all with a stop-start process which never allows the film to fully explore the cunning mind-set of the zombies, in order to push the humans whose on the run adventure hits a dead end as none of the relationships are built on in the nightmare city.
Awesome Zombie Flick
reverendtom10 December 2006
This one has it all, great soundtrack, toxic zombies running amock, groovy clothes and general madness and mayhem. The zombies aren't really zombies, per se, as they haven't died and come back to life, but they are infected with some bizarre radiation (or something) that makes them wanna eat humans. So, the "zombies" in this film can run, use weapons, etc. Makes for some fun entertainment. The "zombies" in this film look sort of like the Toxic Avenger. The ending is really bizarre and will leave you scratching your head, but again, overall this is a fun as hell gory romp. Its great, too, because the insanity starts very early in the film and doesn't let up right until the end. Highly recommended to lovers of Italian horror and zombies.
Utterly ridiculous, but extremely entertaining
Shattered_Wake8 February 2010
Warning: Spoilers
The story begins when bearded journalist Dean (Hugo Stilitz) is sent to the local airport to meet an incoming scientist for an interview. When he arrives, a mysterious military plane enters the airport's airspace without permission. It makes an emergency landing and sits quiet. After a short while, the hatch opens and a group of blood-thirsty, deformed zombies armed with knives and daggers and, later, guns stumble out and kill everyone at the airport. When the Department of Defense stops bearded journalist Dean from broadcasting the news about the attack, bearded journalist Dean goes all "first amendment" and tries to get the news out anyway. . . by quitting the TV station he works for. As the zombies spread across the city, bearded former journalist Dean searches for his wife (Laura Trotter) before the radioactive creatures get to her as well.
Sitting down to write a review for a film like 'Nightmare City,' I have no idea where to truly begin. The whole film is so unbelievably ridiculous, it's difficult to truly put down any kind of serious opinion on it. It's a low-budget Italian gore show, so clearly we're not going into it to judge the writing or acting or direction. All we want is to be entertained and grossed out. Well, 'Nightmare City' definitely delivers on both counts. The entertainment value is extremely high. From the beginning, it's just good fun. There's plenty of crazy-looking zombies running amok, attacking whomever the hell they want. Because that's what zombies do. And these ones use knives. Big knives. And guns. Big guns. And, sure, the knives don't actually STAB anyone in the movie and the bullets don't actually leave bullet holes. . . but who needs any of that with the extra-red blood spurting out? Luckily for 'Nightmare City,' this alteration to the typical zombie formula helps the film from falling in with the rest and being forgotten entirely. Well, that, and the random, poorly choreographed Jazzercise scenes. One thing I loved the most was the random sensitivity of the zombies. One minute they're getting shot, stabbed, and punched, and they don't have a worry in the world. Next minute, slamming their fingers in a door causes unbelievable agony. Poor guys.
Overall, if you're looking for some ridiculous '80s fun with plenty of blood, beards, and boobs, check out Umberto Lenzi's 'Nightmare City.'
Final Verdict: 6.5/10.
-AP3-
Sitting down to write a review for a film like 'Nightmare City,' I have no idea where to truly begin. The whole film is so unbelievably ridiculous, it's difficult to truly put down any kind of serious opinion on it. It's a low-budget Italian gore show, so clearly we're not going into it to judge the writing or acting or direction. All we want is to be entertained and grossed out. Well, 'Nightmare City' definitely delivers on both counts. The entertainment value is extremely high. From the beginning, it's just good fun. There's plenty of crazy-looking zombies running amok, attacking whomever the hell they want. Because that's what zombies do. And these ones use knives. Big knives. And guns. Big guns. And, sure, the knives don't actually STAB anyone in the movie and the bullets don't actually leave bullet holes. . . but who needs any of that with the extra-red blood spurting out? Luckily for 'Nightmare City,' this alteration to the typical zombie formula helps the film from falling in with the rest and being forgotten entirely. Well, that, and the random, poorly choreographed Jazzercise scenes. One thing I loved the most was the random sensitivity of the zombies. One minute they're getting shot, stabbed, and punched, and they don't have a worry in the world. Next minute, slamming their fingers in a door causes unbelievable agony. Poor guys.
Overall, if you're looking for some ridiculous '80s fun with plenty of blood, beards, and boobs, check out Umberto Lenzi's 'Nightmare City.'
Final Verdict: 6.5/10.
-AP3-
Good for the bloody side of zombie movies
jamesgcole-5380812 December 2020
Gore-Bore
Mike E Monster19 November 2002
While not to be entirely dismissed as drivel, Lenzi's would-be zombiefest known as NIGHTMARE CITY nonetheless comes off as trying to be too different, too "off-the-beaten-zombie-path", and as result, ends up falling flat in an unsatisfying mix of missed opportunities.
Instead of going with "living dead"-style zombies (i.e. lumbering oafs) Lenzi - against producers wishes who wanted basically a Romero-style-clone - instead argued for and got his wish of the 'zombies' simply being victims of a nuclear radiation accident. All the 'creatures' become supermen of sorts - with heightened strength etc. - not to mention retaining their human faculties of running, driving, being able to fight with weapons etc.
As a result though - pretty much all suspense is thrown out the window, as the movie quickly bogs down into a violent and graphic game of hide and seek. The action is intense (and the blood and gore plentiful) but the 'creatures' or victims simply look like poorly-designed Halloween costume party attendees, who - after realizing they are late for their scheduled gathering - grabbed whatever they could out of their fridge and slapped it on their faces. The result is an unconvincing and inconsistent mess of effects that underwhelms the viewer. Some victims have little makeup, others are nearly indistinguishable under piles of green and red facial clay, (yet ALL sneer menacingly at the camera) and ALL are out for the blood of their next human victim (the creatures need blood to regenerate their cells to keep living. As a result, their victims in turn become creatures as well).
While I applaud Lenzi for at least attempting something different (in an interview on the disk, he explains how he wanted the film to be viewed as an environmental warning etc.) it comes down to the simple fact that the movie ends up failing - the zombies move too fast to be truly creepy and come off as poorly-dressed terrorists from a bad Chuck Norris movie - and basically plays out as a b-level gore bore, weaker on the gore, heavier on the B-bore.
While NIGHTMARE CITY may not be totally rank, let's say ya might wanna drink that milk today - know what I mean?? As in, it smells a little funny - not totally spoiled, but nowhere near fresh-enough to serve to guests. Feelin' lucky??
Recommended for genre completists only.
Instead of going with "living dead"-style zombies (i.e. lumbering oafs) Lenzi - against producers wishes who wanted basically a Romero-style-clone - instead argued for and got his wish of the 'zombies' simply being victims of a nuclear radiation accident. All the 'creatures' become supermen of sorts - with heightened strength etc. - not to mention retaining their human faculties of running, driving, being able to fight with weapons etc.
As a result though - pretty much all suspense is thrown out the window, as the movie quickly bogs down into a violent and graphic game of hide and seek. The action is intense (and the blood and gore plentiful) but the 'creatures' or victims simply look like poorly-designed Halloween costume party attendees, who - after realizing they are late for their scheduled gathering - grabbed whatever they could out of their fridge and slapped it on their faces. The result is an unconvincing and inconsistent mess of effects that underwhelms the viewer. Some victims have little makeup, others are nearly indistinguishable under piles of green and red facial clay, (yet ALL sneer menacingly at the camera) and ALL are out for the blood of their next human victim (the creatures need blood to regenerate their cells to keep living. As a result, their victims in turn become creatures as well).
While I applaud Lenzi for at least attempting something different (in an interview on the disk, he explains how he wanted the film to be viewed as an environmental warning etc.) it comes down to the simple fact that the movie ends up failing - the zombies move too fast to be truly creepy and come off as poorly-dressed terrorists from a bad Chuck Norris movie - and basically plays out as a b-level gore bore, weaker on the gore, heavier on the B-bore.
While NIGHTMARE CITY may not be totally rank, let's say ya might wanna drink that milk today - know what I mean?? As in, it smells a little funny - not totally spoiled, but nowhere near fresh-enough to serve to guests. Feelin' lucky??
Recommended for genre completists only.
"His molecular structure clearly establishes him as a member of the human race." I hate this film, possibly the worst Euro exploitation film to date!
poolandrews11 September 2005
Warning: Spoilers
Incubo Sulla Citta Contaminata, or Nightmare City & City of the Walking Dead as it's more commonly known amongst English speaking audiences, starts with a news report on Channel 5 informing us that the Department of Health has announced a radiation leak from a nuclear power station. Mr. Desmond (Ugo Bologna) the boss man at Channel 5 sends one of his journalists Dean Miller (Hugo Stiglitz) & a cameraman (Antonio Mayans) to interview nuclear power expert who is flying into the local airport. Once there Dean becomes aware of a situation on one of the runways as various police & officials rush over there, apparently an unauthorised plane has mysteriously landed. As airport police surround the plane a door opens & a horde of radiation contaminated zombies pour out & systematically slaughter everyone in sight! Dean & his cameraman capture some footage of this & leg it back to Channel 5 headquarters for an emergency news broadcast, however before he can warn the public top ranking army official General Murchison (Mel Ferrer) pulls the plug & says the situation needs to be kept top secret. In disgust Dean quits & sets out to find his wife Anna (Laura Trotter) while General Murchison, Major Warren Holmes (Francisco Rabal) & Colonel Donahue (Manuel Zarzo) are the men responsible for trying to sort this mess out before the entire Earth becomes contaminated by blood drinking zombies
This Italian, Mexican & Spanish co-production was directed by Umberto Lenzi & I hated this piece of Euro crap, simple as that. The script by Antonio Cesare Corti, Luis Maria Delgado & Piero Regnoli is conceptually awful, it explains nothing, it almost seems to contradict itself, no thought or effort is given to anything that happens & is basically a complete mess. First how can these zombies (technically their not zombies but for lack of a better word that's what I will call them) operate & land a plane? It's mentioned that those who come into contact & are bitten become contaminated but there is not one single scene in the entire film which show a corpse or body becoming contaminated & getting back up as a zombie, so where are all these zombies coming from? Why do people constantly ignore the General's orders to 'aim for the brain'? Why not use tanks & rocket launchers, machine guns, the police are all but invisible I mean where are they? There are so many things wrong with this film it's difficult to know where to start, I could go on all day about the plot holes & the fact that it never makes any sort of reasonable sense. I know it's only a film but it needs to have some sort of basis in reality for it to work, for the viewer to care & become involved. The notorious ending is the final insult as it's just plain awful & soul destroying. Director Lenzi again proves he is second only to Jesus Franco in the uselessness stakes, he introduces character's for no reason other than to stretch the running time out with General Murchison's daughter Jessica (Stefania D'Amario) & her husband Bob (Pierangelo Civera) being prime examples of this. Incubo Sulla Citta Contaminata contains continuity & logic problems & mistakes aplenty with character's knowing other character's names even though they have never been introduced, poorly thought out & executed action scenes with zombies sometimes being able to run while at other times (usually when one of the main character's need to escape) they can barely walk & why don't the public just fight back? There is one terrible scene that sums up the sloppiness & amateurishness when a woman named Liz (Sara Franchetti) just stands there as a zombie pokes her eyeball out with a poker, I mean she doesn't put her hands up to protect herself, she doesn't grab the poker to try & push it away, she doesn't turn around & run, she doesn't even take a step backwards as the zombie gouges her eye out, no she just stands there like a statue & lets him do it because you know that's what someone would do isn't it? The violence & gore was disappointing, there is a scene when a zombie slices a woman's breast off, someone gets an axe in the back of their head, the aforementioned poker in the eye, a few gory head shots & a zombie without an arm is all we get, each of these scenes are brief & have little impact & the special effects are absolutely awful. The zombies themselves are the worst looking zombies I've ever seen, they look like they have mud plastered over their faces & that's it. The rest of the so-called gore consists of fake blood covered actors, nothing that would worry anyone these days. Technically the only good thing about Incubo Sulla Citta Contaminata is the half decent widescreen cinematography by Hans Burman, the music however is some of the worst I've ever had the misfortune to hear from the hideous main theme that accompanies the opening credits to the intensely annoying music during the aerobics TV programme! The editing is choppy as there are plenty of mistakes to look out for & as a whole it's a shabby cheap production throughout it's overlong 92 minute duration. The acting as you would expect is awful with Stiglitz making for one of the most bland & forgettable heroes in Euro exploitation film history, the only recognisable cast member Ferrer spends the entire film in a single room trying to act seriously & look concerned... Basically I hated Incubo Sulla Citta Contaminata, it's total complete & utter crap of the highest order. Simple as that really, there are lots of other reasons why I hate this as well but I'm running out of space. Absolutely worthless, moronic, senseless & a complete waste of 90 odd minutes of my life.
This Italian, Mexican & Spanish co-production was directed by Umberto Lenzi & I hated this piece of Euro crap, simple as that. The script by Antonio Cesare Corti, Luis Maria Delgado & Piero Regnoli is conceptually awful, it explains nothing, it almost seems to contradict itself, no thought or effort is given to anything that happens & is basically a complete mess. First how can these zombies (technically their not zombies but for lack of a better word that's what I will call them) operate & land a plane? It's mentioned that those who come into contact & are bitten become contaminated but there is not one single scene in the entire film which show a corpse or body becoming contaminated & getting back up as a zombie, so where are all these zombies coming from? Why do people constantly ignore the General's orders to 'aim for the brain'? Why not use tanks & rocket launchers, machine guns, the police are all but invisible I mean where are they? There are so many things wrong with this film it's difficult to know where to start, I could go on all day about the plot holes & the fact that it never makes any sort of reasonable sense. I know it's only a film but it needs to have some sort of basis in reality for it to work, for the viewer to care & become involved. The notorious ending is the final insult as it's just plain awful & soul destroying. Director Lenzi again proves he is second only to Jesus Franco in the uselessness stakes, he introduces character's for no reason other than to stretch the running time out with General Murchison's daughter Jessica (Stefania D'Amario) & her husband Bob (Pierangelo Civera) being prime examples of this. Incubo Sulla Citta Contaminata contains continuity & logic problems & mistakes aplenty with character's knowing other character's names even though they have never been introduced, poorly thought out & executed action scenes with zombies sometimes being able to run while at other times (usually when one of the main character's need to escape) they can barely walk & why don't the public just fight back? There is one terrible scene that sums up the sloppiness & amateurishness when a woman named Liz (Sara Franchetti) just stands there as a zombie pokes her eyeball out with a poker, I mean she doesn't put her hands up to protect herself, she doesn't grab the poker to try & push it away, she doesn't turn around & run, she doesn't even take a step backwards as the zombie gouges her eye out, no she just stands there like a statue & lets him do it because you know that's what someone would do isn't it? The violence & gore was disappointing, there is a scene when a zombie slices a woman's breast off, someone gets an axe in the back of their head, the aforementioned poker in the eye, a few gory head shots & a zombie without an arm is all we get, each of these scenes are brief & have little impact & the special effects are absolutely awful. The zombies themselves are the worst looking zombies I've ever seen, they look like they have mud plastered over their faces & that's it. The rest of the so-called gore consists of fake blood covered actors, nothing that would worry anyone these days. Technically the only good thing about Incubo Sulla Citta Contaminata is the half decent widescreen cinematography by Hans Burman, the music however is some of the worst I've ever had the misfortune to hear from the hideous main theme that accompanies the opening credits to the intensely annoying music during the aerobics TV programme! The editing is choppy as there are plenty of mistakes to look out for & as a whole it's a shabby cheap production throughout it's overlong 92 minute duration. The acting as you would expect is awful with Stiglitz making for one of the most bland & forgettable heroes in Euro exploitation film history, the only recognisable cast member Ferrer spends the entire film in a single room trying to act seriously & look concerned... Basically I hated Incubo Sulla Citta Contaminata, it's total complete & utter crap of the highest order. Simple as that really, there are lots of other reasons why I hate this as well but I'm running out of space. Absolutely worthless, moronic, senseless & a complete waste of 90 odd minutes of my life.
Laughable zombie romp.
HumanoidOfFlesh25 September 2003
Dean Miller,a tv journalist is planning to make an interview with a very important scientist who is supposed to be landing at the airport.He notices an odd airplane preparing to land on the runway.Soon afterward the scientist steps off the plane,and along with the group of other zombies that were on the plane,promptly starts killing people.Umberto Lenzi's "Nightmare City" is a laughable zombie romp.The acting is pretty bad and the script is even worse.The zombies are really fast-they can carry weapons,drive cars and scheme to kill.Still there is plenty of gore and violence to satisfy fans of Italian horror.There is a breast mutilation,an eye piercing and plenty of exploding faces.So if you're looking for trashy Italian zombie films give this one a look.
A beginner´s work?
Prometheus926323 October 2003
When I was a teenager in the eighties, I watched a few so-called zombie-movies, most of them were absolutely trash, but some had good splatter effects and were worth to see because of good cinematography and actors, but Lenzi´s NIGHTMARE CITY has nothing of it especially in comparison with Fulci´s ZOMBIE FLESH EATERS. It seems to me that NIGHTMARE CITY has been made by a handful of absolute beginners: the actors were lousy (especially the ones playing the zombies...UURRGGHH...UURRGGHH...), the cinematography was not worth to mention, and the splatter scenes were ridiculous. The highlight of this movie was, without any doubt, the massacre at the half-naked show girls (a little bit of erotic is a must in movies like these). And finally, I´m asking myself the following: Did the famous actor Mel Ferrer know in what trash he was acting? Regards, Hans-Dieter
Entertaining, but for the genre lovers only
m_chubbs5 August 2010
Okay, so, it's better than your standard zombie fair, I mean, running zombies, that can drive, shoot and stab people, how awesome's that! Even though they look like hopefuls for a Toxic Avenger contest, there's some that look fairly human still and genuinely quite manic. Also, they are super human, so, bullets don't hurt them, only in the head, MMM, original, but still, they beat the infected for me from 28 Day's Later. Their smart, can drive cars, pilot planes.
Acting is a shoddy as it always is in these films, typical European boobs for no reason style, weird mix of mimed deaths and full on gore shots, that makes it out of place in some parts that some people have been smashed over the head and fall to the ground or sliced open, then others are spraying blood from their throats or loosing limbs.
Ah well, who can really complain, a fun film, but one for a genre fan's, keep it a guilty pleasure
Acting is a shoddy as it always is in these films, typical European boobs for no reason style, weird mix of mimed deaths and full on gore shots, that makes it out of place in some parts that some people have been smashed over the head and fall to the ground or sliced open, then others are spraying blood from their throats or loosing limbs.
Ah well, who can really complain, a fun film, but one for a genre fan's, keep it a guilty pleasure
The best parts of this movie...
Skizelli25 September 2006
Warning: Spoilers
Zombies on a plane! Zombies in a TV station! Zombies in a hospital! Zombies in an elevator! Zombies in a house! Zombies in a cellar! Zombies on a plane again! Sorry, I had to. This movie was horrible. The only way to bare it was by poking fun at it. Though I did like the twist at the end. But even that wasn't anything to write home about. One thing I love about zombie movies is the makeup. The makeup in this movie was hideous. I could understand what they were trying to do, being that the cause was radiation. Maybe I'm just too fond of Tom Savini's work and the zombies that grace George Romero's films. The zombies in this movie looked like wolf men in a lot of cases.
Consistently amusing.
Hey_Sweden31 March 2012
A fun horror movie from director Umberto Lenzi ("Eaten Alive!", "Cannibal Ferox"), "Nightmare City", a.k.a. "City of the Walking Dead", doesn't have a lot of story, it just has a lot of lively, gory mayhem for those Italian horror fans looking for some undemanding thrills.
The set up is simple enough: sadistic fiends, contaminated due to atomic radiation, run amok in a city, brutally slaughtering some victims and contaminating others. Even if not technically zombies, they do exhibit a certain tenacity (and CAN be killed by shots or blows to the head) and also are vampire like in that they enjoy drinking the blood of victims. They don't just use their bare hands, either, still being able to employ various lethal weapons. The army is content not to let too many details get out, while the body count rises, and a reporter (Hugo Stiglitz) and his doctor wife (Laura Trotter) try to make a trek to safety.
A nice amount of cheese (for one thing, one major set piece has the fiends cause havoc during the taping of a TV dance show) adds to the entertainment value, as does the music score by Stelvio Cipriani and the kind of gore we as fans come to expect from this sort of thing, and pleasurable doses of female skin.
Now, some viewers can take issue with the way the movie ends, but personally I don't feel it really hurts the movie at all, even if it has the air of familiarity. Lenzi keeps the action flowing for much of the running time, only slowing down somewhat for an interlude with our two main characters as they attempt to take a breather at a remote location.
The acting may not be exactly Oscar calibre stuff, but it gets the job done, with Mexican star Stiglitz definitely creating a real take-charge kind of guy, and entertaining performances by Francisco Rabal and special guest star Mel Ferrer as two of the Army guys. Other cast members include Eduardo Fajardo ("Django", "Lisa and the Devil") and Stefania D'Amario ("Zombi 2"). The ladies here sure provide fine eye candy.
Mostly, this movie is enjoyable for seeing our antagonists on the attack, no matter what they're doing, and "Nightmare City" amounts to 92 solid minutes of action, gore and sexiness that's never ever boring. It's highly recommended to lovers of Italian genre cinema.
Seven out of 10.
The set up is simple enough: sadistic fiends, contaminated due to atomic radiation, run amok in a city, brutally slaughtering some victims and contaminating others. Even if not technically zombies, they do exhibit a certain tenacity (and CAN be killed by shots or blows to the head) and also are vampire like in that they enjoy drinking the blood of victims. They don't just use their bare hands, either, still being able to employ various lethal weapons. The army is content not to let too many details get out, while the body count rises, and a reporter (Hugo Stiglitz) and his doctor wife (Laura Trotter) try to make a trek to safety.
A nice amount of cheese (for one thing, one major set piece has the fiends cause havoc during the taping of a TV dance show) adds to the entertainment value, as does the music score by Stelvio Cipriani and the kind of gore we as fans come to expect from this sort of thing, and pleasurable doses of female skin.
Now, some viewers can take issue with the way the movie ends, but personally I don't feel it really hurts the movie at all, even if it has the air of familiarity. Lenzi keeps the action flowing for much of the running time, only slowing down somewhat for an interlude with our two main characters as they attempt to take a breather at a remote location.
The acting may not be exactly Oscar calibre stuff, but it gets the job done, with Mexican star Stiglitz definitely creating a real take-charge kind of guy, and entertaining performances by Francisco Rabal and special guest star Mel Ferrer as two of the Army guys. Other cast members include Eduardo Fajardo ("Django", "Lisa and the Devil") and Stefania D'Amario ("Zombi 2"). The ladies here sure provide fine eye candy.
Mostly, this movie is enjoyable for seeing our antagonists on the attack, no matter what they're doing, and "Nightmare City" amounts to 92 solid minutes of action, gore and sexiness that's never ever boring. It's highly recommended to lovers of Italian genre cinema.
Seven out of 10.
Thriller! Must See!
Edible Fetus18 February 2000
If you can sit through this entire movie from beginning to end, then you are a worthless drone, who should be shot in the face. The only possible excuse, for watching this movie would be that you thought hanging yourself, wouldn't be painfull enough, so a better way to slowly kill yourself would be to sit through this independent classic. Their is one cool scene where a girl get's her eye socket ripped out. But other than that, it's a downhill slider. The zombies run! Ok? The zombies actually run, and shoot guns, and theyre smart. What genious dreamt this up? The voice overs on my version(titled City of the Walking Dead) are the most pathetic of all time. The plot is just an insulting rip off of all things Romero. The gore is cheap, quick and unenjoyable. But then again, if your one of those people who is entertained by even the most low budget awful zombie flicks, then you might as well watch this just to say you did. I mean I actually own this movie, so I should definetely be executed by firing squad.
I love this movie!
BandSAboutMovies10 May 2018
Warning: Spoilers
Have you ever paused a movie and yelled aloud, "I LOVE THIS MOVIE!" and you're all alone in the room? If you've answered in the affirmative, you understand the pure joy that I felt while watching this movie.
Dean Miller, an American reporter, is waiting to interview a nuclear scientist when a military plane lands and mutated men emerge, killing everyone in their path. Even the worst wounds only slow them down as they hack their way through their victims, pausing to drink the blood of those they kill.
General Murchison (Mel Ferrer, The Visitor) shuts down any news stories about the attack. Meanwhile, the city is overrun with the killers and their victims, who soon join their ranks. Miller saves his wife at the hospital where she works as the city's power is shut down.
It turns out that they're fighting humans who have been contaminated by a leak in the nuclear power plant (that's why the scientist was meeting with Miller in the beginning) and now they have strength, speed and reflexes beyond the range of normal humans. However, because they can't regenerate red blood cells, they must consume blood. There's only one way to kill them, which will be familiar to zombie movie fans: shoot them in the head.
No one is safe - the general is looking for his daughter and her husband, but by the time they are discovered, they are infected and must be killed. And Major Holmes warns his artist wife to stay in the house when two infected men break in and kill her friend and almost murder her. By the time he gets to the house to save her she's been infected and he must kill his wife.
That's the theme of this movie - everyone gets turned into something horrible, even a priest at the church where Miller and Anna try to hide. Finally, they make a last stand in an amusement park, using submachine guns and grenades to keep the attacking horde at bay. Major Holmes tries to save them, but Anna can't hold the rope and falls to her death. This being an Italian movie, we see every moment of her demise.
Miller then wakes up. It was all a dream, except he goes back to the airport and the movie starts all over again!
Known as City of the Walking Dead in the U.S., this is a fast-moving, down and dirty gore packed film. Directed by Umberto Lenzi (Eaten Alive!, Cannibal Ferox), this film feels like it's out of control from the first scene. Once that plane opens and the mutated fiends emerge, it's an orgy of heads being opened up, breasts being eaten, gunshots galore and eyes being ripped from their sockets. In short, this is. a true crowd pleaser. How can you not love a movie where a studio full of disco dancers are mauled and murdered by an army of mutated killers?
Dean Miller, an American reporter, is waiting to interview a nuclear scientist when a military plane lands and mutated men emerge, killing everyone in their path. Even the worst wounds only slow them down as they hack their way through their victims, pausing to drink the blood of those they kill.
General Murchison (Mel Ferrer, The Visitor) shuts down any news stories about the attack. Meanwhile, the city is overrun with the killers and their victims, who soon join their ranks. Miller saves his wife at the hospital where she works as the city's power is shut down.
It turns out that they're fighting humans who have been contaminated by a leak in the nuclear power plant (that's why the scientist was meeting with Miller in the beginning) and now they have strength, speed and reflexes beyond the range of normal humans. However, because they can't regenerate red blood cells, they must consume blood. There's only one way to kill them, which will be familiar to zombie movie fans: shoot them in the head.
No one is safe - the general is looking for his daughter and her husband, but by the time they are discovered, they are infected and must be killed. And Major Holmes warns his artist wife to stay in the house when two infected men break in and kill her friend and almost murder her. By the time he gets to the house to save her she's been infected and he must kill his wife.
That's the theme of this movie - everyone gets turned into something horrible, even a priest at the church where Miller and Anna try to hide. Finally, they make a last stand in an amusement park, using submachine guns and grenades to keep the attacking horde at bay. Major Holmes tries to save them, but Anna can't hold the rope and falls to her death. This being an Italian movie, we see every moment of her demise.
Miller then wakes up. It was all a dream, except he goes back to the airport and the movie starts all over again!
Known as City of the Walking Dead in the U.S., this is a fast-moving, down and dirty gore packed film. Directed by Umberto Lenzi (Eaten Alive!, Cannibal Ferox), this film feels like it's out of control from the first scene. Once that plane opens and the mutated fiends emerge, it's an orgy of heads being opened up, breasts being eaten, gunshots galore and eyes being ripped from their sockets. In short, this is. a true crowd pleaser. How can you not love a movie where a studio full of disco dancers are mauled and murdered by an army of mutated killers?
Suspenseful, Phantasmogoric Horror
moonmonday22 September 2010
Warning: Spoilers
From the start, I did not have high expectations for Nightmare City, but it was a pleasant surprise. I found myself engaged and tense the whole time. Because things constantly happen or build up to happen, it's very easy to overlook some of the minor flaws in logical flow that occasionally pop up. For example, the main protagonist is sent to interview a scientist who is expected and thus must have a scheduled arrival time and flight, but that scientist arrives unexpectedly on an unmarked flight that no person at the airport is expecting or even recognises. It can be explained away, as can virtually all flaws in the film, by the very applicable 'dream logic'. However, it makes one wonder if the film is a chronicle of dreams of the entire city, as the film does not revolve purely around a single character.
In any case, flaws aside, the film is quite well-done in terms of suspense, and it also raises many questions about humanity and its nature, progress, technology, even religion. It is a bit noteworthy in places, even if its commentary may at times seem heavy-handed, quite simply because Anna very factually tells her husband what we don't want to believe and what we don't want them to believe, but what we know is probably true. It is a dire situation with no relief, and the whole thing is terrifying from moment one. The suspense begins almost immediately and simply never lets up. The ending wisely leaves things not entirely resolved, which makes it all the more terrifying.
The performances are passable, with some even crossing over into good territory. Generally the cast, aside from Hugo Stiglitz, are quite good at what they do. Hugo, however, is a tad stiff and fails to emote. However, in some cases it works since Laura Trotter, who is played against him in most scenes, is so emotive and expressive. The music is very atmospheric and tense. The direction and the shots are all very good, though not always ideal. Certainly able and at the very least they do not detract from the tension. The special effects run the gamut from inspired to awful, and it's obvious there was a distinct lack of budget for the film. Still, if the story draws the viewer in, that becomes a secondary concern. At times, the dodgy effects are a relief from being so immersed in such a bleak, tense world.
Overall, a good film for a scare. Not particularly uplifting, not entirely fulfilling, but it raises a few valid questions about modern society and what exactly humanity has done to itself.
In any case, flaws aside, the film is quite well-done in terms of suspense, and it also raises many questions about humanity and its nature, progress, technology, even religion. It is a bit noteworthy in places, even if its commentary may at times seem heavy-handed, quite simply because Anna very factually tells her husband what we don't want to believe and what we don't want them to believe, but what we know is probably true. It is a dire situation with no relief, and the whole thing is terrifying from moment one. The suspense begins almost immediately and simply never lets up. The ending wisely leaves things not entirely resolved, which makes it all the more terrifying.
The performances are passable, with some even crossing over into good territory. Generally the cast, aside from Hugo Stiglitz, are quite good at what they do. Hugo, however, is a tad stiff and fails to emote. However, in some cases it works since Laura Trotter, who is played against him in most scenes, is so emotive and expressive. The music is very atmospheric and tense. The direction and the shots are all very good, though not always ideal. Certainly able and at the very least they do not detract from the tension. The special effects run the gamut from inspired to awful, and it's obvious there was a distinct lack of budget for the film. Still, if the story draws the viewer in, that becomes a secondary concern. At times, the dodgy effects are a relief from being so immersed in such a bleak, tense world.
Overall, a good film for a scare. Not particularly uplifting, not entirely fulfilling, but it raises a few valid questions about modern society and what exactly humanity has done to itself.
they're not ZOMBIES!
Prof-Hieronymos-Grost18 April 2008
An unmarked military plane lands at an unspecified airport and out pops a plane full of apparently cheap looking zombies hell bent on destruction, but as we find out they are infected humans with a thirst for blood. The virus spreads rapidly and the city is soon under siege. The acting is below par, Hugo Stiglitz being an unimaginative choice of the producers as the hero, Lenzi agrees and apparently wanted Franco Nero, Fabio Testi or John Saxon, all of those would have been preferable, but thats kinda stating the obvious. Lenzi admit's the sfx are poor, but puts it down to the low budget and interfering producers. The film is undoubtedly poor, but if you ignore the budgetary constraints and some ridiculous plot points and the fact that the zombies aren't zombies at all, its actually not as bad as first seems.
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