A while ago I didn't have a great start with my introduction to the director via watching 'The Beyond' (1981), which I thought was quite poor. However today I watched another film of his 'The House by the Cemetery' (1981) which I enjoyed and contained probably the most savage throat-slitting scene I've ever seen in film.

I think I'm going to watch a few more soon notably 'City of the Living Dead' (1980) and 'Zombie' (1979).

My favourite director . 'The Beyond' is favourite film of his, pity you didn't like it.

I might give it another go in the future. I did like some parts though such as when that guy gets eaten by the spiders, which was absolutely savage.

I like both The Beyond and The House by the Cemetery. They're quite cheesy, but have great atmosphere and soundtrack. The Psychic AKA Seven Notes in Black, though, is a masterpiece IMO. One of the best thrillers I've ever seen. I just can't understand how it's one of his less known films.

Check out some of his early 70s stuff: Don't Torture a Duckling, A Lizard in a Woman's Skin. If you can get your hands on it.

Zombie and Don't Torture a Duckling are very, very good, especially for the low budgets he was working with. They'd both make my top 50ish horror films if I were to ever make a list.

The rest of his work usually has some very atmospheric moments, but falls a bit flat overall for me, usually due to the writing that ranges from "kind of stupid" to horrendous.

I want to watch some of his films. I saw the ending of The Beyond and loved it. Surprising, surreal, haunting.

I've been thinking of seeing some of his work. I might start with The House By The Cemetary.

Me.

I love Zombie, City of the Living Dead is alright and The Beyond is pretty average, closer to being bad.

I watched 2 of his this October.

I was a tiny bit disappointed by The Beyond but mostly because I had very high hopes for it. Overall I think the story is quite amazing though (not as in amazingly written but as in a great premise), it could have used a little more restraint but otherwise it's a good film.

Zombi 2 was one of the most beautiful horror films I've ever seen (it's better than Dawn of the Dead also). It works around the theme of decay in such a tangible and strangely heartfelt way (even though Fulci as a man seems incredibly sinister). I was really surprised by this movie, I expected it to be merely a good zombie film (like Dawn of the Dead but slightly worse and more campy), however it's by all means top-notch horror. It even has a scene I think legitimately belongs among the very best of all time (it's the most famous scene of the film, maybe you know it, otherwise I won't spoil it). Together with I Walked with a Zombie and Night of the Living Dead it's the best the zombie genre has to offer and quite frankly I doubt that any other zombie film could touch these 3 for me.

I really want to see City of the Living Dead although I prefer the German title, "Ein Zombie hing am Glockenseil" -> "A Zombie was hanging on the bell rope" - sounds like complete bollocks but the good kind of it.

I've heard good things about House by the Cementry aswell and also of The New York Ripper.

Zombi 2 looks and sounds awesome and I will be watching it very very soon. Why the '2' in the title? I normally know it as 'Zombie Flesh Eaters'.

Zombi 2 is the official title. The producers named it the same as Romero's Dawn of the Dead (which is called Zombi in Italy) as a cashgrab.

It has numerous other titles aswell like "Woodoo" in Germany or "Rædslernes grønne ø" (The Green Island of Terrors) in Denmark.

Personally I think it sucks though. You make a great movie and then someone else gives it a crap title that marks it as a sequel to a movie it's not even a sequel to. And on top of all of that most people wouldn't even know what Zombi (1) was because it's mostly known as Dawn of the Dead.

I kind of wish it would just be called Voodoo generally. It's not a great title but it's alright and it's the least campy and most adequate title (just check the title page of the film, it's very long and most of them are horrendous).

Oh I see now, thanks for the explanation. Dawn of the Dead is my favourite zombie film ever. It will interesting to see how this goes up against it.

I just finished watching it and it's the best I've seen from Fulci so far. Great atmosphere, excellent gore effects as I expected, and a really awesome soundtrack. The scene with the shark was very well done also. The dubbing was quite good too. I wouldn't put it on the same level as Dawn of the Dead, which I consider a masterpiece of cinema in general, but this is very good at what it does. I rate it 8/10. The part where that zombie pulls that woman's eye into the broken bit of wood was especially savage.

The part where that zombie pulls that woman's eye into the broken bit of wood was especially savage.

Yes, it's on the verge of getting incredibly uncomfortable.

The scene with the shark was very well done also

That was the scene I meant. I love it.

Another recommendation for Zombie (1979) here. I tell you - if zombies were real, that is how they would look and act. Astoundingly visceral movie with a killer soundtrack. Not to be missed.

Yes, I'm a fan. He was the Maestro of the Macabre but made great movies across a range of genres - musical, comedy, crime, western, adventure; a very versatile horror master, and like his friends Umberto Lenzi and Joe D'Amato, he had a formidable reputation when it came to technical skill.

I didn't realize he had such range. I like the sound of his spaghetti Westerns particularly 'Four of the Apocalypse'.

'Four Of The Apocalypse' is my favourite of his westerns - check it out. 'Massacre Time' was his most influential western and it's a ton of fun.

Did he do many westerns or just a small few?

I've seen three westerns he directed which I think is all he did; 'Silver Saddle' (1978) is one of the strangest westerns of the 1970s.

For years, film writers and critics suggested he'd had a hand in Julio Buchs' western 'A Bullet For Sandoval' (1969), but some respected western experts consider this to be a mistake. Still, he used to be co-credited by some sources. As a prolific writer, he also contributed to many scripts in Italy, though he wasn't always credited for his contributions.

Sadly I have only seen 2 of his movies, The Beyond and Zombie Flesh Eaters. Saw them back in the early 80's and they really freaked me out, very good horror movies.

I'm not a fan as such but I like giallo and Fulci has directed a few. I've seen only two of his films which are sublime - Lizard in a Woman's Skin - and ridiculous - Contraband. There are a few more of his I intend to watch; first on the list is Don't Torture a Duckling.

I certainly can't say I'm a "fan" at this point - I've only seen 4 of the Apocalypse so far, and that a dozen years ago - but I have become increasingly interested in Italian genre stuff (apart from westerns which I've always been into) so this thread may help me narrow down my choices. I have a bunch of his earlier (pre-1975) films including Perversion Story and Don't Torture a Duckling so maybe one of those will find it's way into my viewing shortly. Then again I still haven't seen much from Argento or Bava so I dunno. Too much to see.

He grows on you...
In spite of his technical inadequacies and dire actors, his movies are unique. However, non horror fans are unlikely to be converted.

He grows on you

So true. I've now watched another 3 of his films since yesterday and I enjoyed them all. I'm going to watch a couple more soon. A rewatch of The Beyond is also in order.

Yep. You go back to them and they seem to improve.

One gripe - English dubbing does Italian horror no favors at all.

Yeah, The Beyond seemed definitely better to me on second watch.

I've only seen two films of his which were Zombie Flesh Eaters and New York Ripper and i thoroughly enjoyed both and i want to see House By The Cemetery which i hear is very good

I'm a David Lynch fan, so 'Mulholland Dr.' is a favorite film. While exploring the lore it was mentioned that a portrait of the historical Italian figure Beatrice Cenci was a prominent feature in a main setting of the film, a woman's apartment. Some suggested that Lynch purposely had it placed there. This woman was a noblewoman who murdered her abusive father, who was allegedly an infamous scoundrel. The man had raped the woman repeatedly. She was tried for the crime and the locals were sympathetic from her father's reputation. After her subsequent execution she became a folk hero, and also allegedly haunted the execution site. Some Lynch fans conjectured that the portrait was displayed because the main character in MD, an aspiring actress, had been abused by her father, something I have never heard confirmed or denied. Interesting nonetheless.

Lucio Fulci made a movie about the affair, 'Beatrice Cenci' aka 'The Conspiracy of Torture'. I have never seen it but I certainly would like to, and maybe this will be a catalyst for me. I also wonder if Lynch had seen this film? The Cenci story is certainly 'Lynchian'.

I'm not what you would call a fan, but I have seen most of his horror work, with Don't Torture The Duckling and The New York Ripper being my favourites.

So I've been watching quite few more Fulci films the last few days and I've definitely got more of a taste for his work now. He has really grown on me.

So far I'd rank them as follows:

1. Zombi 2 - 8/10
2. Don't Torture a Duckling - 8/10
3. The New York Ripper - 7/10
4. The House by the Cemetery - 7/10
5. City of the Living Dead - 7/10
6. The Beyond - 5/10 (old rating, will be rewatching it soon).

Meh. He has some great moments for sure, but overall his work did little for me, and of course the bad dubbing made a lot of it unintentionally hilarious. His makeup work and gore are top notch though, which is reason enough to watch. You also can't claim his stuff isn't entertaining as hell most of the time :)

I am very fond of The New York Ripper, which I'd like to see again sometime. Super weird film.

The make up and gore are incredibly gruesome. After I watched The House by the Cemetery the other day I later had some food and the curry that I was eating looked incredibly like the insides of the zombie after he was stabbed, full of maggots and worms and sh!t. Unfortunately I was unable to finish the curry when I thought about it like that.

I also watched The New York Ripper yesterday and really enjoyed the brutality of the murder scenes. Some hot babes in that film too.

I've seen 6 of his films now and at this point I have gotten used to the dubbing. Some of it is quite well done in my opinion. I'm going to watch some more of his films as I've suddenly taken a liking to his stuff. Zombi 2 and Don't Torture a Duckling particularly impressed me.

Yeah a lot of the kills/gore in his films are disgusting as hell

I've seen around 6 of his films as well, watched most around the same time so a lot of it blends together. His work does have a weird and undeniable charm to it, and I'm sure sometime I'll set out to watch more of his stuff

Have you seen Zombi 3 by any chance? I'm interested in that one as I loved Zombi 2.

I have not. Didn't even know of its existence! I liked Zombi 2 as well. Some pretty iconic zombies in that one

The only film of his I have seen is The House by the Cemetery, and I laughed all through it due to the horrendous dubbing. I wish they would have done subtitled.

You get used to it believe me.

Bob? Bob! BOB!!!!!!!

Oh I know. Probably the most cringe-worthy part of the dubbing, or whenever the kid speaks.

A warning to anyone not familiar with Fulci that plans to watch his movies. If you cringe watching someone put a contact in their eye, AVOID FULCI.

I remember a few of the moments you may be referring to. The death of the maid in The Beyond is damn torturing.

The man has something against eyes.

...his horror films are worth a watch...!!!