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Lucio Fulci Films

by Ballz

Mar '14 *
Like him or hate him, I think it's hard to disagree on Fulci's films belonging on here. By the description alone of the site made by @Renzo_Capetto, Fulci's films belong.

old school horror movies, gritty exploitation films, and especially bad movies


Yep, that describes most of Lucio Fulci's films.

Personally? I'm pretty middle-of-the-road on his stuff. I liked 'Zombie' a lot and, to a lesser extent, 'The New York Ripper' the first time I saw them, but I hated 'City of the Living Dead' and 'The Beyond'. I've seen some of his other stuff too, like 'Don't Torture a Duckling' (hated), 'Manhattan Baby' (actually thought it was okay despite the overall negative reception I see towards it), and 'The House of Clocks' (also thought was okay). I'll be focusing on the first four movies I mentioned here though, as I've seen them the most and am more familiar with them.

The main reason I'm writing this is because I've been re-watching some of his stuff lately. I'll try to keep this spoiler-free.

To start... 'Zombie'. My first Fulci movie and my favorite Fulci movie. I remember renting this on tape and I loved it from the start. The zombie vs. shark and splinter in the chick's eye scenes are probably what most people think of when they think of this movie. So do I, actually. But there's so much other stuff going on too that makes this my favorite of Fulci's stuff. The mud-caked, worm-ridden zombies. The whole idea of the island setting, that something like that could happen on some island like that somewhere and most of us would be completely unaware until it's too late.

And let's not forget the main theme used in the movie. I like all of the music in the movie really, but that main theme especially just works really well I think. Fabio Frizzi is the man behind the music in 'Zombie'. He did the music for some of Fulci's other films too, but none of those scores are as memorable to me as 'Zombie's' score. Except maybe 'The Beyond's' score, but we'll get to that soon.

The second Fulci movie I saw, a couple years after first seeing 'Zombie', was 'The New York Ripper'. I don't think it's nearly as good as 'Zombie' or even the next movie I'm going to talk about, nor is the music as memorable, other than the opening theme, done by someone other than Frizzi, some guy named Francesco De Masi. Its crazy murders are pretty bloody and gory though and... that's kind of all I can think to say about it. The movie's nothing great or original, other than the killer sounding like Donald Duck, which is more laughable than anything, but it's entertaining enough that I don't hate it.

Now for 'City of the Living Dead' and 'The Beyond'. I know a lot of people love these two movies and I've always felt kind of weird for not appreciating them at all. To put it bluntly, I found them to be boring and poorly written gorefests. I love gore in movies, but not when it's the only thing going for the movie. Well, I recently decided to give them another watch and, especially with 'City of the Living Dead', I found myself enjoying it a lot more than I had in my previous viewings of it.

With 'City of the Living Dead', I think part of the problem was that I expected it to be more of zombie movie, especially with that title, when really, the zombies are just a minor aspect of it. It's more about the priest and whenever you see him, you know some bad shit's about to go down. And with that in mind, I think I can appreciate the movie a lot more than I used to, because as the movie's main villain, I do like him. The gore definitely doesn't disappoint in the movie either. All of that said... I still think the movie's ending is dumb and poorly played out. Maybe I'll learn to appreciate it more over time too, but I think it might take a lot more time.

And finally, 'The Beyond'. I'm still not a big fan of this movie. I 'get' it. I just don't really get into it like I do with 'Zombie' or now, 'City of the Living Dead'. As with the other three movies I've mentioned, it's got good gore. Also as I said before, the score definitely sticks out. But the whole plot... I just am not into it. I guess you could say 'well, with a Fulci movie, the plot isn't supposed to be great, it's all about the violence'. Maybe so, but a movie that's almost an hour and a half that has a poor story, but great gore isn't going to have much replay value, at least for me. I am a fan of some scenes, especially the parts in the hospital, as well as the opening kill, the bathtub scene, and the spider scene. Oh, and the ending, that's a lot better than 'City of the Living Dead's' ending. But even those scenes don't draw me in like 'City of the Living Dead' has managed to do. Maybe with another re-watch or two...

I won't lie and call myself an expert on Lucio Fulci's work. I've seen I think seven of his movies now. I forgot to mention 'Zombi 3' before, though it's hard to truly call that a Fulci movie since he didn't even finish directing it. I've also seen 'Wax Mask', which he helped write and I've heard was also supposed to direct before he died.

I would like to see Fulci's 'House by the Cemetery'. I've got a download of it, I've just not gotten around to it yet. Soon though.


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Box_a_Hair says:
#1

Mar '14
Well said. Zombi 2 has got to be his best, and the music for it is awesome. I often find myself humming the tune. What sucks is that we never actually get to see the zombies wreak havoc in NY. I didn't know he never finished filming Zombi 3, but it's still a fun, dumb action romp.

Beyond those two films, I think Fulci is meh. Like you said though, he's very fitting for Trash Epics.


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Box_a_Hair says:
#3, Reply to #2

Mar '14
Haha, Hell of the Living Dead and Zombi 3 are both crappy action zombie movies, but they have their charms. Hell's charm is that it aspires to be Dawn of the Dead, and Zombi 3's charm is that it... well... I'll get back to you on that one.

I have Zombi 3 in a Shriekshow boxset. Unfortunately, Zombi 3 is the only one I ever watch. After Death and Killing Birds are both pretty crummy.


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Box_a_Hair says:
#5, Reply to #4

Mar '14
I simply had to own Hell of the Living Dead after I first watched it. It's bad, it's Italian, it's Dawn's score and fake Rogers, and it's zombies, back when they meant something.

As for the cheap-ass Shriekshow dvds @Ballz advertises, I'd say it's a deal worth jizzing over.


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Box_a_Hair says:
#8, Reply to #7

Mar '14
I'll give you the nightmare bit on Fulci, since The Beyond definitely turns surreal towards the end. Are our protagonists in hell, or did Fulci run out of ideas on what to do next? We'll never know!

One thing I gotta say is that I find his choice in sound effects amusing, particularly when someone gets a lethal hit to the head or something. It sounds like a crunch, then water pouring? Know what I'm sayin'?

Zombi 2 and Zombi 3 are the only ones I own. I should probably change this, since @Ballz pointed out that Fulci's films are theoretically everything I look for in a movie...



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