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1[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/00000_00003_copie_copie_copie_9.jpg]]
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3''La Cité de la peur'' (''"The City of Fear"'') is a 1994 movie written by and starring the French comedy group ''Les Nuls'' (Creator/AlainChabat, Chantal Lauby and Dominique Farrugia) and directed by Alain Berberian. Heavily inspired in tone by the Creator/ZuckerAbrahamsAndZucker movies, it is considered to be one of the few examples of a successful attempt to transpose a television comedy group to the big screen.
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5The plot is as follows : Odile Deray, a publicist, has trouble promoting an [[StylisticSuck atrociously bad horror movie,]] ''[[RedScare Red Is Dead]]'', about a Communist-themed serial killer. But just as the [[UsefulNotes/PalmeDOr Cannes Film Festival]] starts, the projectionists of the movie get killed one by one by what seems to be a copycat of the movie's killer. Jumping on the occasion, she decides to use this unwanted publicity for building up the hype around the movie. As such, she gets the main actor of the movie, Simon Jérémi, to come to the festival, and hires a bodyguard, Serge Karamazov, to look after the two of them. Meanwhile, Commissioner Patrick Biallès (Creator/GerardDarmon) tries to resolve the murders, and additionally starts a relationship with Odile. [[HilarityEnsues Cue completely surreal scenes and parodies for 90 minutes]].
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7[[CultClassic The movie has garnered quite a fanbase]] since its release, and is often considered as one of the funniest French comedies ever made.
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9----
10!!''La Cité de la peur'' provides examples of :
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12* AskAStupidQuestion
13-->'''Serge:''' ''[after watching all the luminous neons and signposts with the mention "Odile Deray" directed at Odile]'' Are you Odile Deray?\
14'''Odile:''' No, I'm the Pope and I'm waiting for my sister.
15* BasicInstinctLegsCrossingParody: The film includes a police interrogation sequence spoofing the scene, featuring a sensual sauerkraut eating.
16* BondOneLiner: Parodied in ''Red is Dead''.
17-->'''Simon:''' Die, communist scum!
18* CatScare: The banana. To elaborate: [[spoiler:at some point, Emile is told he could be shot by an isolated sniper, but "that would be really unlucky". A few seconds later, a passerby reaches for something in his vest while looking at him... and produces a banana]].
19* CreditsGag: The movie credits Bruce Wayne as Franchise/{{Batman}}, Tullavu as Kim Onku ("Have you seen it? What? My ass!"), {{ComicBook/Gaston Lagaffe}} as the gaffer, or Çaenfait played by Dumondehein ("there are a lot of people, aren't there?"). There's also a line about the number of sugar lumps put by one of the actresses in her teacup and how people should watch the movie again just to count them.
20* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: [[spoiler:Simon: "Did I mention I'm a projectionist?" Incidentally, he's the first projectionist to survive the murderer.]]
21* DirtyCommunists: Yuri, the hammer & sickle killer from ''Red Is Dead''.
22* TheDitz: Simon Jérémi, oh. so much. We're introduced to him by way of his being attended by a hostess just like a child who'd have to take a plane alone, and as he's asked if he has luggage, he immediately answers that if he's been told to come, nobody told him to take some luggage with him...
23* DontExplainTheJoke
24-->'''Serge:''' I'm Serge Karamazov. Not related, I'm an only child.
25* DoubleEntendre: Invoked.
26-->'''Biallès:''' Do you want a whiskey?\
27'''Odile:''' Just a finger. (IOW: just a little bit)\
28'''Biallès:''' Are you sure you don't want a whiskey first?
29* EveryoneHatesMimes:
30-->'''Serge:''' Get out of the way! You stupid mimes!
31* {{Foreshadowing}}:
32** "Hey, look! The killer has cut his finger!"
33** [[spoiler: "I'm gonna die in two minutes!"]]
34* GratuitousEnglish: More like a case of Gratuitous English ''Accent'', but still:
35-->'''Serge:''' I think we're dealing with a ''serial killer''. ''[American accent, {{scare chord}}]''\
36'''Odile:''' A what?\
37'''Serge:''' A ''serial killer''. ''[same accent, same scare chord]''\
38'''Odile:''' A what?\
39'''Serge:''' ''[sighs]'' A sérial killeur ''[drops the accent]''\
40'''Odile:''' Aaaaaah, a ''serial killer''. ''[American accent, scare chord]''
41* HandsomeLech: Serge claims to have had sex with every single person he had to protect. Including [[UsefulNotes/CharlesIII Prince Charles]].
42* HurricaneOfPuns
43* HypotheticalFightDebate: Serge and Simon debate very seriously whether a hippopotamus is stronger than an elephant.
44* IndecisiveParody: A borderline example: the movie starts with the end of ''Red Is Dead'', [[ShowWithinAShow the horror movie Odile is supposed to advertise]]. It is supposed to be extremely bad, but it is already filled with the kind of jokes we'll find all throughout the rest of the movie, so the viewers don't really know if they're watching a bad horror movie, a parody of bad horror movies, or a bad parody of bad horror movies. [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools Doesn't stop the segment from being funny as hell, though]].
45* ItsAlwaysMardiGrasInNewOrleans: The film is set in Cannes, and of course happens during the city's Film Festival. It was actually filmed in July, whereas the festival traditionally occurs in May, so the festival's ambiance had to be recreated.
46* MeanwhileScene: Parodied. While Karamazov is chasing the killer, the camera cuts to a completely random and unrelated scene set in Vera Cruz, UsefulNotes/{{Mexico}}, with a vocal message "Meanwhile, in Vera Cruz." Then the film cuts back to the chase.
47* MundaneMadeAwesome: In one scene, Serge runs after the killer. It's treated like a car chase scene, complete with [[StockSoundEffects engine sound effects, traffic sounds, tires screeching]] [[StuffBlowingUp and a passerby exploding after being shoved away by Serge]].
48* PottyEmergency: Karamazov has one at the worst moment, that is, while chasing the killer through the streets of Cannes. And he farts all the way through.
49* ProneToVomiting: Simon vomits every time he is happy. And he is often happy.
50* RunningGag: Simon vomiting every time he's happy, Emile's bad breath ("take a piece of gum, Emile...") and inability to deliver the saying about how you can fool one man one time, but not one thousand men one time... No, wait... One thousand men one thousand times, but not one man one thousand times... Ah, screw this...
51* ShoutOut: To ''Film/TheTerminator'' ("Sarah Connor?" "It's next door."), ''Film/BasicInstinct'', and to several advertising campaigns of the time.
52* ShowWithinAShow:
53** The ''Red Is Dead'' movie.
54** The whole movie is actually this, thanks to the "making our own sound effects because lack of budget" scene.
55* StylisticSuck: "Because of budgetary restriction, the next scene will be entirely soundtracked by mouth." HilarityEnsues, particularly because [[BadBadActing the "dubbers" aren't very good at it]].
56* VisualPun: A lot of them. One particular example is a cop who's warning detective Biallès that "There's such a butchery in here" (meaning that the crime scene is really bloody), only to open up a door to an actual butcher's shop.
57* WellThisIsNotThatTrope: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Drj9uNHgfs The Trailer]] contains a subversion of the typical movie comparisons routine:
58-->'''Voice-over:''' If you liked ''Film/JurassicPark'', ''Film/ThePiano'', ''Film/TheFugitive''... well, we liked those movies too.

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