Incubo sulla città contaminata (1980)

Director:

Umberto Lenzi

Writers:

Antonio Cesare Corti (writer)
Luis María Delgado (writer)

Release Date:

18 November 1983 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

Now They Are Everywhere! There Is No Escape!

Plot:

An airplane exposed to radiation lands, and blood drinking zombies emerge armed with knives, guns and teeth! They go on a rampage slicing, dicing, and biting their way across the Italian countryside.

Plot Keywords:

Blood | Scientist | Blood Drinking | Rampage | Plane

Cast

Hugo Stiglitz	...	Dean Miller
Laura Trotter	...	Dr. Anna Miller
Maria Rosaria Omaggio	...	Sheila Holmes
Francisco Rabal	...	Major Warren Holmes
Sonia Viviani	...	Cindy
Eduardo Fajardo	...	Dr. Kramer
Stefania D'Amario	...	Jessica Murchison
Ugo Bologna	...	Mr. Desmond
Sara Franchetti	...	Liz
Manuel Zarzo	...	Colonel Donahue
Tom Felleghy	...	Lieutenant Reedman
Pierangelo Civera	...	Bob, Jessica's husband
Achille Belletti	...	TV Station Technician
Mel Ferrer	...	General Murchison

Also Known As:

City of the Walking Dead (USA) (reissue title)
Invasion by the Atomic Zombies (International: English title) (literal title)
Invasion de los zombies atómicos (Mexico)
La invasión de los zombies atómicos (Spain)
Nightmare City (USA)

Runtime:

92 min | USA:88 min

Country:

Italy | Mexico | Spain

Language:

Italian | Spanish

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-18 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Norway:18 (uncut) (2008) | Netherlands:16 | Italy:VM18 | Spain:18 | Sweden:18 (video rating) | Australia:R | France:-16 | UK:18 (video rating) (1986) (cut) | Iceland:(Banned) | UK:18 (video re-rating) (2003) (uncut) | USA:R (cut) | Germany:(Banned) | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Filming Locations:

Incir De Paolis Studios, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company:

Dialchi Film

Trivia:

According to director Umberto Lenzi, both Franco Nero and Fabio Testi were considered for the lead in the film, but the producer insisted on a Mexican leading man to appeal to Mexican audiences. Hence, the role went to Hugo Stiglitz.

Goofs:

Continuity: During the raid on the TV station, a zombie whacks a cameraman with a stick so hard that it falls out of his hands. In the next shot, it's back in the zombie's hands again.

Quotes:

Dr. Anna Miller: I'm tired. Really tired. And I'm frightened. We'll never get away from these... these monsters. What are we going to do?
Dean Miller: Alright. Nothing is going to happen as long as we stay together I promise you. What we've got to do now is get away from here as fast as we can.
Dr. Anna Miller: Let go of me. Why don't you face it. There's no place for us to go. They're we too will be killed. I don't want us to die I don't want us to but there's nothing we can do. They're everywhere...
Dean Miller: [Dean slaps his wife and then kisses her] Stop it...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Tales of the Contaminated City (2002) (V)

Enjoyable gorefest has its "heart" in the right place.

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. (***)