How can one of the most revered horror filmmakers of all time only have like three different pictures on the internet. Seriously. He made almost 60 movies and every site on the web uses the same picture. That sucks.

It took months upon months of browsing my local video store and staring at that damn box and debating with myself whether to rent it or not before I finally said “Fuck it! Why am I being a pussy? Just rent it!” and I did. Just watching the first scene from the film where a priest hangs himself in a cemetery made me uneasy…I didn’t know why…I had seen much worse. I made it all the way up to the infamous scene where the girl vomits her guts out and I stopped the film, ejected it (I rewound it first—you had to do that!), put it back in its case and returned it soon afterwards. Why? I had no fucking idea. It was like the film was entering my subconscious and my subconscious just wasn’t ready for it. On the outside I believe I had convinced myself that it was dumb and poorly made and ‘that’ is why I wasn’t going watch the rest of it—while on the inside there was a traumatized little kid crying for his mommy. I should point out I was about 12 at the time.

So I felt like a huge pussy and I never spoke of that experience to friends. I just went back to the watching good ol’ American horror by directors like George Romero, Tobe Hooper and Wes Craven…those films seemed like home…that Euro shit just weirded me out. Of course as we get older, our tastes change—in food, music, clothing and even movies. As most of you know (unless you’re in complete denial), horror movies started to suck really bad in the 90’s. Not that they were all bad and some classic flicks did come from the “loser” decade (Brain Dead, Cemetery Man, ect.), but overall—they sucked. I hated all the Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer films—they just seemed like sugar-frosted-ultra-flashy rehashing of the slasher films I grew up with—and don’t even get me started on this decade. Ninety’s horror suckitude was the reason I started seeking out other “genre” films and exploitation films by the likes of such directors as Russ Meyer and Jack Hill, which eventually led me into Euro films by Joe D’Amato and Jess Franco which brought me right back to Mr. Fulci.

Needless to say, I eventually gave The Gates of Hell another go and if I could go back in time I would have kicked my own ass for being an idiot and a pussy and not seeking out more of his films along with all the other Italian directors that I now adore like, Ruggero Deodato, Umberto Lenzi, Sergio Martino, Enzo Castellari, among others. Since rediscovering Fulci, I went on a tireless search for all of his films I could get my hands on. I have seen most of his films from 1969 on. His films prior to ’69 are very rare in the states and from what I’m told are not available with subtitles, so I have not had the privilege to view any of them yet.

So what I am presenting to you, dear reader, is sort of a “beginner’s guide” to the films of Fulci. If you are already an avid fan, you may not find this article useful, but for the folks who have not ventured into the man’s work and would like to, but don’t know where to begin, I hope this is helps you in your pursuit.

First I have rounded up what I like to call…


FULCI’S GREATEST HITS

This is a Top 10 list of Fulci’s greatest films (in my opinion). Keep in mind they are not in any particular order.

The New York Ripper (1982)

The New York Ripper is felt by many as a very misogynistic tale of a serial killer stalking the streets of New York and killing women—oh and he quacks like a duck. If that’s not enough to at least spark your attention, I don’t know what will. It does feature some great gore including an up close eyeball slashing (Fulci had a thing for eyes) and a nasty killing with a broken bottle—this was the splatter era after all. The film comes across as a Giallo/slasher hybrid or could just be looked at as a very violent crime thriller. It was released in 1982; a time when Fulci was making films that would appeal to an American audience (or at least it seemed that way), with films such as this one and the Spielberg on acid flick, Manhattan Baby and the very weird sword and sorcery fantasy film, Conquest.

If you like films such as 10 to Midnight w/Charles Bronson or William Friedkin’s Cruising, you may get some entertainment value from The New York Ripper, as I found it very similar to those two films. It has a fairly decent plot, if you like mysteries and gorehounds will love it, plus there’s the whole killer-that-quacks-like-a-duck thing that just takes it to a weird level that I personally enjoy very much.

Don’t Torture a Duckling (1972)

Don’t let the odd title of the film fool you; Don’t Torture a Duckling is arguably Fulci’s greatest submission to the world of cinema. It features a top notch cast with Tomas Milian and Florinda Bolkan in the lead and Barbara Bouchet as gorgeous piece of eye candy. It deals with the taboo subject of child murder. Showing a child being killed in a movie has always seemed like a place where most directors never go and if they do, it is never shown graphically—well, leave it to Lucio Fulci to go there. That being said, Fulci still shows the killings with restraint and without going for shock value or even an ounce of exploitation.

Don’t Torture a Duckling is a straightforward tale of a small Italian village where children are being murdered for no apparent reason, which draws media to the town including a reporter, Andrea Martelli, played by Milian. The local police seem quite inept and Martelli realizes if he’s going to’ get the scoop, he better think like a detective. Martelli’s search leads him to many suspects including a local weirdo, a gypsy witch played by Bolkan and a Milan socialite played by Bouchet. Bouchet’s character, Patrizia, is a hiding out in the country village while some heat on her in Milan involving drug charges, dies down. Her being a stranger and looked at as a slut, she becomes a suspect by default. Soon Martelli and Patrizia are working together to solve the case, which leads to an unlikely suspect.

No Fulci film would be complete without at least one scene or image that stays with you forever and in this film it would the scene involving the chain beating of Bolkan’s gypsy character in an old cemetery. The way the scene is shot and its musical accompaniment creates a beautifully framed image of violence that packs an emotional punch.

Personally, I consider Don’t Torture a Duckling one of Fulci’s masterpieces of cinema along with Perversion Story and A Lizard With a Woman’s Skin. Fulci’s horror classics such as City of the Living Dead, Zombi 2 and The Beyond are great too, but deeply flawed compared to 3 former films I mentioned, which also show that Fulci was not all about shock and exploitation, but was a damn fine film director.

The House by the Cemetery (1981)

There are a few horror movies that come to mind instantly when people talk about Lucio Fulci, The Beyond, City of the Living Dead and House by the Cemetery (a trilogy of sorts). The last one on that list seems to get the least amount of respect for some reason. I actually have a lot of love for the film and hold in the same regard as the other two. House by the Cemetery is a great horror film, Italian or not. It's a simple 'boogey man' tale wrapped in the guise of a 'haunted house' movie. The title was probably a cash in on the success of haunted house movies like, Amityville Horror that were popping up around that time, but this is a story about something living in the basement and it's no ghost, it's very real and very deadly.

Catriona MacColl is back and this time she plays, Lucy, the wife of Dr. Norman Boyle (Paolo Malco). Dr. Boyle, Lucy and their toe-headed son, Bob (Giovanni Frezza), move to a small New England town so the doc’ can do some research on a colleague that killed his mistress and then himself in that same town. Once in town, they stay in the same house where Norman's colleague went mad. Lucy is unhappy due to being a city girl and Bob is warned by a mysterious little girl to avoid the house (she also spoke to him from a picture of the house, back in the city). Then we learn that the house does in fact have a dark history. At the turn of the century, another doctor, by the name of Freudstein, lived in the house and killed his entire family and it has been 'haunted' ever since. Seems Norman's colleague was doing research on Freudstein and went mad. Norman finds the research and takes over where his friend left off. It becomes very clear that there is something in the basement and it's no ghost. The thing soon leaves the basement and kills--all in very gore-tastic ways, of course.

Just like The Beyond and City of the Living Dead, House by the Cemetery is just like a horrible nightmare. You may have to go back to your childhood (I know I do at least) and remember the nightmares you had. Children know a lot less than adults do therefore they have more to fear. We know there's no boogey man in the closet, but a child doesn't know that for sure. Did you ever have a dream of being chased? Usually you'd wake up right before the 'thing' caught you or maybe a dream about falling? You'd usually wake up before the splat, right? Not this nightmare, the boogey man is real, he's after you and he's gonna' gets you! The ending of House by the Cemetery is one of the scariest moments in horror movie history. Fulci straight up didn't give a fuck about the rules of horror and that's why he is so fucking awesome!

Zombi 2 aka Zombie (1972)

Zombi 2 or as some know it, Zombie or Zombie Flesh Eaters is thought by some to be a sequel to George Romero’s, Dawn of the Dead which went by the title, Zombi in Italy. It is not a sequel—but there was footage added to Zombi 2 to make people think that it’s some sort of prequel to Dawn of the Dead. It was all done as a cash-in on Dawn of the Dead’s success—but all that confusion aside, Zombi 2 is still one of the all time best zombie movies right next to the films of Romero—some would argue it is better, but I won’t get into that debate.

Unlike Romero’s zombie flicks, Zombi 2 focuses more on the beginning of a zombie outbreak more than the outbreak itself. When a sailboat makes its way to New York Harbor, the cops check it out only to be attacked by a zombie. A missing scientist owns the boat. When the scientist’s daughter finds out about the boat, she goes on a mission to find her father, with the help of a reporter, an ethnologist and his wife, they travel to an island where her father has been living and working on a cure for a disease that is turning all the natives to zombies.

Eventually the zombie population grows out of hand and much we reap the gruesome benefits! Zombi 2 is known best for two scenes, one being the infamous eye gouge scene where a woman takes a large wooden splinter through her eyeball and a scene where a zombie fights a shark underwater—one of the coolest things ever or one of the dumbest things ever, depending on your point of view (I lean towards the former).

A Lizard in a Woman’s Skin aka Schizoid (1971)

A Lizard in a Woman’s Skin may be one of Fulci's best and it's not even a horror movie, but more of a mystery/thriller that will leave you guessing until the very last scene. It has everything a good mystery should have, interesting characters, a lot of twists, a few red herrings and above all, a plausible and interesting plot. Not to mention, Fulci's above and beyond directional skills (this is truly one of his best movies as a director), a fantastic score by my favorite movie composer of all time, Ennio Morricone and great performances by Florinda Bolkan as Carol Hammond, the woman on the edge of sanity, classic screen actor Stanley Baker as the Inspector and Jean Sorel as Carol's loving husband.

Bolken plays a stuffy upper class Brit that has reoccurring nightmares of killing her sexy neighbor (not to mention lesbian fantasies). When the neighbor ends up being killed the same way Bolken describes in her dreams, she becomes suspect no. 1. A Lizard in a Woman’s Skin is a clever who-dun nit and it is my 2nd favorite Lucio Fulci film, yet I will go as far as to say it probably his best, from a technical standpoint, along with, Don’t Torture a Duckling.

Fans of Fulci's gorier flicks may be disappointed here, for there is not much gore beyond some tame bloodshed. Though, anybody who writes off Fulci, as being just a goremeister and not making movies of substance, have obviously not seen this film. Yet it wouldn’t be Fulci if it weren’t known for at least on scene of gruesomeness. The film does contain an infamous scene where Bolken stumbles into a room where some dogs have been vivisected—not real dogs. The scene was so realistic that Fulci faced legal charges and had to bring his FX man to court to show that the dogs used were not real. By the way, that scene is excluded in the Schizoid cut of the film.

Perversion Story aka One on Top of the Other (1969)

When I first heard about Perversion Story, I figured it would be a Euro-sleaze, sexploitation romp with Fulci at the helm--boy was I surprised. Perversion Story is a work of art come to life. Story-wise, if you've seen Hitchcock's Vertigo, you'll see a lot of similarities to that film here. Other than that, Perversion Story shows Fulci flexing his directorial muscles. Just one look at this film and you'll see a director who was bound for greatness.

The story involves a gifted doctor named George (Jean Sorel) who is about to attempt a heart transplant and devotes most of his time to his practice, much to the dismay of his ill wife, Susan (Marisa Mell). Pretty soon Susan kicks the bucket and George gets very distraught. So distraught that he soon ends up in a groovy strip club (you can't mourn forever right?). George becomes infatuated with a stripper (also played by Mell) at the club that's the spitting image of his dead wife (but way more hot!). Soon George starts seeing (dating, fucking, whatever) the woman, who by the way is also a prostitute. Everything's cool until an insurance company, that's investigating George after his wife's death, starts snooping around. When they see George hanging around with a woman that looks like his dead wife in disguise, they think the two might be pulling a scam.

The plot takes some twists and turns and soon George is on death row for the murder of his wife. A frame up that may surprise some, but folks who are into mystery/thrillers may see it coming. It doesn't matter though. The plot is interesting enough, though some may find it boring in parts. I, being a fan of Euro-sleaze films from the late 60's/early 70's, thought the movie was fucking brilliant! There are some killer scenes in Perversion Story that are shot so artfully and beautifully that I mostly watched the film, mouth agape. There's a wonderfully filmed sex scene that has to be seen to be believed. Not for being crude or graphic (which it's not) but for being shot in such an amazing way. Not for everybody, but true cinemaphiles will enjoy it.

Seven Notes in Black aka The Psychic (1977)

The film stars Jennifer O’Neill as a clairvoyant that sees visions of a killing that takes place in house that she and her husband are renovating. Throughout the film her vision start putting the mystery together, all while she tries to convince everyone, including her husband, that she isn’t nuts.

This is a good who-dun-it, Giallo style flick. It’s a bit slow in parts, but overall it’s a good movie. The style and the atmosphere and the cinematography are the true appeal of the film. Fulci’s movies from the 70’s show him in his prime and Seven Notes in Black is no different. It’s a great mystery, short on Fulci gore, but we do get a little taste of grue (remember, Fulci didn’t go balls out on the gore until ‘79’s Zombi 2), but the plot is the draw here. Fulci keeps you guessing all the way through in true Hitchcock fashion. One other tidbit, the opening scene shows a woman commit suicide by jumping off of a cliff—it’s almost the exact effect—shot the same way as the ending of Don’t Torture a Duckling.

A Cat in the Brain aka Nightmare Concert (1990)

An obvious thank you to his fans, A Cat in the Brain was Fulci’s last gorefest. It’s alternate title, Nightmare Concert, is actually a better title for the film because that is literally what the film feels like. It could be considered, a film within a film, within a film. The film you're watching, the film Fulci is directing (he plays himself) and the film going on in Fulci's head. Fulci’s “visions” are actually scenes from previous Fulci films including Touch of Death, Sodoma’s Ghost and a film Fulci produced entitled Don't Be Afraid of Aunt Martha and some other films by friends of Fulci’s, including Blood Psycho, Escape from Death and Massacre. The film could be looked at as a full-length horror movie mash-up before anybody knew what a mash-up was!

Even if the film recycles gore from other films, all the scenes are used in clever ways, plus it’s cool to see Fulci playing himself (he’s known to cameo in his films from time to time) and as the star of the film. Fulci plays a version of himself, a horror movie director that feels his movies are starting to affect his psyche. He seeks therapy, but his shrink is a madman that uses hypnotherapy to convince Fulci that his violent visions of murder are real, but in actuality the shrink is the one going out and doing the killings. All of this is done in a tongue and cheek way and the film could also be looked at as a perversely black comedy (much like Fulci’s Touch of Death which makes up a bulk of the death scenes in A Cat in the Brain). Case in point, when the shrink goes on his killing sprees, he’s accompanied by a pan flute version of “In the Hall of the Mountain King”, from Peer Gynt.

I'd advise A Cat in the Brain to Fulci fans only for full value, though anybody just looking for a gorefest won't be disappointed either. Everything a gorehound could want is here—decapitations, sawed off limbs, tons of blood and guts, eyeball popping and even a Psycho-esque shower scene (where as, Hitchcock’s classic scene teased the audience, Fulci goes all the way). Oh and there's plenty of sex and T & A to boot!

The Beyond (1981)

Most Fulci fans that I have spoken with usually call The Beyond their favorite Fulci film. It is one of his best movies, but it probably wouldn’t make my personal top 5. The Beyond is loaded with gore, possibly Fulci’s goriest over all, which I believe is why most enjoy it so much. The story is very nightmarish and the whole film has a great surreal quality that Fulci would come to be known for. The things that I just pointed out that make the film great are also the reason why some of people (squares) hate the film. Some people (squares) have a hard time wrapping their brains around a film that has no sense of logic.

Fulci never hid or denied the fact that his films were more about the visuals than storylines and The Beyond is all about visuals, but there is a story…of sorts. A woman (Catriona MacColl) buys an old New Orleans hotel with hopes of renovating it, but the hotel has a history of witchcraft and it also just happens to be the gateway to hell. When mysterious things start to happen, not to mention everyone associated with the hotel start getting killed, she seeks the help from a friend (David Warbeck), a doctor that assumes there is a rational reason for everything…he obviously didn’t know he was in a Lucio Fulci movie.

The Beyond has been the holy grail of gore flicks for gorehounds over the years. While some of the effects haven’t aged very well, some still pack a good punch. The films features people being melted with acid, all sorts of things happening to people’s peepers, a throat ripped out by a dog, a paralyzed man being ravaged by tarantulas and possibly most famous off all, a little girl gets a soft ball sized hole through her head from a gun blast. Oh and did I mention there are zombies?!

If you are able to suspend your level of disbelief for an hour and a half, you may enjoy The Beyond, if not, you may want to stay away from this next one too…

City of the Living Dead aka The Gates of Hell (1980)

City of the Living Dead, like some other Fulci movies, feels like a nightmare. --a nightmare that gets worse and worse as it goes on. The story is a basic one. A priest in the town of Dunwich (built on the ruins of Salem—wait, Salem is still standing…whatever), a town notorious for witch burnings in the 1700's, hangs himself and opens one of the 7 gates of hell. A psychic sees this happen in a vision-she dies and come back to life after she's already in her coffin. A nosy newspaper reporter discovers her just in time and they end up traveling together to Dunwich to find answers. Meanwhile, hell is literally breaking loose in Dunwich and people keep dying in mysterious ways and then coming back to life. The psychic and the reporter end up getting some help from some locals (a psychiatrist and one of his patients). Then they race to find the corpse of the priest and destroy it before All Saints Day or all hell will break loose, wait didn't it already break loose?

See? It's far from a perfect plot, but Fulci executes it quite nicely. The cast is stellar and does a great job, even with lousy dubbed voices. Fulci regular, Catriona MacColl plays the lead female and probably gives her best performance. Giovanni Lombardo Radice (or John Morghen as he goes by now) and Daniela Doria show up and get the best death scenes of any Fulci movie. Radice with the infamous head drill scene and Doria with the even more notorious gut vomit scene—even now, one of the sickest scenes ever, even the sound effects are stomach churning. Radice is great as the town idiot/pervert. I found the scene where he enters the abandoned house and his plans to fuck a blow-up doll is cut short when he finds a rotting corpse of a child, very disturbing. Pure Fulci sleaze at it's best.

This film, as I mentioned, was my introduction to Lucio Fulci and still my favorite Fulci film—I even like the head scratcher of an ending. Fulci had a way of capturing nightmares on film. When I dream—my dreams look like Fulci movies—not the subject matter mind you, but in how they look visually and how they flow. Did they look that way before I saw The Gates of Hell? I don’t know, but all I know is Fulci’s films may have altered my subconscious in some way. I am an immense fan of Lucio Fulci, in fact Fulci is my favorite horror director of all time, but I’m not so blind and fanboy-ish that I don’t see why some people don’t like or straight up hate his films—or Euro/Italian horror in general. They’re weird, surreal and sometimes non-linear. Usually the plots don’t flow or even make sense—if there is a plot at all. For example, I personally don’t get abstract art—but there are others that do and I can appreciate that.


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HONORABLE MENTIONS


The following list consists of films, that if you liked the films on the greatest hits list, you may enjoy these films as well…

The House of Clocks (1989)

A return to Fulci’s splatter era, House of Clocks was a made for Italian TV movie that went along with Sweet House of Horrors and two other “house themed” movies by Ruggero Deodato. It tells the tale of a creepy old couple and their house loaded with clocks (hence the title). When a trio of young people plan to rob the house they get more than they’re prepared for when a simple robbery becomes a triple homicide, but the old folks and they’re groundskeeper (Al Cliver) do not stay dead for long when all the clocks in the house start going in reverse, bringing them back to life to extract gruesome revenge.

Late 80’s Fulci movies were very hit and miss (mostly miss) but this one was pleasant surprise. It’s yet another supernatural flavored Fulci flick which helps if you can suspend that ol’ level of disbelief. The plot is absolutely ridiculous, but that doesn’t mean it’s not entertaining, plus cat lovers will love the ending (I found it hilarious, but some will hate it I’m sure).

Demonia (1990)

Some archeologists stumble across the ruins of a 16th century convent in Sicily. One of them, Liza (Meg Register), is haunted by nightmares of the convents past that involve occultism and murder. Liza’s dreams start the crossover into reality and she is slowly driven to the brink of madness.

Okay, this wasn’t as bad as some fans make it out to be, but it was bad. I felt the story was weak. The performance of Meg Register was horrid and irritating. Brett Halsey didn’t have a big enough or important enough part and Al Cliver (billed as Al Clever in the credits. HA!) sleep walks his way through---wait, that’s what he always does. What does work is the gore, the excellent Italian old country backdrop, the creepy monastery set and that dreamlike atmosphere of Fulci’s early 80’s work is back and in full effect. Demonia was supposed to be Fulci’s return to the big screen after a series of failed TV movies in the late 80’s, but it flopped and went straight to video. For Fulci fans only, view at your own risk.

The Black Cat (1981)

Inspired by the Edgar Allen Poe poem of the same name, The Black Cat tells the story of a creepy old psychic played by Patrick Magee. Seems the psychic can summon the dead and place their spirits into his black cat, which he uses as a tool for murderous revenge. As lame as that sounds, as a mystery, it works—I mean, who suspects a cat of murder?

I actually think this one is quite good and a forgotten gem of a Fulci’s. This one came out around the same time as The Beyond, Zombi 2 and City of the Living Dead so I think it gets forgotten, but I enjoyed it a lot. Patrick Magee is the shit! He’s the best over actor ever! My god, the man mugs and furls his brow better than an actor to grace the screen. For anybody who doesn’t know, Magee was in, among many other films, A Clockwork Orange, he played the male victim in the ‘Singing in the Rain’ scene. His performance is worth checking the movie out alone, but there’s a good story, some gore and T & A to boot!

Manhattan Baby aka Eye of the Evil Dead (1982)

Manhattan Baby is the tale of an archeologist, his family and an ill-fated trip to Egypt. First the archeologist himself goes temporarily blind when he's hit in the peepers by some blue laser beams while exploring a tomb. While his family waits for him, a freaky old blind lady gives his daughter Susie an amulet. They head back to New York and that's when Susie and her brother find that the amulet opens a doorway to another dimension and the kids travel through it as they please until Mom realizes that the children aren't in their rooms at night. Soon people start dying in very mysterious ways and some get sucked into another dimension. Soon the archeologist gets his sight back and begins to unravel the secrets of the tomb he was exploring. Could the secret of the tomb be linked with the funky amulet? Yeah, probably.

This one was not what I was expecting at all. It's a decent flick. It has some slow parts and if you blink you may miss a plot point. What I enjoyed most about the film is the cinematography, possible the best 'looking' Fulci film that I have ever seen. The effects are cheesy, but not unforgivably cheesy. Manhattan Baby has a real Hollywood style. If Poltergeist hadn't came out the same year, I would have guessed it an influence. Poltergeist may have not been an influence, but The Exorcist surely was with the Egyptian and possession themes.

As far as the gore, let's just say, with a few edits, Manhattan Baby could've been a PG-13 movie. Now, I love me some gore, but I don't 'need' it to make a movie good, some people do. Manhattan Baby is for fans of Fulci and brave cinemaphiles, who don't mind a slow pace, bad dubbing and cheap effects in exchange for a beautiful looking and well directed film.

The Devil’s Honey aka Dangerous Obsession (1986)

Brett Halsey plays a surgeon that botches a surgery on a young man that dies shortly after. He ends up caught in a series of sexual mind games with the young man’s girlfriend. Halsey’s character’s life is so dull and shitty that he finds himself enjoying her deadly game. This is Fulci’s sleaziest movie. Just to prove it, the first time I saw The Devil’s Honey aka Dangerous Obsession was late at night on CINEMAX back in the 90’s — that should tell you a lot. A little mystery/thriller and little bit soft-core porn—a darker version of 9 ½ Weeks if you will. Brett Halsey makes his first Fulci movie appearance (he’d be back for Touch of Death, Cat in the Brain and Demonia) and he is the only reason for watching this sleazefest—oh and for all the gratuitous sex and nudity, ya’ know, if you’re into that kind of stuff…like me.

Touch of Death (1988)

Brett Halsey plays a gambling addict who also happens to be a cannibalistic sociopath with a split personality. So in order to live the life style he likes, he suckers rich ugly women into dates and kills them, eats them (he serves the scraps to his pigs) and steals their money and then goes and blows it gambling on horses (he has no luck) and then repeats the process to keep from going into dept…oh, and it’s a comedy. Yes, Touch of Death is a blacker than black comedy that some will not find humorous unless you have a very sick sense of humor (as I do).

Touch of Death was a made for Italian cable TV movie and it shows--big time. Fulci needs a bigger budget to make his big visions come to life and when he doesn't, you get movies like this one and Sodoma’s Ghost, low-budget schlock. Still, the power of Fulci compels and the acting talent of Halsey keeps this from being a complete shit bomb. The movie has some great gore and actually, a half descent plot. With a little more time, effort and money, it could have been a classic. It just seems like, Fulci kind of gave up in the 80's and just made movies to get by---that being said, he's still a hell of a talented director and even in his crappiest movies, he shines as a director.

Beatrice Cenci (1969)

Set in 16th century Italy (are you asleep already?), Beatrice Cenci is a tale of torture and forbidden love. The insanely gorgeous, Adrienne Larussa plays the title character, a young noblewoman who his locked away in a torture dungeon by her rich landowner father for reasons that are kept secret until the films shocking conclusion. With the help of house servant played by Tomas Milian (in one of his greatest performances), Beatrice and her other family members murder the Father is hopes of making it look like an accident, but it becomes clear that it was murder and they all become suspects and are put through all sorts of torture until one of them admit to their murderous deeds, which also means revealing the family’s horrible and incestuous secrets.

I found the film dull and somewhat confusing is parts, but that’s not to say the film is still not a strong piece of work. Period pieces are not for everybody and I certainly don’t enjoy them as much as other people do. The dialogue can come across as rather bland and more so when it’s in subtitles, yet it’s a gorgeous looking film, the score is beautiful and the performances by the cast are superb, especially in Milian’s case. Although the film may not have appealed to myself, personally—I would still put Beatrice Cenci in the same league as other Fulci masterpieces such as the previously mentioned, Don’t Torture A Duckling, Perversion Story and A Lizard in a Woman’s Skin.


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CAVEAT EMPTOR or “Let the Buyer (or renter) beware!”

The films on this list are films of Fulci’s that I enjoyed, just not as much as the films on the previous lists. I would advise these for Fulci freex only.

Sodoma’s Ghost (1988)

A supernatural Nazisploitation flick. One of Fulci’s made for Italian television movies. It’s sort of like a movie length Twilight Zone episode.



Murder Rock (1984)

What if the movie Fame wasn’t a lame musical, but a lame Giallo? Ladies and Gentlemen, Murder Rock!

Conquest (1983)

Many hate Fulci’s one excursion into the sword and sorcery genre. It’s dreamy and features a great score, but it has some long dull moments and feels like a fever dream at times. Personally, I enjoy it—but most will not.

The New Gladiators (1984)

Fulci’s one and only stab at sci-fi. The New Gladiators is just one of many post-apocalyptic themed movies to come out of Italy in the early 80’s and it’s far from the best of them. If you enjoy that genre of film, you may get something out of it.


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AVOID AT ALL COSTS…you have been warned!

The shortest list, consists of 3 films of Fulci’s that I just can’t stand…

Zombi 3 (1988)

Oh man, this one is bad. If you enjoy b-movies for the sake of laughing at them, it is worth a watch, if not—just stay away.


Sweet House of Horrors (1989)

There are so many levels of bad with this film. Unlikable characters, the worst dubbing of any Fulci film (and that is saying a lot), a retarded plot and an ending that I’m not sure was supposed to be intentionally funny or not.

Aenigma (1987)

Kind of like Carrie...but not. Death by snails, anyone? This movie is the bane of my Fulci fandom. I hated--I repeat-hated this movie. I was almost angry after watching it. Beautiful looking? Yes. Good score? Sure, but not enough to save this fucker! Some may disagree and have some place for it in their heart…believe me, I understand, I hold some bad movies near and dear to my heart as well. I have to be honest, this is the worst Fulci movie I have ever seen, but even Fulci at his worst, is not as bad as some other director’s worst—I mean, it’s bad, but not Andy Milligan bad. I think it’s more that I know Fulci was capable of better and that the plot (which could have worked) was a mess and no, the nonlinear ‘nightmare’ excuse doesn’t work for me here.


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Fulci purists will noticed that I have left out quite a few films from Fulci’s career. I’ve left out films that are not in the horror/Giallo/fantasy/Sci-fi realm for this article such as westerns and comedies. Not that those films are not worth seeking out (in fact some them I really enjoy), they just didn’t seem to fit with the vibe of this article or this site. For those interested in those films, I suggest checking out Fulci’s filmography at imdb.com

Lucio Fulci was (is) an enigma—I do not perceive to understand all his films—all I know is I like what I see. There is a reason Fulci fans have the saying “Fulci Lives” and that is because, though the man is long dead, his films live on to creep out the masses and make the world a little more weird.

In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Fulci, amen.