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I think it's an appalling film and one of Fulci's very worst. It was a severely disappointing return to the giallo genre. He made four of the best gialli before that pisses all over that POS.
For anyone interested there's a review up of TNYR on my site. Just go to the 'Complete Reading List A-Z' section.
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I just put up a review of Deodato's The Phantom Of Death, a late 80s entry into the genre. Check it out http://celluloidterror.blogspot.com/...1988_8112.html
Celluloid Terror For Horror And Cult Film Rants, Raves, And Reviews!
Updated 3/5 w/ FEMALE TEACHER IN FRONT OF THE STUDENTS
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In The Devil's Garden - 6/10
Celluloid Terror For Horror And Cult Film Rants, Raves, And Reviews!
Updated 3/5 w/ FEMALE TEACHER IN FRONT OF THE STUDENTS
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Just watched Autopsy, was a little disappointed based on the high praise I read about the film but was still an enjoyable watch.
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Watched "The Fifth Chord" and "The Forbidden Photos of a Lady above Suspicion"
The Fifth Cord was amazing. I absolutely loved it. Franco Nero was fantastic. While the kills were weak, the acting, direction, and music were all top notch. It's now one of my favorite giallos.
FPoaLAS was a letdown, practically no kills, boring dialog, and lackluster performances...meh
Last edited by strtfghtr; 03-08-2013 at 05:24 PM.
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I watched A blade in the dark last night, its pretty good but the run time is far longer than it needs to be
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^Great fucking movie!
Nothing to feel guilty about. Its a fantastic cheeseball slasher (Giallo), definitely one of my favorites. Just picked up the blu-ray, cant wait to watch it in HD.
How is it possible not to like it? Well. Everyone hates everything so who gives a fuck, but...
...its for sure more of an all out slasher and it loses the artsy side of his previous films. But it's okay because that side of his filmography wouldn't really fit into this type of film. Instead of taking a step backwards, Fulci takes a step sideways into a different realm of horror completely. And I have to say for a no holds barred exploitation slasher flick, this is one of the most memorable of its time. The New York Ripper is one of those rare horror flicks that is both smart and tacky, gory and suggestive. Fucking love it!
Last Giallo I watchd was Oasis Of Fear. Not much of a Giallo in my opinion, but Shameless released it as such. Boring as hell.
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The Fifth Cord is great visually, but story is really bland, even for the genre, and near the end that screaming child was really aggravating. Not overly atmospheric, or well acted, with lackluster kills like you said. Didn't enjoy it very much. A Blade in the Dark is another odd one, wasn't particularly strong.
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I have seen a lot of really great giallo films. Some of my favorites in this sub-genre are Umberto Lenzi's Eaten Alive, Eyeball, Lucio Fulci's The Beyond, House By The Cemetery, The Black Cat, New Gladiators, Door To Silence, New York Ripper, Zombie, Dario Argento's The Bird With Crystal Plumage, Four Flies On Gray Velvet, Cat 'O Nine Tails, Suspiria, Inferno, Mother Of Tears, Phenomena, Tenabre, Opera, Stendal Syndrome, Phantom Of The Opera, Pelts, Mario Bava's Black Sabbath, Bay Of Blood, and Kill Baby Kill. I also like Night Train Murders, Cemetery Man, and Burial Ground a lot. I'm not sure who directed the last three, but those are a few more great ones. I'm looking forward to discussing more of these on this thread.
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Burial Ground was Andrea Bianchi.
Cemetery Man (aka Dellamorte, Dellamore) was Argento protege Michele Soavi.
The Night Train Murders was Aldo Lado.
And not to be "that guy," but there's a misconception among some that "giallo" is a catch-all phrase for Italian horror in general, when it's actually a very specific sub-genre -- namely, stylish murder mysteries. Back in the 20s and 30s, murder mystery novels were hugely popular in Italy, and these books often had yellow covers; "yellow," in Italian, is "giallo." When Italian filmmakers started making similar stylish murder mystery films, they naturally borrowed the term to refer to their movies. Giallo films (or "gialli," if you want to get really pretentious about it and use the actual Italian plural lol) typically involve dense, twisty whodunnit plots, psycho-sexual themes, masked and/or gloved killers and graphic murders, and typically climax with the killer's identity revealed via a twist ending.
So while, say, Argento movies like Bird With the Crystal Plumage and Tenebrae are very clearly gialli, his films Suspiria, Inferno and Mother of Tears aren't. Lucio Fulci's The New York Ripper and Don't Torture a Duckling are gialli, but his films Zombie and The Beyond aren't. Michele Soavi's Cemetery Man is a zombie comedy. Eaten Alive is a cannibal/splatter flick. And on and on.
Not trying to be preachy or anything, just sharing some of the utterly useless movie trivia I've accumulated over the past several decades of watching horror movies.
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I also got to see Nightmare City from Umberto Lenzi, and that is definitely a different kind of zombie movie, where the zombies are not only fast and smart, but they also know how to communicate with each other and use weapons! This also has some of the best developed characters, along with some of the best drama and dialogue from any zombie movies out there. I would rate this one right up there with Lucio Fulci's Zombie, the Blind Dead series, Cemetery Man, Burial Ground, Night Of The Living Dead, Day Of The Dead, I Eat Your Flesh, and the like! I would also rate Umberto Lenzi right up with Dario Argento, Lucio Fulci, and Mario Bava!
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I'm going to have to disagree with you there. I mean Lenzi is ok but Aregento, Fulci, and Bava in their prime are some of the best film makers ever.
I completely forgot this topic was around, I should add some more to it.
I recently rewatched Bava's The Girl Who Knew too Much which features the late John Saxon and is often considered one of the earliest in the giallo subgenre. I love the movie, its fun and goofy at times but overall is a good watch. I think its also a great example of how beautiful a black and white film can be especially in the hands of a master like Bava.
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Agree with strtfghter about Lenzi. I'd rate him as a lower level director. Not as low as, say, Bruno Mattei or Claudio Fragasso, but nowhere near the level of Argento, Bava (Mario, at least) or Fulci (though he had his share of stinkers later in his career, too). I did like one or two of Lenzi's films -- Ghosthouse wasn't too bad and Seven Bloodstained Orchids had its moments -- but IMO he had way more misses than hits. Not hating, though. There are plenty of piss poor directors I have a soft spot for, so dig what you dig.
Incidentally, if you are a fan of Lenzi's ouvre, you might also be interested in Black Demons, Nightmare Beach and Cannibal Ferrox. I may not be a fan, but those who are tend to rate those as among his better movies.
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I agree with you about Bava, Argento, and Fulci for sure! I even like Fulci's last few films that a lot of other people didn't. However, I'd have to rate "Eaten Alive," "Eyeball," "Nightmare City," "The Rat, The Fist, and The Cynic," and "Ghost House" as some of the better films out there. To each their own, though.
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I bet you're refering to Fulci's last few films as the "stinkers"(LOL)! "Door To Silence" is art, and a weird old fashioned psychological horror film like it's supposed to be, that a lot of people just don't understand, a lot more so now than then, I might add. I even found his "Touch Of Death" worth a look for one time, along with the loose sequel for his "Zombie" movie. "New Gladiators" may not be a gialo film, but I don't know why more fans of "The Running Man" are not into that one. There are also two films based on the same house I forget the titles to right offhand from late in Fulci's career that are definitely not any of his best, but still worth a look for at least one time. I realize you're not hating, and I don't disrespect your opinion, but you're the first I have seen rate Lenzi that low. His "Eyeball" has even been featured as a double feature with Argento's "Suspiria" plenty of times. To each their own, though.
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IMO, pretty much anything Fulci did after 1982 was a stinker. I think his '90s output was especially bad. Understand, Fulci didn't start making horror and splatter films until well into his career. He'd already been around a good decade and a half directing mostly comedies, until he made a violent historical flick called Beatrice Cenci in the late 60s. He showed he had a knack for directing violence, and quickly found himself delving into gialli and, eventually, full blown horror and splatter -- and still did the occasional comedy, drama, what-have-you in between, until he began doing horror almost exclusively in the early '80s.
I feel he started going downhill with New York Ripper, which, though it had tons of graphic violence, I felt was poorly directed, acted, and was especially badly written. Not long after that, his health began to deteriorate, to the point where it became increasingly more difficult for him to find work. And when he did work, it was on less and less reputable films, with lesser budgets, and with poorer writers. You know your career is in the pits when you're stuck working writers like Claudio Fragasso, and guys like Bruno Mattei are hired on to finish directorial duties you were too sick to complete. At any rate, Fulci earned his status as one of top Italian genre filmmakers with stuff like Zombie and The Beyond. Few genre fans will argue that those two at least aren't all-time classics.
IMO, Lenzi never established himself on that level. The best film of his that I've seen was probably Ghosthouse, but I wouldn't exactly call it great. It was good for Lenzi, but for my money, good for Lenzi is poor for just about anyone else. I see him basically the same way I see guys like Eli Roth and Adam Green, in that I've not seen all his films, but I've seen enough of them to know that I don't need to see more. I gave him plenty of chances to impress, and he never really did.
Eh, you can't please everybody.
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You like Ghosthouse better than Eyeball; The Rat, The Fist, and The Cynic; Eaten Alive, and Nightmare City? I do like Ghosthouse myself, and again, I'm not disrespecting your opinion or anything like that, but that is a first for me! The other four seem to be the most popular of Lenzi's films, aside from Cannibal Ferrox! You're definitely right about how you can't please everybody, though. Any movie that has ever been made, no matter how good or popular it may be overall, there's always a lot of other people who don't like it.
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I'm aware that my tastes are eclectic, to say the least. I don't like Lenzi, but love Scooter McCray. I don't like Jaws, but I love Anaconda. I think Angelina Jolie is hideous, but Fairuza Balk is gorgeous. It used to be I would get defensive and feel I had to justify my opinions. But I'm at the age and experience level now where I'm fine with people disagreeing with me. I don't take it personally. Like what you like, don't like what you don't. It's all good.
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I know what you mean there! I'm not with today's mainstream either. A lot of people nowadays have been passing Bava's "Bay Of Blood" off for just another teen slasher, just because it's rumored to be what mainly influenced the first two "Friday the 13th" movies. If those people only knew how wrong they are on that count...