REVIEW: INCUBO SULLA CITTA CONTAMINATA
REVIEW: NIGHTMARE CITY
REVIEW: CITY OF THE WALKING DEAD
REVIEW: UMBERTO LENZI [ 1980 ] 92'
REVIEW: DIALCHI FILMS / LOTUS INT. FILM
CAST: HUGO STIGLITZ, LAURA TROTTER,
CAST: MEL FERRER, MARIA ROSARIA OMAGGIO
PERSONAL RATING:
CRITICAL RATING:
WTF-FILMOMETER: ILLOGICALLY DELICIOUS

It's hard for me to think of another director other than Umberto Lenzi whose popularity revolves around films that I find so dull and lacking in entertainment value. Joe D'Amato is in the same boat as well, but at least he had the decency to admit that he was not a very good director. CANNIBAL FEROX (1981) and MANGIATI VIVI (1980), which are undoubtedly his two most popular films, were both so void of interesting subject matter for me that I can't help but wonder how either have gained the followings they have. But I digress.

Lenzi was quite a prolific Italian director throughout the 60's, 70's and 80's and tinkered in nearly every genre imaginable before finally hitting it big with his inept cannibal fiasco CANNIBAL FEROX in 1981. Interestingly enough, Lenzi is more or less responsible for jumpstarting the short-lived cannibal sub-genre with his 1973 film IL PAESE DEL SESSO SELVAGGIO and then ending it with his 1981 film (Ruggero Deodato put forth the most worthwhile film in the genre with 1979's CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST). Lenzi was popular with Italian producers of the time because of his ability to turn in profitable film that required little or no budget to make. Outside of financial viability it's hard for this reviewer to say that Lenzi has any real talent to speak of at all.

That said, occasionally a film is made that is so incompetent and mind-numbingly awful that it comes out the other side and manages to be entertaining again. INCUBO SULLA CITTA CONTAMINATA, which Lenzi made in the time between his last two cannibal shockers, is just such a film. It has been a guilty pleasure of mine ever since I first stumbled across the edited re-release version (under the title CITY OF THE WALKING DEAD) while working in a local video rental shop and my love for it has only grown in the years since that first fateful encounter.

INCUBO SULLA CITTA CONTAMINATA began as an Italian/Spanish co-production intent on cashing in on the zombie craze that Romero had begun with 1968's NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD and repopularized with his 1978 masterpiece DAWN OF THE DEAD. Originally, the film was to contain zombies similar to those of Romero and Fulci. Slow moving undead were considered too typical for Lenzi, who rewrote the script to make the film's villains not the flesheating undead but contaminated victims of a nuclear accident with insatiable appetites for violence. The most noticeable difference in his monsters and Romero or Fulci's is the fact that they run. They run a lot. They run everywhere in fact.

The cast for INCUBO SULLA CITTA CONTAMINATA is actually fairly impressive, though none of them are given worthwhile material to work with. Mel Ferrer (THE WORLD, THE FLESH, AND THE DEVIL; 1959) is present as General Murchison, who seems to keep getting the fuzzy end of the lollipop. Francisco Rabal, who co-starred in Luis Bunuel's gleefully blasphemous film VIRIDIANA (1961) is here as well, doing the best he can with his meager material (I hate to see actual talent put to waste in such a way). Hugo Stiglitz (CYCLONE; 1978) is also on loan from Mexico to fill out the part of our protagonist and all around good-guy, Dean Miller.

INCUBO SULLA CITTA CONTAMINATA begins with our hero entering his office at the television station he works for. His manager wants him to interview the imminent Dr. Haggenbach (I admit now that I have no idea how to spell the man's name, not that his character matters in the least to the story) who is returning the following morning from an investigation into a radiactive spill outside THE CITY. Now, it's important to note that we are never given the name of THE CITY even though it is where all of our action takes place. Miller's manager wants an interview that reassures his viewers, while Miller himself is intent on reporting the facts and nothing less (Miller is morally and intellectually superior to every other character in the film, and his streaks of good luck would make you think that the inside of his suit is lined with rabbit's feet).

Next morning arrives rather swiftly (no time is wasted on petty characterization) and Miller and his cameraman assistant arrive at the airport to await Prof. Haggenbach's arrival. Meanwhile, the aircraft control tower is trying to deal with a developing mini-crisis. A Hercules military transport is flying into the airport without authorization and without communicating with the tower. A state of emergency is issued and Miller - cameraman in tow - run to the site of the landed military plane to figure out just what the hell is going on.

As things would turn out, Prof. Haggenbach has returned after all. The only problem is that he's now an atomic mutant bent on killing everything in his path. No sooner does he stab the head of airport security on the steps of the plane than a hundred or more other contaminated people rush out of it. Armed with everything from chains to machine guns, the creatures make short work of the airport security force and head out into the city. Miller, though standing only a few yards from the plane, manages to escape completely unharmed.

Meanwhile, at Miller's television station, poorly choreographed dancers in shiny blue outfits are making complete asses of themselves in front of the cameras. Miller interupts the broadcast to make a special news announcement regarding the incident at the airport. He, himself, is stopped when his manager (in cahoots with General Murchison) opts to stop the broadcast in lieu of the general panic it would cause among the citizens. Miller, fed up with all of this backwards media hogwash, quits the studio.

Meanwhile, in the richy-rich suburbs outside of the city, major Warren Holmes (Rabal) is busy trying to have sex with his much-younger wife (Maria Rosaria Omaggio). He is interrupted when the General calls him into work on his day off due to the sudden crisis. His wife is noticeably irritated by this (though most of the viewers are happy that Rabal is no longer wallowing on her at this point). They make small talk about her latest sculpture, then he heads off.

By this time the dancers have started up their routine once again. This time it is cut blissfully short by the return of our lovable atomic zombies who cut and hack and gnaw their way through the dancers and most of their crew. In spite of being in the middle of all of it, Miller manages to escape to a VW Bug waiting in the street outside. After having some fun one-upping his would-be attackers, he four-wheels it off the property to head off to find his wife, a doctor at the city hospital.

At the hospital, Dr. Anna Miller is busy reassuring her patients (who seem to all reside in the same oversized room) about their various conditions, especially her favorite - a soccer player with a leg injury. Meanwhile, at military headquarters, Murchison is busy letting his colleagues know the details of the situation at hand. The corpse of one of the attackers (killed by a bullet to the head) is wheeled into the conference room and the goofiest exposition in the film is given in regards to it by a military doctor. The contaminated persons have been given abnormal strength by their contamination, and must feed on blood to survive. In addition, they are impervious to anything other than a direct blow to the brain. Murchison then utters the immortal line, "Aim for the brain" and the conference is brought to a close.

Rabal calls his wife after the talk and orders her to stay inside with all of the doors locked. She does this well, at least until she runs into the backyard (where a mower is wandering about). She then runs into her sculpting room to find her latest sculpture impaled in the face with a bloody butcher knife - which is apparently no cause for leaving, as she stays in the house for the duration of the film. Miller, in town, is still trying (and failing) to get in touch with his wife. Outside of town Murchison's daughter and husband are preparing to leave for a weekend getaway. They give an armed guard sent to escort them to headquarters the slip just in time to escape the atomic attackers, who make short work of everyone else there.

Suddenly it's nighttime in the city. Miller has arrived at the hospital, which has more incoming patients than usual, but is still unable to get to his wife. Meanwhile, at the power station, the atomic zombies have snuck in in a military van. Laying waste to the sparse defenders of the plant, the attackers move on to dispense with the power station. During the ensuing blackout the hospital is overrun with atomic mutants. Anna and Dean are eventually united and escape the scene in an ambulance and make an attempt to get to safety outside of town. Along the way they explode the ambulance, due battle with a zombiefied priest, and eventually prepare for a final assault in a local amusement park.

INCUBO SULLA CITTA CONTAMINATA is pure cheap brainless exploitation film-making at its finest. The gore is actually quite minimal, though there are a few scenes of dismemberment as well as a few worthy head-shots in the final reel. The acting is hard to judge, as all of these Italian films were redubbed for both domestic and international distribution. Let's just say that the performances certainly don't hinder the film in any way. The film's biggest problem is that it drags considerably in places, namely when useless plots are involved (the general's daughter running away on vacation for instance). For the most part, however, Lenzi keeps the pace of the film up, with a zombie attack of some kind occurring once every ten minutes for the majority of the film's running time.

The real saving grace of the film, however, is the stunning musical score provided by Stelvio Cipriani. Cipriani provided scores for a number of low-budget films of the time, including the infamously bad TENTACLES (1977) and PIRANHA PAURA (1981). While always seemingly associated with lower grade films, Cipriani manages to provide scores varying from decent to exceptional for nearly all of the films attributed to him. His score here is exciting and pulsing and definitely the most pleasing thing in the film.

So I've never been a Lenzi fan. I sincerely doubt I ever will be. But he made INCUBO SULLA CITTA CONTAMINATA and I enjoyed it. A lot. As such, I have to give credit where credit is due. Inept as it is, I love this film, and I recommend it to anyone willing to take the time to try to enjoy it as much as I do.