Zombie Obsession

The Gates Of Hell

   Is Fulci's  The Gates Of Hell  (aka City Of The Living Dead )  a zombie movie?   I have seen it listed and/or described as such in several places but I am not so sure.   The creatures in this movie certainly resemble zombies and behave like zombies with a couple of notable exceptions...   They don't seem to be interested in EATING anyone, only in killing people by ripping through their skulls and tearing out a huge chunk of brain with their bare hands.   Also, they have the ability to appear and dissappear into thin air, apparently at will.   I don't think this is normal zombie behavior.   Also, the dead priest is certainly not a zombie but some sort of ghost or demon or demonic ghost with the uncanny ability to make people vomit up all of their internal organs and stuff just by looking into their eyes.

   Another example of this type of mis-identification is  The Fog , which I have seen mentioned in this group in the 'Zombie Quote Tag' thread, I believe.   To me, this is clearly a 'ghost story' and NOT a zombie movie, for some of the same reasons mentioned above.   Anybody have any thoughts on this?

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I haven't seen City of the Living Dead yet, it is getting closer on my Netflix Queue, I think I might move it up a bit so I can add my 2 cents.  A friend of mine saw it and told me that the movie was great except for the last 5 seconds...hmmmm, I will have to see what he was talking about.

As for The Fog, the more I think about it the more I don't think they were zombies.  For one thing that had intelligence and knew who they wanted to kill.  The reason why their appearance was so hideous (except for the fact they were rotting and decaying at the bottom of the ocean) but they also had Leprosy.  So they were just pissed off ghosts that took on a physical form on the anniversary of their demise...

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apostasy:

I dont think that there are any real "rules" for zombie films. We all have this misconception about zombies on film. All a zombie is is a dead body brought back to life by a supernatural force. They dont have to eat flesh, or brains. Just look at any zombie movie that was made before Romero's Night of the living dead. It wasnt until N.O.T.L.D. that the zombie actually started eating folks. They were usually a servent to someone who had them under their control. I use to believe that Romero zombie law, was in fact, zombie law. But that is not the case. Other films that dont really follow normal zombie logic the Return of the living dead films. Yes they eat brains but they also talk and have intelligence, and aside from burning them they cant die.  And also look at The Serpent and the Rainbow, its about zombies, but it isnt the traditonal zombie that we all know and love. Even Dead Heat took the zombie in a different direction. So to say that something isnt a zombie movie because they didnt follow "the rules" we know is kind of narrow minded ( that isnt an insult). I know this is a movie place but go pick up the book "THE RISING"  by Brian Keene. Not your traditional zombie but it kicks every zombie movies ass. plus it has one hell of an ending, you wont be dissapointed i promise.

   With all due respect to apostasy, I think he/she doesn't quite get my question.   I certainly know ALL of the 'zombie rules' beginning with day 1 and such movies as  White Zombie  and  I Walked With A Zombie , and the early European 'zombie craze' of the late 60's - early 70's, through the 'Romero-Fulci-Lenzi-etc.' phase and beyond.   Back to the basics with  The Serpent And The Rainbow  , etc.    Anyone who doubts my credentials should check out this, rather ancient, discussion from the vaults... HORROR MOVIES 101-the evolution or should I say devolution of the 'Walking Dead' Zombie-Spout .

   I think that, in every true Zombie Movie I've seen, the zombies are very 'physical' creatures.   As in they were actual corpses that have been re-animated by some means.   They actually have a physical body and you can lock them out or touch them and grab them and destroy them...   this is something you cannot do to a ghost or a demon....   I think this was my point with the two movies mentioned earlier...

   I have never met or seen a 'zombie' (I don't think), But, I HAVE met and/or seen more than a couple ghosts and/or demons ...   Yeah, I think there IS a difference... 

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i'm a guy!!!!!!

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apostasy:

i'm a guy!!!!!!

   Sorry...   I have a cold.

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For one thing Dr. Gor, nobody cares if you have a cold.  Second, whether or not the undead in the movies concerned are zombies comes down to what it means to be a zombie.  All this is is a semantic concern, the issue of the definition of a word.  What does "zombie" mean?  Literally it's a dead being that has been reanimated.

Go to Haiti and ask anybody you come across if zombies exist.  They'll tell you that sure as they exist, zombies do too.  Down there, people are almost routinely "killed" by a poison called tetrodotoxin (among other potent chemicals) and brought back through other concoctions to serve their new life to their medicinal masters.  So, strictly speaking, anything that has come back from the dead is a zombie, even if they have no active concern for the consumption or even the death of the people around them.

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To answer the original question (I didn't see a response to the question itself), yes, Fulci's CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD is a zombie film, but it is just as much as a Hell taking over the earth movie ala H.P. Lovecraft with zombies being one of the main focuses.  It's nothing like his other zombie films such as ZOMBI, THE BEYOND or HOUSE BY THE CEMETERY, all which contain zombies.  I'd say the only thing they all have in common is they are the slow moving type.

New to the group by the way and a huge zombie movie fanatic.

Mark

Phantasma-gore-ia:

For one thing Dr. Gor, nobody cares if you have a cold.  Second, whether or not the undead in the movies concerned are zombies comes down to what it means to be a zombie.  All this is is a semantic concern, the issue of the definition of a word.  What does "zombie" mean?  Literally it's a dead being that has been reanimated.

Go to Haiti and ask anybody you come across if zombies exist.  They'll tell you that sure as they exist, zombies do too.  Down there, people are almost routinely "killed" by a poison called tetrodotoxin (among other potent chemicals) and brought back through other concoctions to serve their new life to their medicinal masters.  So, strictly speaking, anything that has come back from the dead is a zombie, even if they have no active concern for the consumption or even the death of the people around them.

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digitalconquest:

To answer the original question (I didn't see a response to the question itself), yes, Fulci's CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD is a zombie film, but it is just as much as a Hell taking over the earth movie ala H.P. Lovecraft with zombies being one of the main focuses.  It's nothing like his other zombie films such as ZOMBI, THE BEYOND or HOUSE BY THE CEMETERY, all which contain zombies.  I'd say the only thing they all have in common is they are the slow moving type.

New to the group by the way and a huge zombie movie fanatic.

Mark

I comepletely agree with all of you guys since we are all saying the same thing. But you are ALL missing ONE KEY POINT in my original question! ... "... the 'zombies' are able to appear and disappear into thin air, appearantly at will. This is NOT normal 'zombie' behavior..." . In this ONE particular movie, The creatures are clearly some sort of ghost(s) or demon(s) that is/are powerful enough to manifest itself physically ... I know a zombie when I see one and 'The Gates Of Hell' is a 'ghost/demon' movie if I have ever seen one.... Just my humble opinion ... GOR