THE DANMAN CAN

And you will face the sea of darkness, and all therein that may be explored. Lucio Fulci Feature Films Ranked

Lucio Fulci 's Contraband   (aka   Luca il contrabbandiere ) (1980) is one nasty, violent, and bleak crime film. Essentially Fulci's gory version of The Godfather (1972), there's all manner of harm inflicted upon smugglers and innocents alike. Despite the mean-spirited tone of the movie, you have to hand it to Fulci and company for being creative with the kills.  Fabio Frizzi  provides a funky disco-tinged score, so you can nod your head to the beat while you watch people being pushed into a sulphur pit, thrown through a window, blown up in bed, pulling drugs out of their vagina, getting their face torched, shot point blank in the mouth with a pistol, blasted in the stomach via shotgun, and more! Lucio Fulci Feature Films Ranked

I've seen  The Psychic   ( Sette Note In Nero ) (1977) five times, and as much as I appreciate the technical craft and as much as I like  Lucio Fulci , I've always found the film a bit boring. It takes elements of  Nicolas Roeg 's  Don't Look Now   (1973) ( review ) and creates a solid Hitchcock ian murder mystery with a strong denouement that borrows from  Edgar Allan Poe , but it takes too long to get there and a lot of what happens leading up to it isn't particularly engaging. Still, it's undoubtedly a beautifully shot giallo (thanks to  Sergio Salvati ) with a haunting and memorable piano theme by  Franco Bixio ,  Fabio Frizzi  and  Vince Tempera  (which  Quentin Tarantino  saw fit to reuse in 2003's  Kill Bill: Vol. 1   ( review )). Lucio Fulci Feature Films Ranked Giallo Feature Films Ranked

City Of The Living Dead  (1980), the best of  Lucio Fulci 's four "undead" films made between 1979–1981, is all g uts 'n ghouls 'n drills 'n maggots. It's not as iconic as  Zombie  (1979) ( review ), it's not as atmospheric as  The Beyond  (1981) ( review ), but it has the benefit of not having a main character portrayed by an insufferable, annoyingly-voiced child actor, as is the case with  The House By The Cemetery   (1981) ( review ). The plot is pretty loose, but doesn't strike me as all that important—what matters is getting the characters from one gory  Lovecraft -inspired set-piece to another. And though its tone is grim,  City  is a whole lot of fun. It also features one of  Fabio Frizzi ‘s best and most memorable scores.  Lucio Fulci Feature Films Ranked

Lamberta Bava 's Blastfighter (1984) is a ridiculous and fun First Blood  (1982)/ Deliverance   (1972) ( review ) hybrid that could only be a low budget Italian knockoff. The story by prolific schlock scribe Dardano Sacchetti , from a concept by Bava (directing under the very amusing alias John Old Jr.), pits Jake 'Tiger' Sharp—plus a special-ass gun—against hillbillies.  Michael Sopkiw is pretty good as Jake (or 'Tig,' as his buds call him), but if Bava had been able to nab Franco Nero for the role the film would surely have benefitted. Speakings of roles, Billy Redden , who famously played Lonnie (the dueling banjo player) in Deliverance , shows up for about ten seconds. Redden has only ever starred in four films and one episode of a TV series (plus an appearance as himself in a documentary). Three of those four post- Deliverance roles (one of which is Tim Burton 's 2003  Big Fish ) have him billed as "Banjo Man."  Jake really only uses ...

Review

I've seen The Psychic ( Sette Note In Nero ) (1977) four times now, and as much as I appreciate the technical craft and as much as I like Lucio Fulci , I've always found this film a bit boring. It takes elements of Nicolas Roeg 's Don't Look Now (1973) ( review ) and creates a solid murder mystery with a strong denouement that borrows from Edgar Allan Poe , but it takes too long to get there and a lot of what happens leading up to it isn't particularly engaging. Still, it's undoubtedly a very well-shot giallo (thanks to  Sergio Salvati ) with a haunting and memorable piano theme by Franco Bixio ,  Fabio Frizzi  and Vince Tempera  (which Quentin Tarantino saw fit to reuse in 2003's  Kill Bill: Vol. 1   ( review )) . You can find my  Lucio Fulci Feature Films Ranked  list  here . You can find my  Giallo Feature Films Ranked  list  here .

Lucio Fulci 's Zombie  (aka Zombi 2  aka  Zombie Flesh  Eaters )  (1979) is no perfect film, but it is a genre classic that never gets old. Full of blood 'n' guts 'n' maggots 'n' ocular violence (the mother of all ocular violence in cinema, in fact), as any great Fulci horror film is,  Zombie  is the one that goes all the way and delivers where few other horror films up until that point did. The atmosphere is oppressive, the direction is technically impressive, Giannetto De Rossi 's makeup and effects are disgustingly delightful, and  Fabio Frizzi 's score is memorable. You can find my  Lucio Fulci Feature Films Ranked  list  here .

City Of The Living Dead  (1980), the best of Lucio Fulci 's four "undead" films made between 1979–1981, is all g uts 'n ghouls 'n drills 'n maggots. It's not as iconic as Zombie  (1979) ( review ), it's not as atmospheric as The Beyond  (1981) ( review ), but it has the benefit of not having a main character portrayed by an insufferable, annoyingly-voiced child actor, as is the case with  The House By The Cemetery (1981) ( review ). The plot is pretty loose, but doesn't strike me as all that important—what matters is getting the characters from one gory Lovecraft -inspired set-piece to another. And though its tone is grim, City is a whole lot of fun. It also features one of Fabio Frizzi ‘s best and most memorable scores.  You can find my Lucio Fulci Feature Films Ranked list here .

Fabio Frizzi  live scoring The Beyond   (1981) was truly a special night. The blend of the live music with the dialogue and f/x was so seamless (kudos to The Coolidge ), the musicians were so professional (yet stylish), and many scenes were given emotional resonance previously lacking. I rate the film itself as a ***1/2 (it's one of the clunkiest Fulci  films, despite containing some of his most iconic imagery), but the live experience was a ****1/2, hence the average star rating I settled on. Frizzi  and co. played additional cues from   City Of The Living Dead  (1980) , Zombie   ( 1979) , and  A Cat In The Brain  (1990) after The Beyond  finished, and received multiple (well deserved) standing ovations.

Guts 'n ghouls 'n drills 'n maggots.