The Lucio Fulci Thread

[Demoncrat]

Originally Posted by WinterMillennium

question for you... it's well-known that Fulci is written off as a B-movie hack in some circles. should you want to challenge this, which of his films would you offer as evidence and why?

Beatrice Cenci

[Robert W]

I always imagined this painting, Triumph of Death, to have been at least a subconscious influence on Fulci to make The Beyond.

[Beyond72]

Originally Posted by Robert W

I always imagined this painting, Triumph of Death, to have been at least a subconscious influence on Fulci to make The Beyond.

Funnily enough I've always thought about that painting when watching Argento's Inferno. (The ending)

(And the Paul Naschy film Human Beasts uses that painting for it's title sequence.)

[Robert W]

Originally Posted by Beyond72

Funnily enough I've always thought about that painting when watching Argento's Inferno. (The ending)

(And the Paul Naschy film Human Beasts uses that painting for it's title sequence.)

I'd always remembered it as the cover to Sabbath's Greatest Hits.

The painting really reminds me in equal parts of both The Beyond and House By The Cemetery. Too bad the Maestro isn't still with us. I'd love to know what he thought of the work.

[Zann]

It's quite Bosch/Slayeresque too... that doesn't sound right, Waldemar Januszczak I'm not..but you know what I mean

[jiraffejustin]

I've only seen three Fulci's (Zombie, The Beyond, and The New York Ripper,) but I really admire his ballsiness (somebody let me know when this finally makes into Webster's, I'm tired of spellcheck telling me I'm wrong.) He doesn't seem to care that much about how much his plot makes sense, he seems to care more about crafting an atmosphere, and then coming out of left field to change every thing you think you know about the atmosphere. An example of that is in The Beyond when the dog turns on Emily. He also dips his movie in a deep vat of the Giallo style that the Italian masters all seem to have, which automatically increases the movies "cool factor." Judging from just those three movies, he also knows how to end a film. The last stand scene in Zombie Flesh Eaters is probably my favorite scene in any zombie movie I've ever seen. The ending to The Beyond is one of the more interesting endings to a film I've seen, that ending was nothing like what I expected, but I've been thinking about it since I saw it.

Another thing I've noticed is he seems to have something for the eyes, which I guess is a common horror motif, but he seems to enjoy cutting them and gouging them out of someone's head.

[Zann]

I think The Beyond is his highest achievement A really special film I do solemnly declare

[SilverGunnar Hansen]

City Of The Living Dead is a real grower - in terms of set-pieces and atmosphere it's up there with The Beyond for me. I maybe even prefer it these days. The only one of his well-regarded films that I've never clicked with is House By The Cemetery. Still good fun with great moments, I just find the acting and pacing off-putting.

[Beyond72]

Originally Posted by SilverGunnar Hansen

City Of The Living Dead is a real grower - in terms of set-pieces and atmosphere it's up there with The Beyond for me. I maybe even prefer it these days.

I've always seen City as his first attempt at doing The Beyond or an "absolute film" if you like, but feel The Beyond is more satisfying as a whole.

Did you conceive The Beyond as a sequel to City of the Living Dead?

No, my idea was to make an absolute film, with all the horrors of our world. It's a plotless film: a house, people, and dead men coming from The Beyond. There's no logic to it, just a succession of images. The Sea of Darkness, for instance, is an absolute world, an immobile world where every horizon is similar. I think each man chooses his own inner hell, corresponding to his hidden vices. So I am not afraid of Hell, since Hell is already in us. Curiously enough, I can't imagine a Paradise exists, though I am a Catholic - but perhaps God has left me? - yet I have often envisaged Hell, since we live in a society where only Hell can be perceived. Finally, I realize that Paradise is indescribable. Imagination is much stronger when it is pressed by the terrors of Hell.


Lucio Fulci interview

[Robert W]

Originally Posted by jiraffejustin

I've only seen three Fulci's (Zombie, The Beyond, and The New York Ripper,) but I really admire his ballsiness (somebody let me know when this finally makes into Webster's, I'm tired of spellcheck telling me I'm wrong.) He doesn't seem to care that much about how much his plot makes sense, he seems to care more about crafting an atmosphere, and then coming out of left field to change every thing you think you know about the atmosphere. An example of that is in The Beyond when the dog turns on Emily. He also dips his movie in a deep vat of the Giallo style that the Italian masters all seem to have, which automatically increases the movies "cool factor." Judging from just those three movies, he also knows how to end a film. The last stand scene in Zombie Flesh Eaters is probably my favorite scene in any zombie movie I've ever seen. The ending to The Beyond is one of the more interesting endings to a film I've seen, that ending was nothing like what I expected, but I've been thinking about it since I saw it.

Another thing I've noticed is he seems to have something for the eyes, which I guess is a common horror motif, but he seems to enjoy cutting them and gouging them out of someone's head.

Fulci described himself as a genre terrorist, and I think this is really good description of how he approached his films. Take Massacre Time and Contraband for example, two staples of Italisn genre cinema, a spaghetti western and a Eurocrime. Does Fulci just make a any old spaghetti western? Nope. Not unless you consider an extended session of bullwhipping de rigueur for the genre, that is. Contraband, too, seems to defy its cinematic conventions with equal gusto, as Fulci serves of some pretty hearty gore and sadism, conspicuous even for a genre known for its brutality and sadism.