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Reviews
Blood Feast (1963)
So bad it's good
Oh my god, this movie should be a comedy its so funny. Unintentionally of course. Mal Arnold is great as Fuad Ramses in a campy way, his wild eyes, limp and campy dialogue is awesome. The acting is just terrible, I mean it's astronomically poor. The cops in this movie are incredibly slow, they must be on the lower end of the bell curve. The music is incredibly cheesy and campy too. The special effects are not very good either, some shots only show the aftermath of somebody dying. The blood looks very fake and so does the flesh in the movie. The ending is hysterically dumb. Overall, it's an enjoyable experience and very unintentionally funny. A very campy gory movie which won't appeal to a lot of people but if you can dumb down for an hour then you'll love it. I couldn't give it a 10 because it's so bad, but again it's so bad its good.
Quella villa accanto al cimitero (1981)
Good but not great splatterfest
Let's get something straight with Lucio Fulci, he has an obvious disdain for logic in his films and sometimes just shows gory images for their own sake. Now this isn't a bad thing necessarily, it just makes all the hot shot film critics hate on Fulci along with a lot more people who a) cannot handle the gore or b) just don't get Fulci. Believe me I get Fulci, I loved Zombi 2 and The Beyond(a masterpiece). Anyhow, this movie is actually something more than just gore. In this movie gore isn't the focal point, its not the story -- it progresses the story. Unlike some of his movies like The Beyond which trades plot for a helluva lot of gore. Don't get me wrong his movies have plots, but they can't get from point A to point B or are made in such a way that their message goes over the heads of many critics. This movie has a plot which does get from point A to point B and kudos to Fulci for that. However, for the same reason it doesn't seem much like a Fulci film. So that's its tragic flaw. Also there's gore(his trademark neck ripping and gross sound effects) but there's no eye gouging, and it isn't over the top like his other movies. The music is decent, but isn't as good as the music in his other films like Zombi 2. Some things are also left unresolved, but maybe it's up to the viewer to decide. So, in summary it's a typical Fulci film and not one of masterpieces like The Beyond, with one difference it has a decent somewhat coherent plot and with moderate gore used to progress the story rather than be most of the story. I recommend it, but just realize it's not one of his best films. Some people may disappointed by it.
...E tu vivrai nel terrore! L'aldilà (1981)
Excellent Film, a must see for any true horror fan
This was an excellent film, truly breathtaking. It was almost artistic in a way. I doubt many people will understand this film or enjoy it at all, some horror "fans" may not like it either probably preferring something more dilute like Scream or other Hollywood crap. This film will probably disturb you in a way and probably won't leave you feeling like it was a happy ending, or you might not even understand the ending at all. Lucio Fulci was a bit of pessimist in this is reflected in this film.
Another thing is this film is cruel, its really brutal how people get killed and very painful. Not that it's hard to watch, it just that its plain brutal. This film isn't just gore and brutality though, its pretty scary and keeps you on your seat a little bit in suspense. You always feel an atmosphere of dread and just know that a certain character is going to get it. The death scenes won't disappoint gore lovers. And we have a lot of Fulci's trademark eye gouging scenes. We even get to see tarantulas take a guy's eye out! Almost all the characters who die get their eye gouged out in some way. The sound effects are pretty gross sounding and fairly realistic. The music is sort of synthesized and is decent, when it plays you kind of suspect something bad is going to happen pretty soon. The acting is spot on and very strong. The actors and actresses really do a great job and its pretty realistic acting. The setting too is pretty scary and really enjoyable. The story isn't too hard to follow, its mostly the things which are left out that makes you think. Somewhat there is a nod to Lovecraft I think in this film with the book of Eibon. The ending too will leave you guessing, in a good way for true fans.
I think everybody who truly gets "it", will enjoy this movie. I doubt most people will like it and most people nowadays are too watered down with PG-13 horror movies and their romantic comedies. This is R rated, gore with substance, though the story is a bit simple it's implications are pretty complex. If you don't like this one then you don't like Fulci! Just a wonderful masterpiece.
Zombi 2 (1979)
A Great Film -- Highly Recommended
I don't understand why this movie is so lowly rated on IMDb and so critically panned. It's only half-true it was made to cash in on Dawn of the Dead, it's completely unrelated. That being said, there were a few plot holes but it didn't draw away from the experience. Though it's very unlikely for a boat to go from the Caribbean to New York Harbour it's probably not impossible and even believable. The amount of gore is really the best part of the movie, the story is fairly decent and pretty original if you consider. The dialog is kind of weak, but it's kind of believable. The acting is actually pretty good I thought, very believable though sometimes unemotional. I noticed a few racial/ethnic stereotypes and was kind of put off by it. The soundtrack sounds like an 8-bit NES game and is really great. The sounds of zombies eating people kind of sound like someone slapping into a juicy watermelon. Because of these few nuances I can't really give it a full 10. Otherwise, a great film, a must see for gore-hounds.