Lucio Fulci (1927–1996)

Dark and stormy sepiatoned bayou prologue hits H.P. Lovecraft's g-spot. Joe the piratical pornographical plumber unclogging the ectoplasmic ducts. "I'm a doctor. And I don't want to accept irrational explanations!" Let's get this straight, Warbeck. It's not about what you want. This is dream horror, woven from the self-reflexive antilogic of dreams. Emily is a strange person to be friends with, but Liza bonds with her instantly. We hook up autopsy subjects to brain-wave monitors as a matter show more of course. Warbeck blasts the window and all the glass flies inward impaling the unfortunate Dr Harris. Warbeck blasts zoms ineffectually in the torso even after figuring out the one simple headshot trick. Dream. Freeze-frame. Crash zoom. Deserted hospital. Where is everybody? Let's try the laboratory! Where the fuck did those tarantulas come from? Mouth-defiling orifice-entering crawlers marching to that brain-scraping creaking sound. Nails on blackboard. Nails on eyeballs, bathtub hairballs. Dicky the attack slash guide dog chomping down on unfresh zom. Blood is Fulci's base ingredient, the perpetual broth of his maggot-mulched, grue-glutted ramen. And finally the gates of hell stand open. show less

"Una sull'altra" (One on Top of the Other) is a wildly uneven but hypnotically compelling mystery thriller. The lethargic but compelling plot sees the death of the asthmatic wife of Dr George Dumurrier (Jean Sorel). Shortly afterwards Dumurrier is directed to stripper Monica Weston (Marisa Mell) who may know something about or have some form of involvement in the death. Co-written and directed by gore-meister Lucio Fulci, who takes a sub-Vertigo plot and piles on Giallo style at the expense show more of narrative coherence - although in Giallo terms this is a fairly straight forward yarn. The film opens with a slow-moving, dreamy style where everything appears imbued with meaning before segueing into psychedelic eroticism before arriving at a exposition heavy conclusion and a couple of final surprise twists. Along the way there are plenty of compromised characters, mixed loyalties, betrayals and weird side characters who may or may not have importance. Spicing all this up is plenty of nude dancing; groovy psychedelic happenings; modish art and design; no shortage of straight and lesbian sex and a great Riz Ortolani soundtrack. Jean Sorel is quiet and enigmatic in the lead role, but the film belongs to the stunning six-footer Marissa Mell who demands attention every time she's on screen. This may not be the greatest Giallo ever but it is a top notch mystery yarn that is full of tension, eroticism and directorial style - there was much more to Fulci than his classic zombie gut-munchers. show less

In the small Southern Italian village of Accendura, three young boys have been murdered and the village simpleton Barra (Vito Passeri) has been arrested for the crimes. In the nearby mountains, La Magiara (Florinda Bolkan) a mad witch is conducting strange black magic and voodoo rituals. In the village itself the superstitious locals are becoming restless and suspicious of Patrizia (Barbara Bouchet) a beautiful young ingénue who is in exile from Milan following a drug scandal. With the show more murders making national news a media circus rolls into town, including the sharp Roman journalist Andrea Martelli (Tomas Milian). Martelli befriends the sultry Patrizia and the pair make the acquaintance of the young village priest, Don Avallone (Marc Porel), who runs a school for young boys and his strange mother Aurelia (Irene Papas). With the murders continuing and the police relatively clueless, Martelli and Patrizia determine to track down the killer themselves and when they find the head of a Donald Duck doll near a murder site they're convinced they've found a critical clue.
"Non si Sevizia un Paperino" by acclaimed (and reviled) director Lucio Fulci is in many ways a typical early '70s giallo (convoluted plot, multiple suspects, bizarre psychopath, elaborately staged murders, red herrings galore, etc) but one that Fulci fills with less obvious elements, in particular the killing of young boys rather than beautiful women, the remote backward village locale and the sense of anti-religious, moral outrage that he and his co-scriptwriters (Gianfranco Clerici and Roberto Gianviti) bring to the film. The film takes as its over-riding theme the twisting of religious faith into sadistic and perverse obsession, manifesting itself in a murderous "horror of sexuality". Given the revelations of paedophilia and sexual abuse within the Catholic Church, Fulci's film is incredibly prescient. Fulci's approach is directorially sharper and more restrained than in some of his latter splatter epics, but he still manages to bring a degree of bloody mayhem to the proceeding, particularly the beating and murder of La Magiara, which is incredibly staged and played out against both a heavy rock track and a gentle ballad. The acting performances throughout are excellent – the great Tomas Milian is perfect in the lead role (despite sporting an incredible '70's porno 'stache); Barbara Bouchet delivers both the sex interest and a coolly mannered performance; Irene Papas provides an angry internalised performance as the priest’s tortured mother and Florinda Bolkan is brilliant as the shunned "witch". The score by Riz Ortolani adds a grinding intensity and a sadness to the proceeding. "Non si Sevizia un Paperino" is a suspenseful and uncompromising giallo, with a well developed atmosphere of backwoods suspense and a fierce, angry approach from director Lucio Fulci. show less

Made under the working title of “L'Occhio del Male” (Eye of the Evil Dead) “Manhattan Baby” from Italian splattermeister, Lucio Fulci, is one of the most incoherent and confusing movies I’ve ever watched. Despite the total incoherence, however, there is still much to admire, particularly the beautiful photography of cinematographer Guglielmo Mancori. From what I could make out, the story (by Dardano Sacchetti and Elisa Briganti) revolves around Egyptologist George Hacker show more (Christopher Connelly), his wife Emily (Laura Lenzi) and daughter Susie (Brigitta Boccoli) who are on holiday in Egypt. When George goes for a rumble about in a previously unexplored tomb he is struck blind, while at the same time Susie meets a strange blind woman who gives her a mysterious amulet. On returning to New York Susie begins to act strangely, with the amulet affecting a strange influence on her and younger brother Tommy (Giovanni Frezza) who had stayed behind in New York with au pair Jamie-Lee (Cinzia De Ponti). Strange portals appear into which people disappear and cobras and scorpions jump out to kill people. A woman pops up to pass on to George details of a occultist called Adrian Marcato (Laurence Welles) who may be able to assist his possessed family. The disappeared Jamie-Lee returns as some form of zombie and Marcato saves the day by taking the possessing spirit into himself – unfortunately this causes his stuffed birds to come to life and kill him. This is a really odd effort from Fulci and although its not without some merit, it is undoubtedly one of his weakest films. Dardano Sacchetti has stated that this was an attempt on Fulci’s part to take his approach to horror in a new direction and indeed “Manhattan Baby” comes across more as a supernatural thriller than the type of splattery, gorefest's most associated with Fulci. It is therefore ironic that the best scene in the film is the goriest when the stuffed birds (wires and all) come to life and viciously peck and rip Marcato to death. The film is incredibly talky and incoherent and it is therefore difficult to be fully aware of what’s happening at any given point – this gives the whole thing a strange dreamlike and surrealistic quality. Plenty of bizarre imagery pops up, which is interesting of itself, but usually doesn’t add to the narrative and therefore simply builds the all round bafflement. The acting is pretty wooden, with Fulci himself appearing in a speaking role as a doctor in the hospital where Susie is eventually taken. Holding all this together is Guglielmo Mancori’s cinematography, which is excellent throughout. The opening sequence, shot around the pyramids, is highly impressive and atmospheric – some of the cleverest and most unusual shots of ancient archaeology you’ll ever see. Fulci uses these shots and the mystery surrounding the ruins and artefacts to great effect and really conjures up an eerie, foreboding atmosphere – unfortunately this feel is lost when the film relocates to New York. Overall then “Manhattan Baby” is a beautifully shot film that is decent to look at throughout and a film with a strange dreamy / nightmarish feel. These positive points are, however, totally undermined by an incredibly messy and incoherent story. It is well worth a look, but should be approached with real caution if you like your narrative clear, straight-forward and linear. show less