Simonelli stayed by his side, just watching...." [22] Along with Fulci, Andrea Bianchi was reportedly recruited to work on the film as well. [7][4][5][6] After studying medicine for a time, he dropped out before completing his training, deciding there was more money to be made in the filmmaking industry[8][page needed] He worked initially as an art critic, writing for Gazzetta delle Arti and Il Messaggero, and also joined the critical art group il Gruppo Arte Sociale. [20] According to Bianchi, "Fulci didn't leave the set he finished the film" while also stating "I wouldn't say I shot half the film, but almost" while Michele De Angelis stated that Bianchi was only on set for a couple of days. Fulci was slated to also direct the film, but sadly he died before filming could begin, due to a series of delays caused by Argento's involvement with his own project, The Stendhal Syndrome, at the time. These films contain scenes of extreme violence and adult situations that may … page 202. sfn error: multiple targets (2×): CITEREFHowarth2015 (, Paolo Albiero & Giacomo Cacciatore: "Dalla sinistra di via Veneto alla destra di Steno" (1927-1958). Lucio was raised by his mother and a female housekeeper. Gremese Editore. A gifted craftsman with a sharp tongue and a wicked sense of dark humor, Fulci achieved some measure of notoriety for his gore epics of the late 1970s and early 1980s, but respect was long in coming. Lucio Fulci, Director: Zombi 2. Fulci had a Catholic upbringing and always referred to himself as a Catholic. Howarth, Troy (2015). Lots of detail, behind the scenes info and critiques of Lucio Fulci's films, with a couple legitimate quibbles. Gremese Editore. Many of Fulci's horror films tend to contain "injury to the eye" sequences, in which a character's eyeball is either pierced or pulled out of its socket, usually in lingering, close-up detail. Lucio Fulci movie reviews & film summaries | Roger Ebert. [22] Fulci was credited in another film in the series: as a supervisor in the film Bloody Psycho by Leandro Lucchetti. Lucio Fulci was an Italian film director, political activist, screenwriter, and actor. February 10, 2017 Jared Letourneau Horror Lists. [30] People who knew Fulci well spoke of a third daughter he once had who he said was killed in a car accident in the 1970s, but this story was never confirmed, and the daughter's name (if in fact she existed) was never revealed by any of his biographers. Whether you're ready for the return of your favorite show or need to catch up, May is packed with an array of returning series. Top 10 Lucio Fulci Films! [13], Several of Fulci's movies released in America were edited by the film distributor to ensure an R rating, such as The Beyond, which was originally released on video in severely edited form as Seven Doors of Death. [36] Dario Argento paid for Fulci's funeral arrangements.[37]. The Beyond (1981) The first two movies on this list could just as easily swap places. L'aldilà, and Paura nella città dei morti viventi A remote Southern town… Lucio Fulci (Italian: [ˈlutʃo ˈfultʃi]; 17 June 1927 – 13 March 1996) was an Italian film director, political activist, screenwriter, and actor. Although he worked in a wide array of genres through a career spanning nearly five decades, including comedies and Spaghetti Westerns, he garnered an international cult following for his giallo and horror films. [18] Fulci was invited by cinematographer Silvano Tessicini in the series as the director had just moved from Rome to Castelnuovo di Porto and was experiencing health problems after returning from the production of Zombi 3. [22] According to the assistant director of the film Michele de Angelis,"Lucio shot everything. So, this month our fearless leader decided to dub the month of February 2017 ‘Fulci February’. She had earlier eloped to Rome with a lover who later left her to raise their child (Lucio) alone. [40], Note: Films listed as "N/A" in the year column are not in chronological order. Midnight Marquee Press. have been viewed as having very anti-Catholic sentiment. Lovely little bit of Fulci-lite 'Poe' inspired horror here. The film plot involves Ilias (Andrea Occhipinti) a young man who battles monsters and mutants on his journey to manhood. Click here for an in-depth look at Fulci and his legacy from Stephen Romano, writer and editor of Eibon Press, the official comic book imprint of Fulci’s most beloved films. [10], Fulci moved into directing giallo thrillers with Una sull'altra (1969), A Lizard in a Woman's Skin (1971) and Sette note in nero (The Psychic, 1977), as well as Spaghetti Westerns such as Four of the Apocalypse (1975) and Silver Saddle (1978), all of which were commercially successful and controversial in their depictions of graphic violence. Gremese Editore. A horror film director is stalked by a mad psychiatrist/serial killer bent on killing people to model the killings after the director's gory death scenes from his movies. Later it was released in a heavily cut version and prohibited for persons under 18 years. #1 is, despite the artwork on the cover and title, this book covers ALL of Fulci's films, including his many comedies, adventure films and westerns. [23] Fulci did not discuss the film with the director and did not show up at the set of the film. Movie Reviews Great Movies Collections TV/Streaming Features Chaz's Journal Interviews Cast and Crew Lucio Fulci Find on IMDB. [15] Two opposing views were given for Fulci leaving the film, the first being an illness that left him unable to film and the second being that he was having disputes with producers. Pg.178. [24] Fulci added new scenes where he played himself, a horror director who visits a psychiatrist who he does not realize is a serial killer. [14], Fulci travelled to the Philippines and spent six weeks shooting the film Zombi 3. Blacklisted (albeit briefly) and despised in his homeland, Fulci at least found work in television and with the adventure genre with two financially successful Jack London 'White Fang' adventure movies in 1973 and 1974 which were Zanna Bianca, and Il ritorno di Zanna Bianca. 3. Dizionario del Cinema Italiano Vol. Splintered Visions: Lucio Fulci and his Films. [35], Lucio Fulci died alone, in his sleep, in his apartment in Rome at around 2 pm on 13 March 1996, from diabetes-related complications at the age of 68. [20] When one of the directors walked away from the series, Fulci was invited to begin filming Sodoma's Ghost. Conquest is a 1983 fantasy film directed by Lucio Fulci. Blog Posts. "[32], Fulci and Argento met in 1994 at the Rome Fanta Festival and surprisingly agreed to collaborate on a horror film called The Wax Mask, a loose remake of the 1953 Vincent Price horror classic House of Wax. In Zombie, Lucio Fulci turned a tropical island into a desolate wasteland of the walking dead.In The Beyond, he transformed Louisiana into a nightmarish doorway to the underworld.However, none of Fulci's elegiac, haunting visions can compare to what he inflicts on the landscape in New York Ripper (Lo squartatore di New York), his most controversial film. (Stroppa had co-written two of Fulci's earlier films, The House of Clocks and Voices from Beyond). His wife committed suicide, and his daughter was paralyzed because of an accident. Demonic Behind-the-Scenes Teaser Brings First Look at Neill Blomkamp's New Horror Movie, Best Director Portrayal in a Film - Part 2, Second Unit Director or Assistant Director, Una lezione di sistema con Fulvio Bernardini, Bring Me the Head of the Machine Gun Woman, AKA Sarah Keller: Cinzia Monreale Remembers 'The Beyond', Fulci in the House: The Italian Master of Splatter. Touch of Death (Italian: Quando Alice ruppe lo specchio) is an direct-to-video Italian horror film directed by Lucio Fulci.The film was developed as part of a series for direct-to video and television films titled I maestri del thriller which had eight other films in the series. Fantasma Books. Poppi, R; Pecorari, M. (1992). Abandoning his early career as a med student, Fulci entered ... Tetrovideo announce June 2021 DVD & Blu-ray line-up! Walking on crutches with a bandaged foot, he told attendees that he had had no idea his films were so popular outside of his native Italy, as hordes of starstruck gore fans braved blizzard conditions that weekend to meet him. [17], By the second half of the 1980s, the Italian film industry was struggling with less theatrical distribution of films and productions being made to sell to foreign markets for television and home video. Dizionario del Cinema Italiano Vol. Lucio Fulci’s Zombie is a crazed, outlandish-tropical-gut-gobbling-eye-gouging-gorefest-extravaganza that is simultaneously a shining example of how to cultivate the perfect atmosphere and tone for a horror film. Lucio Fulci was born in Trastavere, Rome, on 17 June 1927. [29] His wife's suicide in 1969 had always weighed heavily on him (his wife Marina had killed herself with a gas oven after learning she had inoperable cancer). Film profile for Lucio Fulci, Director, born 17 June 1927. This actually has less of a plot than a … [19] According to Martucci, Fulci "agreed to "present" the movie" as distributors required "a "heavy" name for the sales abroad. [18][22] Several weeks later Fulci was asked to supervise an additional week's shooting. [12], In 1979, he achieved his international breakthrough with Zombi 2, a violent zombie film that was marketed in European territories as a sequel to George Romero's Dawn of the Dead/ Zombi (1978) without permission from Fulci nor Romero. [27] Immediately after finishing work on the film, Fulci started work on The Sweet House of Horrors which finished filming in March. [20] It was filmed under the title Ghost Light and began shooting on May 30, 1988 with filming taking four weeks. The Beyond (1998) Roger Ebert. Poppi, R; Pecorari, M. (1992). Though Zombie was the film that really revved up Fulci’s use of gore, it began with this giallo. [33] Argento claimed he had heard about Fulci's miserable circumstances at the time and wanted to offer him a chance at a comeback. [25][26] The films were shot outside Rome with a schedule of four weeks each, with The House of Clocks filmed between January 31 and February 25, 1989. A reporter and a promiscuous young woman try to solve a series of child killings in a remote southern Italian town rife with superstition and a distrust of outsiders. As an adult he was not active in any political "fight" anymore but remained a firm supporter of radical left wing and socialist politics his whole life, according to people close to him. Fulci regarded two of his films, Don't Torture a Duckling and Beatrice Cenci, as his best all-around work, and considered both Zombi 2 and The Beyond as the two films that forever catapulted him to cult film stardom. Fulci made some of his most notable and goriest films during the 1980s, with the zombie thrillers "City of the Living Dead," "The Beyond," and the giallo thriller "The New York Ripper." "[19], A series was developed titled I maestri del thriller was developed with the aim of television and home video markets, which was originally going to be a set of ten films but only eight were made. Conquest was reviewed by both AllMovie and the Monthly Film Bulletin, who noted the films low budget and derivative nature, while finding the film to be surprisingly entertaining despite its negative aspects. [11] Despite this, some of his movies (Beatrice Cenci, Don't Torture a Duckling, City of the Living Dead, etc.) Reviews. [28], In the last decade of his life, Fulci suffered from emotional and physical health problems, reflected by a marked decline in the quality of his work. Tributes Ennio Morricone: 1928-2020. [4][5][6], His first film to gain significant notoriety in his native country, Don't Torture a Duckling (1972), combined scathing social commentary with the director's trademark graphic violence. Director: Lucio Fulci | Stars: Lucio Fulci, Brett Halsey, Ria De Simone, David L. Thompson. [30] Fulci biographer Stephen Thrower wrote "....the suicide of his wife in 1969 was followed not long after by the death of a daughter in a road accident." [20] Three days after filming Sodoma's Ghost, Fulci began work on Touch of Death which began filming on June 22, 1988. [24] The films in the I maestri del thriller series were later released on VHS and DVD as Lucio Fulci presenta by the Forumla Home Video label. Votes: 3,073 Dizionario del Cinema Italiano Vol. Dizionario del Cinema Italiano Vol. [34] The screenplay was entirely reworked by Stivaletti after Fulci's death, so the finished film contains significant changes to Fulci's original screenplay. They are both … Fulci's films had remained generally ignored or dismissed for many years by the mainstream critics, who regarded his work as exploitation. Pg.295. [15] Claudio Fragasso stated that Fulci simplified his screenplay and shot a seventy-minute film which shocked producer Franco Gaudenzi. [20] Fulci was initially hired on the film as a supervisor but submitted the idea to director his own film, Touch of Death. At least one of his films, The Beyond, has "amassed a large and dedicated following". 3. The House by the Cemetery (1981) The New York Ripper (1982) A Lizard in a Woman's Skin (1971) The Psychic (1977) Gremese Editore. In his young teenage years he became active in the Italian Communist Party and was active during the tense times and turmoil and political struggles in post-war Italy. [20] Tessicini lived in the nearby Morlupo and on visiting him stated that Fulci "was not well, and had a huge belly", a consequence of the liver disease that affected Fulci during the filming of Zombi 3. sfn error: multiple targets (2×): CITEREFCurti2017 (, sfn error: no target: CITEREFCurtiCurti2013 (, http://trovacinema.repubblica.it/attori-registi/ciccio-ingrassia/185482/, "Atmosfear – 20 Must-see Italian Horror films (1957-1987) PART III", "The Zombification Family Tree: Legacy of the Living Dead", "Grindhouse Releasing Presents '80s Horror Classics Pieces and The Beyond", "Come svaligiammo la Banca d'Italia (1966)", "Una lucertola con la pelle di donna (1971)", "All'onorevole piacciono le donne (1972)", "Murderock uccide a passo di danza (1984)", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lucio_Fulci&oldid=1022451394, Wikipedia articles needing page number citations from April 2020, Wikipedia articles with MusicBrainz identifiers, Wikipedia articles with SNAC-ID identifiers, Wikipedia articles with SUDOC identifiers, Wikipedia articles with WORLDCATID identifiers, Wikipedia articles with multiple identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 10 May 2021, at 15:56. 3. His mother encouraged him to be a lawyer, but he wound up going to medical school instead. Wax Mask was eventually directed by former special effects artist Sergio Stivaletti. Pg.551. A New England home is terrorized by a series of murders, unbeknownst to the guests that a gruesome secret is hiding in the basement. Highly regarded the world over by obsessive cult film fans as an often tyrannical filmmaker, as well as the godfather of Italian gore films, Lucio Fulci’s films … Others were released Unrated in order to avoid an X-rating (as with Zombi 2 and House by the Cemetery) which would have restricted the films' target audiences to adults. He was interested in art, music, film, football, and had a love for sailing.[3][4][5][6]. [27] The series was not shown in Italy and was released on VHS in 2000 and later shown on Italian satellite TV in 2006. He hid the severity of his illness from his friends and associates, so that he would not be deemed unemployable. sfn error: no target: CITEREFThower1999 (. [24], Fulci would also develop films for television as part of the series Le case maledette set up by producer Luciano Martino. Lucio Fulci, born in Rome in 1927, remains as controversial in death as he was in life. Verified Purchase Directed by Lucio Fulci (Zombi, City of the Living Dead, The Beyond), this film features loads of lame wookie-werewolf fights, some healthy of gore, a good bit of nudity and almost no discernible plot whatsoever. His most notable films include the "Gates of Hell" trilogy—City of the Living Dead (1980), The Beyond (1981), and The House by the Cemetery (1981)—as well as Massacre Time (1966), One on Top of the Other (1969), Beatrice Cenci (1969), A Lizard in a Woman's Skin (1971), Don't Torture a Duckling (1972), White Fang (1973), Four of the Apocalypse (1975), Sette note in nero (1977), Zombi 2 (1979), Contraband (1980), The New York Ripper (1982), and A Cat in the Brain (1990). [15] Fulci stated that he couldn't get the script changed, which he deemed to be "dreadful", and modified it with his daughter. From Simu Liu to Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, check out these popular and up-and-coming stars who are taking Hollywood by storm. By then Fulci had become a name, let's say exportable. [20] Mario Bianchi was recruited by production supervisor Silvano Zignani to film some second unit scenes. His mother Lucia was from a poor but reputable Sicilian, politically anti-fascist family from Messina, Sicily. Argento also hired Fulci's daughter Antonella to serve as an assistant art director on the film. Balun, Charles (1997). Director: Lucio Fulci | Stars: Florinda Bolkan, Barbara Bouchet, Tomas Milian, Irene Papas Votes: 8,098 3. Some of the special effects in A Lizard in a Woman's Skin involving mutilated dogs in a vivisection room were so realistic that Fulci was charged with animal cruelty; the charges were dropped when he produced the artificial canine puppets that were utilized in the film (created by special effects maestro Carlo Rambaldi). I'll review these films individually and briefly discuss the quality of the three Blu-ray discs included in Blue Underground's The Lucio Fulci Collection. [33], Fulci collaborated with writer Daniele Stroppa to create a screenplay for Argento, and Argento kept trying to get them to increase the violence and gore quotient, against Fulci's wishes strangely. City of the Living Dead (1980) – A very close second for me, City of the Living Dead (aka Gates of … Although a number of films over the years were said to have been "co-produced" by Fulci, he was just allowing them to use his name to promote the films (with the exception of City of the Living Dead, which he did actively attempt to obtain some funding for).[1]. [8][page needed] He also directed a number of comedies starring the actors Franco and Ciccio. [4][9], His interest in the arts led him to apply to the film school in Rome named Centro Sperimentale where he apprenticed, after which he worked first as a director of documentaries, then an assistant director of motion pictures, then a screenwriter working mainly in the Italian comedy field In the early 1950s. A gifted craftsman with a sharp tongue and a wicked sense of dark humor, Fulci achieved some measure of notoriety for his gore epics of the late 1970s and early 1980s, but respect was long in coming. However, genre fans appreciated his films as being stylish exercises in extreme gore. Because of the high level of visceral graphic violence present in many of his films, especially Zombi 2, The Beyond, Contraband and The New York Ripper, Fulci is frequently referred to as "The Godfather of Gore",[2] a title also given to Herschell Gordon Lewis. It is said that Argento was shocked at how thin and sickly Fulci appeared at their 1994 meeting, and said he felt very sorry for him. WARNING! Fulci's earlier, lesser-known giallo Don't Torture a Duckling (1972) received some critical acclaim as well. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are as essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. He attended the Naval College in Venice, and near the end of World War II, completed his studies back in Rome at the Giulio Cesare State Classical School. [23] Fulci would later use the gory footage of the titles in the series use in his film A Cat in the Brain. The unrated films often played worldwide in drive-ins and grindhouses where they developed a cult following. [21] Another film in the series was Hansel e Gretel, which was originally set for Giovanni Simonelli to direct but after three weeks of filming only about 50 minutes of the film had been completed and large parts of the story were not filmed. Find on Wikipedia. Beyond Terror: The Films of Lucio Fulci is an astonishing and exhaustive examination of the life and career of the controversial Italian filmmaker who died of diabetes shock more than twenty years ago at the age of 68. R eleased at various points as The Island of the Living Dead, Nightmare Island and Zombie Flesh Eaters, Lucio Fulci’s 1979 film Zombi 2 was originally intended as an unofficial sequel to George A Romero’s Dawn of the Dead, released the year prior.. Poppi, R; Pecorari, M. (1992). Since Fulci had been so despondent in his later years, some believed that he may have intentionally allowed himself to die by not taking his diabetes medication, but this is controversial. It had censorship problems and was banned shortly after its release. The famed Italian director Steno took Fulci under his wing and allowed him to assist in the making of a number of comedies starring Totò. [31] Dario Argento is quoted in one book as saying of Fulci "His life was terrible. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. [16] After completing filming, he would later state "(I) didn't finish making Zombie 3, but the reason wasn't anything to do with illness [...] there were arguments and so, I finished off an hour and a quarter of the film". He was known as The Maestro of Splatter and The Godfather of Gore. Fulci also continued to suffer during the late 1980s from recurring problems with diabetes and his liver. Fulci made an appearance at the January 1996 Fangoria horror convention in New York City, two months before his death. Overall, I enjoyed this exhaustively researched book. 3. [18] In some films, such as Gianni Martucci's The Red Monks, Fulci is credited as a "special effects supervisor" despite not showing up to set or preparing any special effects for the film. Pg.465. He was already very ill , and I met him to talk to him about the project"[19] While Fulci's health did get better, Martucci stated that "at that time he couldn't even speak, devoured as he was by cirrhosis. Poppi, R; Pecorari, M. (1992). Toward the end of his life, he had lost his house and was forced to move into a cramped apartment. [38] In 1998, The Beyond was re-released to theaters by Quentin Tarantino,[39] who has often cited the film, and Fulci himself, as a major source of inspiration. Directed by. Director: Lucio Fulci | Stars: Catriona MacColl, Paolo Malco, Ania Pieroni, Giovanni Frezza Votes: 12,808 4. Lucio Fulci: Beyond the Gates (2nd ed.). His daughter Camilla served as an assistant director on his last five films (from 1989-1991) and has gone on to become an assistant director in the Italian film industry. Lucio Fulci, born in Rome in 1927, remains as controversial in death as he was in life. The Senator Likes Women') is a 1972 Italian commedia sexy all'italiana film directed (and co-written) by Lucio Fulci. Films include Zombi 2, ...E tu vivrai nel terrore! We here at the Horror Syndicate love to educate young or even old boils and ghouls, in all things horror.