lucio fulci

The House by the Cemetery (1981)

Published on September 2, 2022September 9, 2022 by Geoff ArbuckleLeave a comment

Alrighty, here we are, dear Enemaniacs – the end of B-Movie Enema’s trip through Lucio Fulci’s Gates of Hell trilogy.

The House by the Cemetery is a peculiar flick. It is the type of movie that either you love it or you hate it. However, here’s the thing… You could say that about all of Fulci’s stuff. A lot of his films are very stream of consciousness or dreamlike in structure. The House by the Cemetery is one that I think that love/hate kind of reaction is quite severe.

There aren’t many people in the middle who kind of shrug and say, “It’s alright.”

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The Beyond (1981)

Published on July 22, 2022July 29, 2022 by Geoff ArbuckleLeave a comment

Now, this is the Italian stuff I look forward to covering.

After taking on Hercules twice in a row, now I get to return to the warm embrace of Lucio Fulci with his Gates of Hell trilogy. I’ve already knocked out the first chapter, City of the Living Dead, last month. Now it’s time to get to what most would usually list as the best of the trio, The Beyond. So, buckle up and prepare for this week’s dose of B-Movie Enema!

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City of the Living Dead (1980)

Published on June 3, 2022June 18, 2022 by Geoff ArbuckleLeave a comment

Fulci is back yet again on B-Movie Enema. Why? Because ol’ Lucio needs more attention if I’m being honest. Sure, I’ve covered many of his movies in the past, but there are oh so many more that I could cover. What better place to dig into more of his filmography than with the Gates of Hell trilogy of his?

So, here we are. I’ve packed my bags, bought my plane tickets, and have landed in the City of the Living Dead. This is Fulci in what’s likely his prime. He’s not too far off from his major success of Zombie (known in Italy as Zombi 2, but I’m not going to get into all that Italian titling business). That pretty much wrote a check for Fulci to do whatever he really wanted. He first stopped off with a crime action flick, Contraband, but started developing the idea of City of the Living Dead. This film was greenlit while he was working on the action flick, so, he took off and left Contraband under the direction of his assistant to get to work on City of the Living Dead.

It’s wild to think that a director can just leave a production to start his next, but Italy is a wild place, man.

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Aenigma (1988)

Published on April 22, 2022April 28, 2022 by Geoff ArbuckleLeave a comment

Luci Fulci is back… Or, as I suppose the bumper stickers and various other memes would say, “Fulci Lives!”

Welcome to B-Movie Enema. This week, we’re looking Fulci’s 1988 Carrie-esque thriller, Aenigma. 1988 was a curious year for Fulci. That was the year that his sort of sequel Zombie 3 was released. But Zombie 3 wasn’t really his movie. He got very ill at the start of filming and had to leave and directing duties shifted to Bruno Mattei and Claudio Fragasso. The result? Well, it was kind of goofy, but mostly worked. If for nothing else, it was a fun watch.

Fulci would recover and ended up making Aenigma. He would say this was one of his more favorite films in some time. Fulci’s body of work is curious because, while I like most of his films for various reasons, he is good in spurts and spots. I love Zombie. I love his “Gates of Hell” trilogy. The Devil’s Honey is phenomenal. But this movie, this was the director’s own pick for his favorite during the latter part of his career.

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The Black Cat (1981)

Published on July 9, 2021February 15, 2024 by Geoff Arbuckle3 Comments

I love cats. Guys, I don’t mind saying it. I’m not a dog person. In fact, for the vast majority of the last 29 years, I’ve lived with at least one cat, and very often with two. These cats are as good as kids from my perspective. Most of those cats have been partners in crime with me. So, I guess you can say I have something in common with our lead in this week’s movie, The Black Cat.

However, this is only very loosely based on the Edgar Allan Poe short story by the same name. In that, it’s about a man and his wife who love animals. In particular, he seems to have a special bond with a large, black cat. When he develops an addiction to the sauce, the cat decides he doesn’t really like the guy anymore which is only made worse by the drunk man torturing the cat by removing its eye, and even hanging the cat from a tree.

This 1843 story has been the inspiration, suggestion, or basis for many a film version. Universal Studios twice made movies “suggested” by the story, but neither held any kind of similarity outside having a black cat in them. Multiple times, Italians have made adaptations of this like Sergio Martino’s Your Vice Is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key (a title that just rolls off the tongue) in 1971, Dario Argento’s version in the anthology film Two Evil Eyes, and then Fulci’s version that we’re going to talk about today.

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Zombie 4: After Death (1989)

Published on December 6, 2019January 18, 2024 by Geoff ArbuckleLeave a comment

Well, I guess you could say 2019 on B-Movie Enema was “the year of Zombie” as I talked about Lucio Fulci’s first Zombie movie from 1979 back in January and then Zombie 3 from 1988 came along in April. Before we close out this year of Zombie, I should get to Zombie 4: After Death (also just known as After Death).

What makes this movie noteworthy is that it’s the first Zombie movie that goes without input form Lucio Fulci himself. You can say that Zombie 3 didn’t seem to be that much of a Fulci flick itself, due to Fulci leaving the production due to illness, but he’s still given credit for the movie (whether or not he wants to have it). What is a holdover from the previous installment is the duo that brought us the amazingly disastrous masterpiece that is Troll 2, Claudio Fragasso (listed as the director) and his wife and co-conspirator Rossella Drudi (credited as lone screenwriter).

So I guess you can say that we might be heading down a pretty interesting path in today’s B-Movie Enema. Continue reading “Zombie 4: After Death (1989)” →

The Devil’s Honey (1986)

Published on August 16, 2019January 18, 2024 by Geoff ArbuckleLeave a comment

Lucio Fulci… He’s one of those Italian filmmakers that people usually will have strong opinions about. I’m not sure if I know anyone who is just okay with his works. He’s kind of an all or nothing type of director. That’s not to say if you fall on the “all in” side of the fence with him you have to love every one of his movies, god knows Demonia is a real chore to get through, but you’ll likely be more than happy to watch something with his name on it just because it has his name on it.

I’ve talked about the aforementioned Demonia, Zombie, and Zombie 3(*) which all fall squarely in the horror genre. For a guy who has dabbled in just about every genre, I feel like I owe it to him to try as many of those dabbles as possible. With that said, let’s just dive right into his foray into the erotic thriller world with The Devil’s Honey. Continue reading “The Devil’s Honey (1986)” →