Fulci's Zombies

[Mighty_Emperor]

There is a new boxset out of Zombi 3, 4 and 5 out in the States (not here yet but I'm looking to find a way to get my hands on it)

www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0007UV ... enantmc-20

As there are at least 3 films claiming the titles the ones in this pack (the most legtimate heirs to the series) are:

Zombi 3:
www.imdb.com/title/tt0096511/

Zombi 4:
www.imdb.com/title/tt0094620/

Zombi 5:
www.imdb.com/title/tt0156706/

and so I thought as we have threads on Romero's films:

www.forteantimes.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12558

and RotLD:

www.forteantimes.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=17116

I thought it worth looking at Lucio Fulci's zombies (OK so he didn't have much to so with Zombi 4 or 5 but......)

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Zombie / Zombi 2 / Zombie Flesh Eaters (1979):

www.imdb.com/title/tt0080057/

Zombie:
www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000 ... ntmagaz-21
www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00005U128/

Zombi 2:
www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000 ... ntmagaz-21
www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00009WVNT/

Zombie Flesh Eaters (Vipco have released an awful lot of Fulci's films, and others, and most of them are good quality and largely uncut - his films fell afoul of the Video Nasty debacle in the eighties and have only now been released with most of the missing bits back in. They are usually pretty reasonably priced although the packaging is genrically poo):
www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000 ... ntmagaz-21

Dead Centre a short zombie movie have managed to get a few members of the original cast to cameo:

www.forteantimes.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=19654

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City of the Living Dead (1980)

www.imdb.com/title/tt0081318/

Vipco:
www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000 ... ntmagaz-21

R1:
www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/63058 ... ntmagaz-21
www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/6305840024/

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The Beyond (1981)

www.imdb.com/title/tt0082966/

Weird, gorey and surreal (or confusing - your call ) - a classic!!

www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000 ... ntmagaz-21
www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/6305972052/

--------------------
The House by the Cemetery (1981)

www.imdb.com/title/tt0082966/

Doctor Freudenstein and his nasty experiments loom large.

www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000 ... ntmagaz-21
www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0001GH7KY/
www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000059PPN/

==============
If you become a Fluci Fan then there are double packs of some of this films (including some of his zombie ones:

-------------
The Lucio Fulci Collection Volume 1 (The House By the Cemetery/The Beyond) :
www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000064 ... enantmc-20
www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000 ... ntmagaz-21

--------------
The Lucio Fulci Collection Volume 2 (Manhattan Baby/The New York Ripper):
www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000064 ... enantmc-20
www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000 ... ntmagaz-21

--------------
The Lucio Fulci Collection Volume 3 (City of the Living Dead/Don't Torture a Duckling) :
www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000064 ... enantmc-20
www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000 ... ntmagaz-21

 

[Heckler]

I'm a huge fan of Fulci but was never quite sure why, the acting is terrible, the plot usually incomprehensible but occasionally, just occasionally (especially with The Beyond) he crosses the fine line from awful to sublime.

Frequently disturbing, extremely gory but always entertaining. Don't however watch whilst attempting to eat food.

A rather good book on the whole zombie/cannibal Italian movie cycle is Eaten Alive!: Italian Cannibal and Zombie Movies Amazon that has interviews with several of the 'stars' of his movies.

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

I'm a huge fan of Fulci but was never quite sure why, the acting is terrible, the plot usually incomprehensible but occasionally, just occasionally (especially with The Beyond) he crosses the fine line from awful to sublime.

Frequently disturbing, extremely gory but always entertaining. Don't however watch whilst attempting to eat food.

Yes melting faces (so good they did it twice) and some interesting urmmmm eye popping scenes does make it an intersting film - the ening is certainly a weird one too. I do feel that some of the jarring odd feel is accidental and produced by poor editting/continuity (esp. the scene where the acid bubbles over in the morgue) but it does manage to transcend just being a string of nasty special effects. Well worth seeing - ZFE is a tighter film and a classic but The Beyond certianly leaves you with a lot of creepy moments.

A rather good book on the whole zombie/cannibal Italian movie cycle is Eaten Alive!: Italian Cannibal and Zombie Movies Amazon that has interviews with several of the 'stars' of his movies.

Interestingly the makers of Dead Centre:

http://www.forteantimes.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=19654

got some of the ZFE stars to appear through the author of "Eaten Alive" (who also appears as a zombie in the movie - pictures on their blog).

As well as Eaten Alive:
www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/08596 ... ntmagaz-21
www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0952926 ... enantmc-20

There is also:

Beyond Terror: Films of Lucio Fulci
www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/09529 ... ntmagaz-21
www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0859653 ... enantmc-20

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

Oh and the nice (as long as you pay your bills) people over at Rotten Cotton have a graphic novel adaptation of The Beyond (with remastered soundtrack CD):

www.rottencotton.com/merch/comics.htm

It was produced by Blackheart Media but they threw the towel in and all their books and CDs are now handled by RC.

 

[StoryofE]

The guy that did the makeup FX for Zombie also did the FX for the recent French slasher, Haute Tension.

 

[Creamstick1]

Fulci is the living dead master for my taste!

The Beyond
House by the Cemetary
City of the Living Dead
Zombie Flesh Eaters

GGGGenius!

Just make sure you get the US Anchor Bay versions of the first three.

If you like the Fulci side of life, you should check out Jorge Grau's 'Let Sleeping Corpses Lie' AKA 'The Living Dead at the Manchester Morgue'.

Just ignore the goofy plot point that zombies dont show up on film when photographed.