NEW YORK RIPPER aka LO SQUARTATORE DI NEW YORK

1982, Lucio Fulci
Starring: Jack Hedley, Almanta Suska, Howard Ross, Andrea Occhipinti, Alexandra Delli Colli, Daniela Doria

As horribly mutilated female corpses turn up around the city, the police department (headed by Fulci himself) is stumped. Jaded Lieutenant William is in charge of the case and calls for the aid of young psychotherapist, Dr. Davis, with the hope that they can at least get a psychological profile. Meanwhile, a woman named Jane looks for sex where ever she can get it – and records her exploits for her wheelchair-bound husband – but eventually stumbles into the arms of a killer. Fay, a local young woman, is targeted by a man with two missing fingers, but escapes with her life. She also has a disturbing dream that her boyfriend Peter, has tried to kill her with a knife, but he arrives to the hospital grateful that she is alive. Lieutenant Williams continues to receive taunting phone calls from the killer, who quacks like a duck.

Yes, the killer talks like Donald Duck. If you can get past that, you should be able to find your way towards the black, subversive heart of New York Ripper, Fulci’s most controversial film. Hated by many, and loved passionately by me, it’s arguably his most hateful film, a brutal and misogynistic reimagining of the giallo set in the heyday of New York sleaze. It also marks the end of his two year golden period, where he made some of his goriest and most notable works: Zombie (1979), City of the Living Dead (1980), The Black Cat (1981), The Beyond (1981), and House by the Cemetery (1981).

New York Ripper is not for the faint of heart, or the serious-minded. One of the things I’ve always loved most about Fulci is his sense of the surreal, the bizarre, and the whimsical. While there are elements of this in everything from Lizard in a Woman’s Skin to The Beyond, New York Ripper is simply packed full of surreal elements likely to aggravate the casual viewer. In addition to the killer quacking like Donald Duck, the dialogue has some real gusto (my favorite line occurs when the medical examiner tells the Lieutenant mid-autopsy that the latest victim had a knife stuck up her “joy trail”) and you’ll find everything from a never-ending game of futuristic chess to public toe sex.

The film’s sexual content is its main source of controversy. Many scenes are flat out softcore porn, and there are several characters who seek out sexual gratification. Jane goes to a live sex show, where it’s implied that she masturbates, is pleasured by a complete stranger’s toes at a café, and makes audio sex tapes for her husband. Even the Lieutenant visits a prostitute. From a sliced nipple and eyeball (courtesy of actress Daniela Doria, who Fulci killed imaginatively many times throughout his career) to a broken bottle jammed up the aforementioned joy trail, most of the violence is vividly splayed out across the hyper-sexualized female form by the enthused killer.

This is also, by far, his goriest film. While there is technically more blood and general fluids of decay in Zombie, City of the Living Dead, or The Beyond, New York Ripper absolutely has the most brutality. It also shares the nihilistic tone of Don’t Torture a Duckling, with which it has a fair amount in common. SPOILERS: In that film, the killer is a young, handsome, dark-haired priest (Marc Porel) murdering pre-teen boys to preserve their innocence. New York Ripper’s killer (Andrew Occipinti, who could be Porel’s brother) is murdering sexually mature and often promiscuous women because his young daughter is riddled with cancer and will die before she matures. In both cases, sexuality is the ultimate corrupter.

And like Don’t Torture a Duckling, there are essentially no likable characters, no warm relationships, no love, and no affection. There are many intimate relationships in the film, including husband/wife, boyfriend/girlfriend, and father/daughter, but none of these exhibit even the faintest signs of love. They are instead about control, necessity, and sexual need. At their core, they are all about a basic selfish, even sociopathic, desire for survival. What’s truly unsettling about this film is that instead of reasonably normal characters plagued by an abnormal killer (as in Argento's Tenebre), the killer's emotional state soaks into the very heart of New York Ripper.

I am morally obligated to recommend this film, even though you will likely hate it. The script from Dardano Sacchetti is delightfully nonsensical, full of some great red herrings and plot twists. All the random subplots and pieces of seemingly useless information found in the typical giallo come together in an emotionally icy conclusion, which comes as an absolute surprise and cements the film’s real message of nihilism and despair. Check out the Blu-ray from Blue Underground and prepare yourself for a filmic work unlikely any other.

THE PSYCHIC aka SETTE NOTE IN NERO

Lucio Fulci, 1977

Starring: Jennifer O’Neill, Gabriele Ferzetti, Marc Porel, Gianni Garko, Ida Galli

The newly married Virginia Ducci (played by the beautiful Jennifer O’Neill) has had reoccurring psychic episodes throughout her life. After dropping her husband off at his airplane one afternoon, she is struck with a series of visions that leave her terrified, because they are all clues to a murder that she believes has been committed. She shares this with her psychologist/ paranormal investigator friend (Marc Porel, recognizable as the priest in Don’t Torture a Duckling), who tells her she is being silly. But when she follows her instincts and discovers a woman’s body walled up in her husband's old villa – which she has been renovating – her friend agrees to help her investigate. It is quickly apparent that something is not right. The clues in her vision indicated a different dead woman and some of the other items in her vision are beginning to show up in her daily life. Is she in danger herself? And what did she really see?

Also known as Seven Notes in Black, this film is one of Fulci’s more underrated and understated efforts. It has barely any gore or nudity and it is more of supernaturally-charged thriller than an outright giallo film, but thanks to Fulci and screenwriter Dardano Sacchetti, it’s packed with twists and turns and is dripping with sexual menace.

Like some of the better giallo films, many important clues that still manage to give nothing away are presented early on, a la Argento’s Bird with the Crystal Plumage or Deep Red, and lead in a suspenseful if indirect line to murder. Both the audience and the protagonists fail to put these clues together until it is too late.

If you’re a mystery fan, as I am, this is a wonderfully entertaining little film that’s both intimate and restrained. It comes recommended for the sheer fact that it’s one of Fulci’s best written films and manages to capture Freud’s sense of the unheimlich (often translated to uncanny), so rarely seen in Italian ‘70s horror. This concept suggests a blending of the familiar and the alien often found in British ghost stories where the familiar (the household, the countryside) is a place of fear and terror, but also a place where one is inexplicably drawn. This sensation is often associated with the visual and Virgina’s visions are a perfect example: dreams cut into reality and past, present, and future fuse together. Her new home is a place of old – and possibly new – death, the literal skeleton in the closet.

The Psychic also exhibits a fair amount of Poe’s influence, as well as the female-focused noir and suspense films of the ‘40s and ‘50s. Like The Two Mrs. Carrolls, Rebecca, Gaslight, Suspicion, Sorry Wrong Number, and many more, The Psychic concerns a woman who is ultimately possessed by a deep-seated sexual anxiety, one where the home is a place of fear and repression and the husband is an alluring, but dangerous figure of mystery and menace. Virginia’s visions of death are also related to other women. She sees her mother’s suicide (a dive off a seaside cliff), the bloody face of an old woman, a magazine with a brunette on the cover, and, of course, the female skeleton boarded up behind the wall.

The film’s primary flaw is that the characters are unfortunately flat. Jennifer O’Neill, though lovely and incredibly stylish here, is not an actress possessing a great amount of range. Virginia is almost entirely devoid of personality and it would have been nice to see an actress with some gravitas in the role. This may be a fault of the writing, as all the other characters also feel like cardboard cut outs. In some sense, this works in the film’s favor, granting a character like Virginia’s husband a sizable amount of mystery.

Despite this somewhat minor issue, The Psychic comes recommended and will surprise anyone used to Fulci’s other, incredibly gory horror films. Not only does this not feel like a Fulci film, but it seems more British than it does Italian – an interesting experiment at the least and one that should please fans of quieter, more subdued horror. There is an uncut version available from Severin films, which I am reviewing (beware: the US version is closer to 90 minutes, while the European version is 97 minutes). The print is serviceable, but nothing special. Maybe someday this will be including in my dream Fulci box set with additional language tracks and special features. It’s a shame Fulci didn’t make any more like this, though I suspect that some of the ill-advised efforts from his later career were attempts to return to this creepy, cerebral realm (House of Clocks and Door to Silence… yikes).

DON’T TORTURE A DUCKING aka NON SI SEVIZIA UN PAPERINO

1972, Lucio Fulci

Starring: Florinda Bolkan, Barbara Bouchet, Tomas Milian, Irene Papas, Marc Porel

In the rural town of Accendura, in southern Italy, young boys are being murdered. A Roman journalist, Andrea, works with the local police to narrow down the pool of suspects, including a mentally handicapped man with peeping tom tendencies, a wealthy young woman lying low in the town to escape drug charges, a suspected witch, and more. It seems that everyone has something to hide, and they struggle to find the culprit before another boy is killed – or before mob justice overcomes the frightened and superstitious villagers.

Non si sevizia un paperino can be counted among Fulci’s early giallo films – along with One on Top of the Other and Lizard in a Woman's Skin -- that set him on the path away from his role as a director of mediocre Italian comedies towards his persona as the Godfather of Gore. Don’t Torture a Duckling is even a departure from his giallo films and thrillers, and is a dark and deeply personal work. He supposedly swore off political films after Beatrice Cenci – a historical fact-based drama that was a scathing attack on the Church and almost cost him his career – but he reexamined some of these themes with Don’t Torture a Duckling, a look at repression, hypocrisy, small town hysteria, and the evils of superstition and mob justice.

The film does not have a strong central character, but loosely focuses on a journalist (Italian crime film regular Tomas Milian) and a comely socialite (Bond girl Barbara Bouchet) who form an unlikely team, sticking to the giallo convention that the detective (or detectives) is almost always an amateur investigator, rather than a police officer or other official figure. Following a similar convention, the two are strangers to the small town and are separated from its day-to-day gossip, drama, and long-held superstitions. And like any giallo, there are numerous suspects, several false confessions, and mysterious alibis. The two do no so much solve the mystery as accidentally stumble across the truth, because they happen to be in the right place at the right time.

Don’t Torture a Duckling is unique from other giallo films in that it has a rural setting and the murder victims are children. While other films tackled these subjects – such as the rural set A Quiet Place in the Country or House with the Laughing Windows, and child murder-themed films like Who Saw Her Die? – Fulci’s film is more critical than the average giallo. Fulci provides some biting social criticism that stretches from small town mentality to an attack on the Church. The villagers of Accendura, no doubt a stand-in for rural Italians – have long ingrained prejudices and superstitions and they are quick to become hysterical and violent. In one of the film’s most stunning scenes, the townsfolk band together to murder one of the suspects, because despite proof that she did not murder the boys, she admits to being a witch.

And while the typical giallo film has copious amount of nudity and gratuitous shots of sexy Italian ladies, as well as sex, violence, and sometimes gore, Don’t Torture a Duckling has almost none of this. Though several children are killed, Fulci shows a surprising amount of restraint, leaving most of the gore for the scene where the witch is beaten to death. Instead, he crafts a series of unsettling imagery that is remarkably effective. The film’s uncomfortable attitude about sex – and sexual repression – is best exemplified by an early scene where the bored socialite, sitting naked in her room, tempts and torments a young boy. He is transfixed by her nudity, but is also made uncomfortable by it – as is the audience, seeing as he’s a pre-teen, still only on the verge of sexual maturity.

It took me several viewings to really warm up to Don’t Torture a Duckling, as it is an icy, hard-edged film with few sympathetic characters. But it’s also undeniably one of Fulci’s masterpieces and is unlike anything else in his career or in the giallo genre. While many of the latter present sexuality as cruel, calculating, and utterly utilitarian, here it is corrosive and corrupting. The murderer – whose identity I will not give away – is not a violent aberration, but rather captures the unconscious mood of a town, a country, a society, determined to view sexuality as an evil force, though Fulci shows that its repression is far more detrimental than its expression. In many ways, it’s something of a precursor to my favorite of Fulci’s films, albeit one that is almost universally hated, New York Ripper (1982) – another tale of morbid sexuality, serial murder, and the violent compulsion to protect and crystallize innocence.

Don’t Torture a Duckling comes recommended, though it’s far from the typical giallo. It’s available on DVD from Blue Underground, and the transfer is a little grainy, it’s the best you’re going to get for now. There is also an older Anchor Bay release from 2000 that you may be able to find somewhere online. This belongs in the special edition Blu-ray box set of Fulci films that will hopefully come out some day.

LIZARD IN A WOMAN'S SKIN aka UNA LUCERTOLA CON LA PELLE DI DONNA

1971, Lucio Fulci
Starring: Florinda Bolkan, Stanley Baker, Jean Sorel, Ely Galleani, Anita Strindberg

Carol, the daughter of a renowned politician and the wife of a well-off lawyer, has been regularly attending therapy for anxiety and insomnia. With her doctor, she discusses reoccurring nightmares that involve her debauched neighbor Julia, a beautiful, mysterious woman who throw raucous parties that frequently turn into orgies. In Carol’s dreams, Julia often seduces her. One night, she dreams that she has murdered Carol and soon after, the woman’s dead body is discovered next door. Meanwhile, Julia’s father confronts her husband, Frank, about his potential infidelity, and a mysterious caller attempts to blackmail him. Thanks to a fur coat found at the scene, Carol is the number one suspect in Julia’s murder, though someone is following her and trying to kill her.

Lizard in a Woman’s Skin – Fulci’s second thriller after One on Top of the Other and what I would call his first giallo – is one of my favorite of his works and among my favorite giallo films. What begins as a confusing story of a mentally disturbed woman’s nightmares of murder – that coincides with a real death – quickly transforms into a lurid tale of infidelity, blackmail, illicit sex, perversion, and hysteria. Carol is one of the giallo genre’s consummate unreliable narrators, and through her, Fulci leads us down a path that crosses rapidly between increasingly dangerous reality, nightmares, and anxious visions of violence – including a scene where Carol stumbles across a room full of canine vivisection that was so realistic, special effects master Carlo Rambaldi had to appear in court and swear they were only props.

Written by Fulci and his regular collaborator Roberto Gianviti, Lizard includes some typical giallo conventions, despite its early appearance in the genre. Suspicion and a dizzying pile of evidence point towards Carol, her husband, and a number of other unlikely suspects. There are the usual red herrings, false confessions, and seeming non-sequitors that change the plot on a dime, but this laundry list of twists and turns is not what makes this film stand out. Neither is Fulci’s excessive use of the zoom lens, for that matter.

What makes Lizard in a Woman’s Skin one of my favorite films, and what often endears it even to Fulci haters, are the sexual, menacing, dreamlike elements that somehow come together and tie in with the plot undercurrents. The dream sequences are masterful and they are among Fulci’s best technical film work. Her obviously repressed, lesbian desire for Julia is a dark force that moves through the film’s underbelly, gradually coloring everything. One of my only complaints with the plot is that Fulci starts off with Carol as the protagonist, but slowly move away from her. In doing so, he also creates distance from her repression, psychosis and dreams, making the film a little more mundane. I know why this happens, but I won’t give away any spoilers.

Fulci’s camera usually remains aloof from its protagonists, but here it absolutely worships Florinda Balkan (Footsteps on the Moon, Flavia the Heretic), who is wonderful as the icy, repressed Carol. Her enigmatic stare carries some of the plot deficiencies a long way and even her costumes – which usually feel like an afterthought for Fulci – are spectacular and work towards character development. Giallo regular Anita Strindberg (The Case of the Scorpion’s Tale, Who Saw Her Die?, Your Vice is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key) is breathtaking as Carol’s hated/desired neighbor, and though she isn’t in the film very long, she manages to haunt the proceedings as a symbol of lust, wanton excess, and cruelty.

Another of my favorite things – on the planet, not merely in this film – is Ennio Morricone’s creepy, foreboding score, which is one of his finest and most underrated in his truly incredible catalog. It is dark, dissonant, jazzy, and fits perfectly with the film’s themes. Death Waltz has blessedly released a double-EP of the whole thing, which comes highly recommended.

The only major problem with Lizard in a Woman’s Skin is the DVD release situation. To look at a side-by-side comparison, read the DVD Beaver explanation. The version I own is Shriek Show’s single disc, which is supposed to be a complete print that combines the US and Italian cuts, but is sadly imperfect and is missing scenes. Their double-disc, which features the US and Italian prints separately, plus a documentary, has been long out of print. There’s also a region 2 disc from Optimum, the first to be sourced from the negative. While the Optimum is currently the best version available, I’m still waiting for an ultimate, restored Blu-ray of the film.

ONE ON TOP OF THE OTHER aka UNA SULL’ALTRA

Lucio Fulci, 1969

Starring: Jean Sorel, Marisa Mell, Elsa Martinelli, Alberto de Mendoza, John Ireland

George, a doctor, has a complicated relationship with his wife Susan, who suffers from debilitating asthma attacks. His mistress, Carol, is frustrated that he’s never going to leave Susan, but all of a sudden she drops dead, seemingly from an asthma attack. Her large life insurance policy helps George clear away sizable business debts, but also makes him the number one suspect. It soon becomes clear that Susan was accidentally poisoned with the wrong medication and did not die of an attack, but then George sees a stripper who looks exactly like her. Is Susan still alive, and trying to frame George for her murder, or is someone else trying to drive him out of his mind?

One on Top of the Other, also known as Perversion Story, is director Lucio Fulci’s first attempt at a giallo — previously his output was focused on comedies, drama, and a western, mostly mainstream fare. Though he would go on to make supernatural horror films like The Beyond, Zombie, and City of the Living Dead and earned the moniker “The Godfather of Gore,” One on Top of the Other is a swingin’ ‘60s exercise in sleaze, double-crosses galore, and murder most foul. The first of roughly five giallo films Fulci made in his career, this hints at the greatness found in 1971’s Lizard in a Woman’s Skin and 1972’s Don’t Torture a Duckling.

Fulci and co-screenwriter Roberto Gianviti (who also worked with him on Sette note in nero) were allegedly inspired by Hitchcock’s Vertigo, and include a dizzying array of twists and turns in their script. Instead of becoming tedious and confusing, the way some giallo plots inevitably do, there is something wickedly fun about Fulci’s use of deception, double-dealing, and backstabbing. This is also really more of a straight-out thriller and lacks the standard giallo outline of a mysterious killer bumping off victims closer and closer to the protagonist. Instead, the protagonist, George — who is basically a slimy bastard — spends the film trying to figure out if his wife was murdered and by whom, and whether or not she is alive and has a hand in the mystery.

Lead Jean Sorel was a giallo regular, particularly in that period, in films like Lizard in a Woman’s Skin, The Sweet Body of Deborah, A Quiet Place to Kill, Short Night of the Glass Dolls, and more. Though he’s a flat, unemotional actor, he’s handsome enough to pull off his role as the man at the center of the mystery. It’s difficult to like George, as he’s cheating on his sick wife, for whom he has little affection, preparing to dump his mistress, running his medical practice into the ground, and cheating his business partner, who also happens to be his brother, out of money. Yet, Sorel is charismatic enough to keep us following along, even when the plot gets a bit bogged down with dialogue and inaction. He’s not as well used as in Fulci’s next giallo, Lizard in a Woman’s Skin, but his welcome, stylish appearance usually indicates an entertaining 90-minutes are ahead.

But Sorel can’t hold a candle to the film’s true star, Marisa Mell (Danger: Diabolik). She’s drop-dead gorgeous, as always, in her dual roles as the shrill, sickly wife and the uneducated, though glamorous exotic dancer who makes her entrance with a slow striptease on top of a motorcycle. It’s easy to see why George and Jane become obsessed and both pursue relationships with her during their investigation of her identity. And keep your eyes and ears peeled for supporting performances from American B-movie regulars John Ireland (Satan’s Cheerleaders) and Faith Domergue (This Island Earth), and an enjoyable soundtrack from Riz Ortolani.

Fulci’s dizzying sense of style and cinematography also emerge here, with shots of mirrors, close-ups, a (comical) face through a water cooler, and, my personal favorite of his trademarks… the unrestrained use of the zoom lens. Some of the film was shot on location in San Francisco and other cities in California, allegedly including a shot in the San Quentin State Prison gas chamber. This is far from his best work, but it’s also light years beyond his worst (Sweet House of Horrors is certainly a contender). It’s the least seen of his giallo films, but definitely deserves some attention from fans of Fulci, giallo films, and thrillers alike. And for those who find Fulci's work too sleazy, One on Top of the Other is incredibly tame by the standard set by the rest of his films, so it might be a decent introduction for newbies. Fortunately it’s available on DVD in a pleasant edition from Severin Films, which includes the excellent score on CD.

ZOMBIE FLESH EATERS aka ZOMBI 2

Lucio Fulci, 1979
Starring: Tisa Farrow, Ian McCulloch, Richard Johnson

Though Lucio Fulci’s Italian horror classic Zombie Flesh Eaters, aka Zombie (1979), has received several special edition releases over the years, beginning with the Anchor Bay 2-disc DVD Anniversary edition and, more recently, Blue Underground’s superb Blu-ray edition, it seems the film has received its best release to date with U.K. label Arrow Video’s special edition Blu-ray version. Fulci’s gory video nasty looks absolutely beautiful, allowing all its eye-ball ripping, flesh tearing, maggot squirming glory to shine through with all its dripping, uncut detail intact.

An abandoned boat drifts into the New York harbor and is investigated by a pair of cops, who are attacked by a zombie on board. Anne (Tisa Farrow), whose father owned the boat, travels to an island called Matoul to follow her father’s final footsteps and try learn what happened to him. A reporter, Peter (Ian McCulloch), has been assigned the story and journeys to the island with Anne, hoping to learn the truth. They team up with a vacationing couple (Al Cliver and Auretta Gay) on a boat and meet the mysterious Dr. Menard (Richard Johnson). Soon after, an undead plague is set loose upon the island.

Known affectionately as the Godfather of Gore, Zombie is probably Fulci’s most famous and accessible film. Its fame is due in part to Italian producers jumping on the band wagon of George Romero’s Dawn of the Dead, released in Italy as Zombi. The script, initially penned by prolific horror screenwriter Dardano Sacchetti (Bay of Blood, The Beyond, Demons), was re-written by his wife, Elisa Briganti, and the title was changed to Zombi 2 to cash in on Romero’s success. Zombie is Fulci’s most accessible film because although it tells a straightforward story and includes his trademark gore and suspense, it lacks the stubborn surrealism of his later works like City of the Living Dead, The Black Cat and The Beyond.

Zombie is also one of Fulci’s goriest films, and what it may lack in character development or a complex plot is made up for with scene after scene of iconic violence. The oozing zombies are horrifying due to their obvious level of decomposition, making Romero’s undead shufflers seem cartoonish by comparison. Moments like the telltale sequence of ocular trauma and the zombie vs. shark fight scene are some of the most beloved in Fulci’s career as a director. Zombie was shot at the height of his career and includes participation from some of his most effective collaborators, such as cinematography from Sergio Salvati and one of composer Fabio Frizzi’s most memorable scores.

As with every Fulci film, there are some flaws, but these are easily forgettable. Despite Zombie’s tension and sense of mounting nihilism, some of the pacing is off, leaving dissatisfying sections in the second act. There are not a lot of terribly strong performances here, but McCulloch and Johnson ably carry the film. The lovely Tisa Farrow – obviously less comfortable in front of the camera than her more famous sister Mia – looks convincingly bewildered and uncomfortable for nearly all her screen time. The beautiful Olga Karlatos is particularly memorable for her part in the signature scene of the film, which demonstrates Fulci’s skillful use of environment, as well as his talent for manipulating the audience’s sense of dread.

Both Arrow and its most direct competition -- Blue Underground’s Blu-ray release -- provide different, new 2K scans of the film from the original negative and both are very impressive. Arrow’s version was overseen by James White, and looks like a completely different film than the VHS version I saw growing up. A lot of the dirt and scratches have been cleaned up, damaged frames were repaired and colors pop. This is surely the finest looking print of Zombie currently available, even blowing the Blue Underground release out of the water. Despite the fact that I have seen this film roughly 30 times over the years – as many Italian horror fans probably also have – an amazing amount of background detail is clear for the first time on this new 1080p transfer with a 2.35:1 presentation and MPEG-4 AVC encoding. Arrow also kindly provides the option to choose between U.S., U.K., or Italian opening and closing sequences.

The Dolby Digital English and Italian 2.0 audio tracks have been almost equally restored, providing clear, distortion free dialogue and sound effects. There are a few slight sync issues due to the overdubbing common for films of this period, but that’s unlikely to distract any seasoned Italian horror fans. There are optional English subtitles for both the English and Italian versions of the film, and the Italian subtitles are newly translated. The iconic score from Fabio Frizzi sounds absolutely fantastic, probably better than I have ever heard it.

Another thing that sets the Arrow Blu-ray apart are the sheer amount of new special features. There are two great commentary tracks, the first from screenwriter Elisa Briganti and the second from Fulci biographer and film writer Stephen Thrower and horror expert Alan Jones. This second commentary alone makes this release worthwhile, in my opinion. For those unfamiliar with Thrower, he wrote the best book on Fulci available in English (or probably any language), Beyond Terror: The Films of Lucio Fulci, which comes highly recommended.

There are a large number of featurettes, beginning with star Ian McCulloch’s exclusive introduction to the film. In Aliens, Cannibals and Zombies: A Trilogy of Italian Terror, McCulloch reflects on Zombie Flesh Eaters, as well as Contamination and Zombi Holocaust. A number of horror notables are interviewed about Fulci and Italian horror in From Romero to Rome: The Rise and Fall of the Italian Film, such as Dardano Sacchetti, one of the most important screenwriters in Italian horror cinema, writer and critic Kim Newman, directors Luigi Cozzi and Ruggero Deodato, and many more.

The Meat Munching Movies of Gino de Rossi examines the work of special effects artist de Rossi, and Music for a Flesh-Feast presents an interview with composer and regular Fulci collaborator Fabio Frizzi. Dardano Sacchetti discusses his original script for Zombie in Zombie Flesh Eaters – From Script to Screen. Also included are trailers and TV spots. There is a lovely collector’s booklet with artwork from Graham Humphreys, essays from Stephen Thrower and Craig Lapper, an interview with Olga Karlatos, a Fulci CV from Jay Slater, and excerpts from Sacchetti’s original script.

The Arrow Blu-ray really is the best available release of Zombie Flesh Eaters to date. This iconic horror film, probably the most important zombie movie after Romero’s Dawn of the Dead, looks as perfect as it is likely to get. For those who already own one (or more) editions of the film on DVD, this Arrow disc is still worth it, for its impressive transfer and a litany of special features. For U.S. viewers, keep in mind that this is a region B Blu-ray, so you will need a multi-region or region B player to watch this edition. Also keep your eyes peeled for the alternate versions of this release, available in either a steel-book case with exclusive artwork and a limited edition poster, or a regular Blu-ray without the poster.

CONQUEST

Lucio Fulci, 1983

Starring: Jorge Rivero, Andrea Occhipinti, Sabrina Siani

Though this can be said about many of Lucio Fulci’s films, Conquest is absolutely not like anything else. It may have borrowed a few things from Conan the Barbarian, The Beastmaster, peplum films, and Quest for Fire, but it goes so far off the deep end that I can’t rightfully compare it to any other sword and sorcery movies. A young man named Ilias is given a magic bow and journeys to another land to find the evil sorceress Ocron, who has a tribe of cavemen convinced that she is the goddess of the sun. She has a vision of a faceless warrior with a bow and arrows and sends a pack of wolfmen to hunt him down. Ilias is saved my Mace, a lone warrior who has a close friendship with animals. They are repeatedly attacked by Ocron’s wolfmen, who eventually capture Ilias. Mace rescues him and eventually agrees to help Ilias defeat Ocron, even though he does not believe they will succeed. 

I don’t even know where to start. This insane Spanish-Italian-Mexican co-production could not have been made by anyone but Fulci. For fans of his horror films, there are some telltale signs: a catchy, if predictable score from Goblin’s Claudio Simonetti, plenty of gore, including a zombie attack, a few really disgusting moments involving infected pustules, and a woman being torn in half by Ocron’s wolfmen. The wolfmen, by the way, appear to be wearing wookie costumes. There is also a lot of nudity. A lot. In addition to a few cave women, Sabrina Siani (Ator the Fighting Eagle) plays Ocron nearly in the nude. A gold mask covers her face for the duration of the film and she wears a sort of loin cloth. Most of the time she rolls around, masturbating with a variety of snakes. It's not really family-friendly. 

The effects are all pretty silly, but some moments are a little creepy, namely the weird rock-men that try to capture Mace and the swamp zombies that he fights. Speaking of Mace, there are definitely some surprises where he is concerned, including the Mark of Eibon (from The Beyond), which is drawn on his forehead, though I guess it’s supposed to be a scar. He’s played by prolific Mexican actor Jorge Rivero (Rio Lobo, Evil Eye, Priest of Love) who does the best he can with the role, but if you’re expecting a lot of acting chops out of this film, look elsewhere. Fulci regular Andrea Occhipinti (New York Ripper, A Blade in the Dark) is well-suited to the role of Ilias, who looks more like he belongs in a Greek mythology-inspired peplum than in a caveman/sword and sorcery film. 

There are a lot of completely absurd elements: a plant that shoots poisonous barbs, Ilias’s bow that first shoots arrows but later activates to shoot laser beams, dolphins saving Mace from a watery doom, and so on. All of these things probably sound fabulous, but keep in mind that Conquest is surreal, disjointed, otherworldly, and utterly Fulci. If you like his other films, definitely watch it. Probably the most difficult thing to get through -- other than the inane plot, complete disregard for narrative structure, and strange pacing -- is the cinematography. Fulci wanted things to look hazy and dreamy, but it just looks like lube is smeared over the camera lens. 

There’s a nice, if basic DVD from Blue Underground that includes two trailers and still galleries. It seem insane to recommend this, but I do, wholeheartedly.

THE BEYOND

Lucio Fulci, 1981
Starring: Catriona MacColl, David Warbeck, Cinzia Monreale, Antoine Saint-John

“It’s OK! I’m a doctor.” --David Warbeck

What am I doing right now? “Writing a review,” you might say. Well, yes, I am. But more importantly, I’m gloating. The reason I’m doing a dance of glee is because I have the immense pleasure of reviewing The Beyond (or E tu vivrai nel terrore-- l'aldila) with my out of print, Anchor Bay limited edition tin. Boy, am I glad my high school self had the foresight to snap this up, because there are currently no uncut versions of The Beyond in print on DVD.

The Beyond is a film that you, as a horror fan, have the responsibility to see, own, and continue worshipping. One of Fulci’s greatest films, it concerns Liza (MacColl, beautiful as always), who has just inherited an old hotel in Louisiana. She decides to move in, renovate it, and hopefully start a solid business. But everything stands in her way from unfortunate accidents to deaths, delays, cryptic warnings from a creepy blind girl, and an evil book. It seems the only person sympathetic to her cause is a local doctor (Warbeck), whom she runs to for assistance when the truth is revealed: her hotel is on top of one of the gateways to hell and unfortunately she has opened it, enabling the dead to walk the earth.

The Beyond is one of the films responsible for Fulci’s moniker “Godfather of Gore.” I don’t want to spoil any of the surprises, but I can tell you that my college roommate never forgave me for letting her watch the trademark eyeball scene. In addition to the well-executed gore, this film represents the best of Fulci’s reoccurring themes. There is a mind blowing ending, where you don’t know whether you should be scared, laugh, or ask what the hell just happened. There is also a perfect blend of the surreal and visceral horror, which Fulci does better than almost any Italian. Dardano Sacchetti, known for penning a number of well known Italian horror films, helped write this screenplay, along with most of Fulci’s best efforts. Fabio Frizzi, Fulci’s regular musician, does, hands down, his best work with this score. It was so good, in fact, that Fulci felt the need to “sample” it on the awful Manhattan Baby.

And this is the part we’ve all been waiting for, when I get to talk about my limited edition tin. The artwork is truly awesome and I'd like to think the box is indestructible. There are six gorgeous, over-sized postcards, which are reproductions of various international posters for The Beyond. The best, though, is the booklet. There are wonderful illustrations, a few articles about how great and important the film is, a filmography and a biography. The extras include a music video and some interviews, which are the same as the Anchor Bay regular DVD release, which is sadly also out of print. Here's the single disc DVD.

Warning: There is an available print called Seven Doors of Death, but this is a cut version of the film. You are better off paying the extra money for one of the out of print DVDs or you could just wait around for it to be reissued, which has to happen at some point. There are also several versions available on regions 2 and 3, but I’m not sure if these are uncut.

NEW GLADIATORS

1984, Lucio Fulci
Starring: Jared Martin, Fred Williamson, Howard Ross, Eleonora Brigliadori

One of the things I love about Fulci is that he is not afraid to leap with reckless abandon from genre to genre. Though considered by many to be a horror director, he got his start in comedy and regularly made caper and mob films, Westerns and science fiction, which is where New Gladiators sort of falls. It is known in Italian as I guerrieri dell'anno 2072, which actually means "Warriors of the Year 2072," another of its alternate titles. I hate to say it, but one way to tell if a film has the potential to be completely shitty (or at least appallingly low budget) is by its number of titles. New Gladiators has five of them.

A television station whose physical location is on a small, in-atmosphere space craft is obsessed with maintaining a high level of ratings. When their star shows fails to deliver, the boss, Sam, cooks up plans for something more outrageous. With remarkable foresight, Fulci has the competing TV stations all obsessed with reality television. The station in question first had a show that simulated torture and death and if you could get through it without screaming and panicking, you would win a vacation. When ratings for that show dropped, Sam decides that they need a gladiatorial show. He "hires" several men around the globe preparing for death sentences, including a famous TV actor who may or may not have been set up for murdering his wife's killers. To really make it sci-fi, everyone working on the TV station basically has the same haircuts and costumes as the cast of the original Star Trek.

As you may suspect, the "gladiators" discover that the TV station plans to murder all of them after the show is over, so they put aside their differences, band together, and plan an all out attack. There are some side plots, such as the star finding out that he was set up, the TV boss being an evil computer, a budding romance, and a traitor on the inside preparing to spoil the whole thing. It is absolutely ridiculous and should only be viewed while consuming large amounts of alcohol. The writing is preposterous and while it does have some charm, there aren't many good points about this film -- though luckily, it doesn't have the persistent boredom of Manhattan Baby.

There is a really shitty DVD available from Troma, with a particularly ridiculous introduction from Uncle Lloyd. Unfortunately it is full screen, but it is still in print and easy to find. The quality is pretty much what you'd expect. It is from the mid-'80s, so the special effects are atrocious and the film quality is a little fuzzy at times, but there aren't many scratches in the actual print. If you love trashy '80s Eurocult films, this is definitely one to pick up.

MANHATTAN BABY

1982, Lucio Fulci
Starring: Christopher Connelly, Martha Taylor, Brigitta Boccoli, Giovanni Frezza

Every once in awhile a film comes along that you know is going to be terrible, but you can’t help but have naively good feelings about. That’s exactly the situation with Il malocchio and me. I thought to myself: it's early ‘80s Fulci, made in the same year as the fabulous New York Ripper, so how could it be anything but wonderful? Apparently I was wrong. And I’m even more of an idiot because I saw it about five years ago at a Fulci all-nighter and it was my nap film. I knew what to expect. But I went at it with mindless enthusiasm at two in the morning and expected to be warmed to the cockles of my heart by all the gore and bad dialogue. And, for the second time in a row, it put me asleep.

Manhattan Baby is basically a decaffeinated cross between The Beyond and Poltergeist. When a family is vacationing in the Middle East, a mysterious old woman gives their little girl a mysterious amulet and she mysteriously turns evil and makes her brother disappear into another dimension. Or does she? Who can say? Probably the most exciting thing that happens is in the first ten minutes of the film, when her father is struck in the eye with a supernatural laser -- please, imagine the special effects -- and goes inexplicably blind. Back in New York his sight conveniently returns, so he can witness the terrible things befalling his children. And by terrible things, I mean nothing actually happens.

It hurts my brain to write this review and sacrifice more time to Manhattan Baby. It is not, strictly speaking, a terrible film the way that Nomads (here's looking at you, Pierce Brosnan) is terrible. Its major failure is the sheer boredom. There is no gore, no action, no plot development, and not even any bad dialogue to laugh at. To make matters worse, it has recycled music from The Beyond, a nonsensical, undramatic script, and actors who don't seem to be sure what they are doing on set. Please don’t watch this, unless you have a friend over that you are trying to put to sleep or get rid of. Or unless you have insomnia. And why the fuck is it called Manhattan Baby? Sure, it mostly takes place in Manhattan, but Susie Hacket (the child in question) looks to be about 10. The actual Italian title translates to “the evil eye,” which is a little more fitting -- but not much, considering it is an amulet that does the dirty work.

If you feel the need to complete your DVD collection or are otherwise a glutton for punishment, there is a remastered region 1 Blue Underground disc available. It comes with the documentary “Beyond the Living Dead.”

HOUSE BY THE CEMETERY

1981, Lucio Fulci
Starring: Catriona MacColl, Paolo Malco, Ania Pieroni, Giovanni Frezza

I know this film is usually included in the list of “Golden Age” Fulci films, but I personally find Quella villa accanto al cimitero to be a bit of a dud. It just seems like a dull rehashing of The Beyond and City of the Living Dead with some of the same actors, but a much weaker plot and worse effects.

The film involves a professor and his small family (Paolo Malco from New York Ripper, the gorgeous Catriona MacColl from many a Fulci classic, and Giovanni Frezza from Manhattan Baby) who temporarily move from New York to Boston for the professor’s latest project. He is going to take up the work of his adviser who inexplicably died after researching the mysterious Dr. Freudstein. In a stroke of luck, or ill fate as it turns out, the family manages to rent Freudstein’s family home, which is right on top of, you guessed it, his family cemetery. Cue scary Fabio Frizzi music.

I forgot to mention that the house comes with a slew of supposedly terrifying things including a friendly little girl ghost, a weirdo nanny, a creepy basement, and the undead, maggotty corpse of Dr. Freudstein himself. The film also has an ending as convoluted as The Beyond, but nowhere near as satisfying. In fact, I can barely bring myself to waste time writing about House by the Cemetery when there are so many Fulci greats I have yet to review. The dialogue and acting are flat and boring and though there is plenty of gore, the effects are just kind of unexciting compared to his other work.

I would say not to waste your time with this unless you are a Fulci completist. But if the power of gore compels you, there are a variety of cheap DVDs available, though I am reviewing the out of print Anchor Bay release. It is pretty much the same thing as the Blue Underground disc, so, for the love of all that is gory, skip right over the cheap-ass Miracle Pictures DVD and go for that. Finally, there is a dirt cheap Diamond Entertainment release that has a supposedly “restored and enhanced digital master” widescreen transfer. It may or may not still be available, but you can always search for it online. And really, you shouldn't spend more than $5 on this DVD anyway.

CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD

1980, Lucio Fulci
Starring: Christopher George, Catriona MacColl, Carlo De Mejo, Antonella Interlenghi, Giovanni Lombardo Radice (as John Morghen), Daniela Doria

More correctly known by its original Italian title of Paura nella citta dei morti viventi, this film is directly responsible for my obsessive love of horror films and, therefore, for the existence of this blog. Though there were others that I watched before it -- Hellraiser, the Evil Dead trilogy, a lot of John Carpenter, and Vincent Price films -- but none had quite the same gut-wrenching, heart-pounding impact. I first saw City of the Living Dead, or Gates of Hell as I knew it them, and fell hard and fast in love. And almost vomited, considering I was eating spaghetti at the time. Since then, I have seen the film at least 30 times: twice in the theater, too many times on VHS, and more on DVD when it was finally released. It used to be one of those films that I use to initiate new friends to make sure they pass The Test. Basically, I love every blood and maggot-soaked minute of this movie and am incapable of thinking or writing anything bad about it.

So what is this incomparable gem about, you ask? A priest hangs himself in an old New England town, while, elsewhere, a psychic named Mary (the beautiful Catriona MacColl) dies during a séance. She is actually buried alive and is later accidentally rescued by an ambitious reporter, Peter (the inimitable Christopher George). The reincarnated Mary has disturbing visions of the gates of Hell, which the dead priest has apparently opened. Together, they journey north to find out how to close the gates and put the priest to rest. In typical horror film fashion, if they don’t get there in time, the world will end and the dead will walk the earth and try to make all sorts of unpleasant things happen. Typical of Fulci, there is a slew of other inexplicable, surreal, horrific phenomena, which I’m not going to completely ruin for you. Needless to say, for those of you who have seen City of the Living Dead, the scene where Fulci-regular Daniela Doria vomits up her intestines ranks in my top five horror film scenes of all time.

There is no reason not to see this film, though I’m assuming most people who read this blog already have. It has some of the goriest scenes of all time, is surreal in all the right places, and has the expected bizarre Fulci ending, as well as beautiful women, ridiculous dialogue, John Morghen, maggots galore, and more. If you don’t already own it or if you own the VHS, which has the worst print imaginable, you're in luck. There is the out of print Anchor Bay DVD, which is the version I’m reviewing, but it is almost the same thing as the available Blue Underground disc. Both are uncut and don’t contain any significant special features, which is a shame. I would love to see a behind-the-scenes, as well as any outtakes on the numerous special effects scenes.

Go see it now, or else the dead shall rise and walk the earth!