******

Quote:

Zombies are the middle children of the otherworldly family. Vampires are the oldest brother who gets to have a room in the attic, all tripped out with a disco ball and shag carpet. Werewolves are the youngest, the babies, always getting pinched and told they're cute. With all that attention stolen away from the middle child zombie, no wonder she shuffles off grumbling, "Marsha, Marsha, Marsha."

- Kevin James Breaux
Showing posts with label Umberto Lenzi. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Umberto Lenzi. Show all posts

Saturday, April 4, 2020

Film Review: PAURA: LUCIO FULCI REMEMBERED VOLUME 1 (2008)


Directed by Mike Baronas Paura: Lucio Fulci Remembered Volume 1 (2008) is an amazing collection of interviews from cast and crew that have worked with the director Lucio Fulci.  The interviews encompass a wide variety of people whom both had a great working relationship with the eccentric director as well as those who found it difficult.  If you’re a fan of Fulci’s films then you’ll learn a lot from watching this film.

For those of you not in the know, Fulci is one of the most influential Italian horror film directors in the same vein as Mario Bava, Dario Argento, Ruggero Deodato, Joe D’Amato, Jesus Franco, and Umberto Lenzi, to name but a few.  Horror fans will easily recognize some of Fulci’s most famous films like Zombie (1979), The Beyond (1981), House By the Cemetery (1981), City of the Living Dead (1980), and Don’t Torture a Duckling (1972), to name a few.  His films have helped redefine the zombie genre in the same way that George A. Romero’s films have.  His films may not be for everyone as they are sometimes had excessive gore and sometimes too cryptic but they were never boring and always entertaining.  He graced every genre from Edgar Allan Poe adaption The Black Cat (1981), the crime-action film Contraband (1980), literary classic - White Fang (1973), comedy – The Eroticist (1972), and western – The Four of the Apocalypse (1975), just to name a few. 

In this film, people from all these films and more are given the opportunity to express their thoughts about Fulci.  Fulci died in 1996 so this is a remarkable way in which people have been able to honor the late director and his legacy.  The film is not really designed to be enjoyed by the casual viewer or someone not associated with Fulci’s films; it will be better appreciated by fans of Fulci who have seen his films (or at least know of them).

Sunday, March 27, 2016

Film Review: GHOST HOUSE (1988)




Umberto Lenzi (as Humphry Humbert) directs the haunted house thrilled Ghost House (1998) which for Italian audiences was known as La Casa 3 or an unofficial sequel to Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead films.  For those of you that didn’t know, The Evil Dead and Evil Dead 2 were re-titled La Casa and La Casa 2, respectfully, when released in Italy so many audiences know this film as a sequel to those films.  This film has nothing to do with those films and if you were expecting something in their style then you’ll be sadly remiss.


Instead, this film deals with a group of people drawn to a mysterious house because of a radio signal.  Once at the house the group begin to see and experience haunting imagery tied to a little girl and her evil doll.  AS each of them fined themselves alone in the house they meet a deadly demise and time is running out for them to discover the true history of the house and why each of them were drawn there.

Unless you’re a Lenzi fan then there is very little to recommend this film.  It’s very tame even for one of his films and unfortunately time has not been kind to it as it has dates pretty badly.  This being said, the film is typical Lenzi and there are some haunting images that Lenzi will immediately recognize.