[quote=“korano, post:376, topic:376”]Agrred. His horror movies (the 3 I’ve seen, are all really bad movies. Just watched House by the Cemetery and it was almost comically bad). Fulci is good at a build up to an eventbut completely spoils it with his overly done gore. He goes way too far.[/quote]korano i’am a horror film buff but i can never take to his horror films apart from " Zombie Flesheaters" which is admittedly good but of the others i have seen, they range from crap to average at best ( haven’t seem them all but i include, House by the cemetary, city of the living dead, manhatten baby and the beyond in this.) his spaghetti westerns while not great are a vast improvement and i would say “The Smuggler” aka as " Contraband" is his second best film.
Agreed. I love all his westerns. Silver Saddle is quickly becoming a favorite but it lacks a Fulci feel. I can see Fulci making Four ot\fthe Apocalypse but thisis too gentle. I still love it. I’m planning a little marathon. Nigh of the Serpent with Silver Saddle. Similar plots. Should enjoy myself. I’ll take Shoot the Living afterwards as a way to slow myself down as from the endingof Serpent to the entire runtime of Silver, it’s pretty fast stuff.
But I digress:
Fulci was far superior in…“tamer film genres”. His horror films I used to try to like do to some very very very overly positive reviews of his work. Some wise guys calls The Beyond a beautiful, poetic horror film. While I say it is really really really cheesy. (A whole pointless scene takes like 10 minutes to see a guy get eaten alive by Spiders! What the Fuck!)
And I thought Frizzi’s scores were overly done.
I like his Horror films the best myself.
Explain yourself. I need to know why a clear thinking Spaghetti Western fan likes his Horror films best.
I like all the things you describe so well that you are not to keen on in his horror films.
[quote=“korano, post:382, topic:376”]Agreed. I love all his westerns. Silver Saddle is quickly becoming a favorite but it lacks a Fulci feel. I can see Fulci making Four ot\fthe Apocalypse but thisis too gentle. I still love it. I’m planning a little marathon. Nigh of the Serpent with Silver Saddle. Similar plots. Should enjoy myself. I’ll take Shoot the Living afterwards as a way to slow myself down as from the endingof Serpent to the entire runtime of Silver, it’s pretty fast stuff.
But I digress:
Fulci was far superior in…“tamer film genres”. His horror films I used to try to like do to some very very very overly positive reviews of his work. Some wise guys calls The Beyond a beautiful, poetic horror film. While I say it is really really really cheesy. (A whole pointless scene takes like 10 minutes to see a guy get eaten alive by Spiders! What the Fuck!)[/quote]korano, you are a wise one belying your age, you have summed up Fulci well there, the man had talent but i couldn’t see it in his cheesey horror films.his genius ranking for horror film director stumps me but maybe i’m missing something. each to his own.
I like Fulci’s “The Beyond” and “House by the Cemetery”. If you disliked it Korano, don’t even try to watch his later movies, trust me. Smuggler is mediocre IMO. My favorite movies of Fulci are “Don’t torture a duckling” and “Massacre time”. I have to agree he’s better in tamer movies [i still like his gore movies] and it’s a pity most people remember him only for his later, more violent ones
The mistake people make it to consider Fulci as an auteur. There is no such thing, certainly not where Italian horror films are concerned, but that’s a problem created both by his fans and by his detractors. The best thing about his horror films - in any horror film, for that matter - is the uncanny atmosphere, which was much to do with music, photography and art direction as direction per se. I admit that I still get a kick out of the outrageous gore, but he certainly indulged himself far too much on that score to be taken entirely seriously.
So none of his most highly regarded films can be considered consistent.
In any case, apart from his classic horror films (the zombie ones), the rest - at least the ones I’ve seen - are awful. (I don’t count Don’t Torture… as horror, and that’s an excellent film.)
I certainly see poetry in elements of The Beyond, by the way. It blurs dreamlike imagery with reality quite powerfully at times. You get a little of that in Four of the Apocalypse as well.
THE BEYOND as well as GATES OF HELL (CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD) do have nightmarish qualities about them and THE BEYOND especially is deserving of its classic status, IMO. I see nothing cheesy at all in the film aside from the spider scene which is still pretty nasty despite the budget not allowing for a more realistic sequence. Even still, Fulci paints a grim portrait of an impending apocalypse by the living dead and the forces of Hell. ZOMBIE is still my fave Fulci and that movie has several memorably spectacular scenes such as the underwater shark attack and the famous splinter in the eye scene. That’s not taking into account the musty fog enshrouded scenes showcasing the shuffling dead making their way through deserted villages, or the sound effects that dominate the soundtrack prior to the eye gouging scene when Olga Karlatos realizes that she is not alone in her house.
Anyway…I finally finished watching FEARLESS FUZZ starring Merli and Joan Collins. It was okay if a curious blend of comedy and serious detective movie. Merli only uses a gun once at the beginning. He has one towards the end, but doesn’t ever fire it. Some good scenes, but fans of his more familiar early works may be put off. Also watched about half of Merli’s THE REBEL. It’s talky, but it is more akin to his earlier movies.
Exactly - I find that combination of old-fashioned, Val Lewton-style atmosphere and disgusting violence irresistable.
I agree with you, Starblack. The Gothic style alone wasn’t enough as the public wanted to see all the grim details of the violence back then. It definitely got the films noticed especially in Japan where scene of bodily destruction were very popular.
Mine to 
.
Is there a Euro Crime flick to watch online somwhere?
Just watched La Belva Col Mitra.
Although I’ve only seen very few of them, I must say that I actually like these Euro Crime ones more than a lot of Spaghs as you don’t have any corny jokes. Also, Euro Crime films have more violence and just about everything else - sometimes a good thing, sometimes a bad thing.
To the movie: Helmut Berger here plays a completely insane bastard, and he’s really good at it; you almost get afraid when seeing him! Must be something about these Germans, both Klaus Kinski and this guy in the same country…
Richard Harrison and Marisa Mell are both ok in their roles as well.
Good film, very brutal from the beginning to the end. There’s about 30 calm seconds here, the rest is… not calm! It has this really creepy feeling throughout, so you can’t actually relax when watching it.
Great score, which helps a lot.
Overall, a solid film.
Surprised you had not seen already Silence.
[quote=“man with a name, post:375, topic:376”]fulci’s " Contraband" aka “The Smuggler” is a good movie, one of his best.[/quote]Great film.
I wish Fulci made more crime and not just the one.
Yes, a favorite of mine as well.
The Cynic, The Rat And The Fist has been viewed.
Though Crime film from Lenzi, both Milian and Saxon are pretty nasty in their villain roles and Merli plays what he was born to play - a fired cop.
[quote=“Silence, post:399, topic:376”]The Cynic, The Rat And The Fist has been viewed.
Though Crime film from Lenzi, both Milian and Saxon are pretty nasty in their villain roles and Merli plays what he was born to play - a fired cop.[/quote]Don’t fuck with Tanzi! ;D