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-