CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD-Opinion please!

[The Reaper Man@Cult Labs]

Possible spoilers!
If you've not seen this film,do not read any further!

[The Reaper Man@Cult Labs]

What's your opinion on the ending of Fulci's classic gorefest?

I'm dying to know what you all think,as I remember seeing it for the first time and thinking...WTF?

Did our intrepid heroes succeed?

Did they fail? Did the living dead rise up and consume humanity?

What is the significance of the moppet before the screen 'cracks'?

CRACKING FILM.CONFUSING CLIMAX.

[Pete]

Its IMO the scariest zombie film ever made. So atmospheric, really creepy sound fx (watch it with speakers turned up!), excellent camera work, a great score and top notch sfx.

Of course it doesn't make much sense but thats the point! Fulci said in an inverview that they tried to make films based on pure themes, without a plot or logic, refusing conventions and narrative structures. So i think the end goes along with this, with Fulci refusing to end the film in a 'convetional' way. Not one part of the film makes any sense so why should the end?

Or maybe the film really was damaged!

Does that make any sense?

[The Reaper Man@Cult Labs]

Yeah.Sort of.
There IS a flimsy excuse for a plot,and as you state,that was Fulci's intention for the ending....
But I want to know what YOU guys think it signifies....not what the editor or director thought/thinks....

Perhaps I'm phrasing this wrongly.
Pretend for a moment you know nothing about Fulci,his films,or his background.

What would you have made of the outcome of the film?
Or would you have been the same as me,and say WTF?

[Pete]

That IS what I think, not Fulci or the editor. When Fulci was talking about logic, plot etc he wasn't takling about the end.


And yes when i first saw it i did think WTF!

[Rob Strange]

It's a WTF moment. It doesn't really make sense, as it just comes from out of the blue. Narratively, you just have to make up the reasoning in your head.

I do enjoy it, because it's weird and unusual, and sort of suits the dream-logic of the film - but I still think some footage must have went missing. Is the kid supposed to turn into a zombie, I wonder? Or maybe the two can see the gates of hell opening, whereas the kid can't....?

[mbv]

I was always of the opinion that they failed as they had to sort things out before midnight...I think!!
But yeah the ending is a WTF moment but always gives me a chill.

[Rob Strange]

That might be it - when the Arrow (blu ray) is released, I'll watch it again. It is pretty chilling, once you stop trying to make sense of it.

[Peter Neal]

Originally Posted by Rob Strange

It's a WTF moment. It doesn't really make sense, as it just comes from out of the blue. Narratively, you just have to make up the reasoning in your head.

I do enjoy it, because it's weird and unusual, and sort of suits the dream-logic of the film - but I still think some footage must have went missing. Is the kid supposed to turn into a zombie, I wonder? Or maybe the two can see the gates of hell opening, whereas the kid can't....?

What I vaguably remember from a (Fango?) article that I read eons ago: The "ending" as it is was the result of a "lucky accident", as a plain "happy ending" was originally planned.
Some minor accident happened with the footage as Fulci watched it (I'm not exactly technically literate, so that bit escapes my memory ).
He liked the "accidental" effect- and simply kept it.
So: NO, there's NO deeper meaning in it whatsoever- but Fulci surely enjoyed peppering his splatter flicks with some off-beat "mystique"..

[The Reaper Man@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Rob Strange

Is the kid supposed to turn into a zombie, I wonder? Or maybe the two can see the gates of hell opening, whereas the kid can't....?

Now that's what I'm talking about....