| Lenzi�s Nightmare City has been one of the most harshly judged films of the Italian zombie cycle. Several critics have even labeled it �Nightmare Shitty�. The film begins with television reporter Dean Miller (played by Mexican actor Hugo Stiglitz) covering a story concerning an accident at a nuclear power plant. A scientist connected with the plant is about to arrive at the airport. Something is wrong though. The Hercules transport that the scientist is arriving in isn�t responding to air traffic controllers, and is heading into the airport for an apparent emergency landing. Fire engines and armed military personnel race to the scene, as do Miller and his cameraman. A gut feeling tells them they�re about to get a scoop. Little do they know that it�s going to be the biggest story of their lives. The Hercules touches down safely enough, and taxis toward the gathered throng of armed military and emergency personnel. The pilot of the transport (and anyone else inside) refuses to answer the military�s request for them to come out with their hands high. Finally the side door opens� and out stumbles the scientist that Dean Miller was sent to interview. He looks confused as he clambers down the steps. But he isn�t suffering jetlag, or even deep vein thrombosis. He�s a radio-active zombie with a blood lust worse than Henry Lee Lucas. He lunges at the nearest soldier with a knife, as more radioactive zombies pour out of the side door and other exits of the transport. The absurdity of this scene makes it one of the most entertaining of the film. The radioactive mutants are armed with axes, knives, and other weapons. And if that�s not enough, they have the ability to fly planes, drive cars, use machine guns, and operate all sorts of machinery. And like the demons of Lamberto Bava�s film of the same title, they�re fast too. The zombies of Nightmare City all have a different look. Some are unimpressive dazed individuals with a boil or two on their face, some are admirable make-up achievements, and others are so over the top that they look like Troma�s Toxic Avenger. Perhaps the Toxic Avenger�s make-up is a homage to Lenzi�s zombie extravaganza. The irradiated occupants of the transport make short work of the emergency and military personnel. The soldiers fire upon them, but ignore the zombie rule of thumb that goes along the lines of �Aim for the brain!�. The General played by Mel Ferrer even gives this order to his troops later in the film, but of course they forget it after a few minutes and become zombie fodder. The whole airport sequence is so action packed that it would make John Woo green with envy. The zombies attack the troops with a kinetic energy usually uncommon in the undead. There�s slashed throats, random blasting, stabbings, and plenty of blood sucking. After shooting enough footage of the massacre, Miller and his cameraman realise that the most important freedom of the press is the freedom to �do a runner�, and race from the scene post haste in their news van. When they arrive back at the television station, Dean demands that the technicians interrupt the telecast of what looks to be a live jazzercise show to inform the world about the events at the airport. Although the head technician thinks that he has his priorities wrong (everyone knows that dancing girls in leotards rate highly) he relents, and Dean Miller goes on the air live on one of the cheapest news anchor sets in celluloid history. He�s dragged off the air by the interfering military top brass in seconds though. And to the relief of horny Spaniards, it�s back to Jazzercise. People want escapist entertainment� not news of a boring aerial invasion by bloodthirsty radioactive zombies. What the hell was Dean thinking? For some reason, the concept of government control of the media has been a sore point with many who have pontificated about Nightmare City. I can�t see why. After all, most global media is currently controlled by three or four corporations who exert influence over all the tone and angle of the news we see and hear. So Lenzi�s interpretation of the government stepping in and taking charge in the event of a state of emergency is one of the least far fetched plot points of this film. Dean isn�t too happy about being muzzled, so he quits. As he�s heading out of the station, the Jazzercise set is attacked by the radioactive creatures. There�s blood, leotards, and big hair splattered everywhere. Unusually, Miller isn�t the clich� heroic type of reporter. He sneaks past his colleagues who are being slashed, bashed, and decapitated before jumping from the second story onto a grassy hill. Surprisingly he doesn�t break anything, and makes it to his Volkswagon. After running down several of the Toxic Avenger look-alike zombies, he goes on the search for his wife. Meanwhile, the military are trying to deal with the problem. They�ve figured out that the zombies are contaminated humans with degenerating blood cells. To deal with their genetic problem, they need to drink human blood. That�s why they�re so anti-social. That�s one of the nice things about Nightmare City. Lenzi isn�t content just to make a horrific zombie flick. He feels the need to fully explain the phenomenon in detail. The rest of the film is a fairly incoherent blend of action sequences. Miller finds his wife, and one of the last scenes in Nightmare City sees them fighting off zombies on top of a rollercoaster in a deserted amusement park. After this visually impressive action sequence, Lenzi drops the ball with a contrived ending that seems to be the brainchild of an overblown budget. So why do so many people hate this film. I suspect a lot of the animosity has to do with the lead actor Hugo Stiglitz. Nightmare City is a perfect example of studio politics ruining a film. Even one as small as this. Since some of the financial backers were from Mexico, they insisted on the Mexican Stiglitz playing the lead. Stiglitz delivers a pathetically wooden performance in Nightmare City that makes Charles Bronson look versatile by comparison. He�s deadpan the entire movie, showing no emotion whatsoever. Even when people are being torn apart in front of him he appears bored. He also looks like he hasn�t slept for a month. This works for most of the film� after all, he�s supposed to be a stressed reporter fighting for his life against hordes of mutant zombies. But he looks like it from the beginning of the film, before everything happens. Though I suppose it does enhance the comedic value. I think a lot of people also hated the fact that it isn�t a linear zombie film. Lenzi throws a lot of different concepts in just for the hell of it. And the zombies really aren�t zombies at all. They have more in common with the Romero homicidal maniacs of The Crazies than the Romero zombies of Night of the Living Dead. I�m not trying to defend Nightmare City as a masterpiece. It abounds with continuity errors, and other mistakes. But a good film is a film that isn�t dull. A good film must first be entertaining. Decent plot structure, acting, direction, and artistic merit may be important aspects of the filmmaking process. But without entertainment value, they are merely artistic masturbation. Nightmare City may lack plot structure, passable performances, and coherence. But at the end of the day it�s still more entertaining than a lot of critically acclaimed examples of mainstream cinema. |
| Nightmare City aka. City of the Walking Dead (1980) |