10 Most Paused Zombie Horror Movie Moments
6. Feeling Gutsy - City Of The Living Dead
The first of two Lucio Fulci entries on this list, 1980’s City of the Living Dead marks the start of the Italian filmmaker’s “Gates of Hell” trilogy (completed by both The Beyond and The House by the Cemetery the following year).
Essentially, it sees Peter (a reporter) and Mary (a psychic) working together to stop a zombie apocalypse that’s spearheaded by the malevolent Father Thomas (who hanged himself during the opening moments). Like peers Dario Argento and the Bava boys (Mario and his son, Lamberto), Fulci was known for depicting fantastically extreme carnage; thus, viewers should’ve known what they were getting into here.
Even so, it’s difficult not to become nauseated while watching the movie’s most disturbingly unsightly set piece. In it, teenage couple Rose and Tommy are kissing in Tommy’s car, only for Rose to suddenly see flashes of Father Thomas staring at her menacingly. Right away, she cries blood, slowly regurgitates her organs, and then rips out Tommy’s brain.
Whereas most directors would linger on the debauchery for merely a few shots, Fulci tortures Rose – and the audience – with roughly a dozen glimpses of her increasingly helpless, distressing, and repulsive downfall.