City of the Living Dead (1980)

Lucio Fulci was, first and foremost, a prime visual stylist. He also wasn't much else, which left his films feeling dumb as dirt. What's impressive about this is that the idiocy doesn't much matter -- sense is at an ebb because this is a fever dream of a film, rife with shocking disconnected imagery that may not communicate much beyond "Ick!" but keeps the viewer properly off-balance. In my opinion, the nightmare atmosphere conjured up with this film is more effective than Fulci's similar, earlier The Beyond. Maybe it's because this film never attempts to make sense (unlike The Beyond, which I remember pretending to have some sort of plot). Or maybe's it's just because this movie has a scene wherein a girl literally pukes her guts out.

Grade: B-