HORROR MOVIES 101

Italian Horror....

   I was 19 years old during the period of late '79- early 1980. And it is during that time that I wandered into a seedy, downtown Denver 'movie-house'.   The only thing I knew about the movie I was about to see was the name on the marquee... "ZOMBIE"...

   I was STUNNED!   This Movie Was PHENOMENAL!   Up to this point, the 'goriest' movies I had ever seen would be "Night Of The Living Dead" and "The Exorcist" ... (I had not yet seen "Dawn Of The Dead" which was released the year before...) ...   and some B-movie Drive-In fare like "Last House On The Left" and "The Toolbox Murders" and "Driller Killer" and "The Drive-In Massacre" and, of course, "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" ...  

   This movie (for me, at the time) outdid them ALL!    From the FANTASTIC 'comic book' story line to the AMAZING, 'in your face'', "GORE FX"!   ( "excuse me, Miss... you have something in your EYE ...") ,   This movie was great in EVERY way!    At the time, I did not even know that this was an Italian Movie!   (I did not pay any attention to the credits)   ...    And then, about a year later, I saw another Horror Movie that just 'blew me away'...   "The Gates Of Hell".   I didn't have a clue at the time that both of these movies were directed by the same insane genius!

   It was a couple of years later when I began reading about Lucio Fulci in FANGORIA  and GOREZONE and then I started collecting his movies!    I have about 14 so far and they are ALL good!    It seems that Mr. Fulci liked to include at least one really messy 'gore-scene' in each and every movie!   (NOT that there is anything WRONG with that!) ...    It is also at this time that I learned of OTHER Italian Horror Movie Directors!    I will not go into all of them here because my dinner is ready!    But, here are some names to ponder...   D'Amato, Lenzi, Bava, Argento...

   Be back later with more...    peace and love  ...    <  GOR  >

Re: Italian Horror....

I don't think I've seen Lucio Fulci's movies, I'll have to check them out.  I'm that way with Dario Argento's movies, I think I have all the ones that are on DVD right now and the Master's of Horror DVDs.  His movie's are usually very visually stunning and very different.  Mario Bava is the same way...Did anyone ever see The Whip and the Body?  That was a little um...different...hee hee.  I liked Blood and Blacklace too.  I am going to have to watch some of these others.

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Ah, "Zombie".  A pioneer in horrifying gore.  I don't necessarily like the film, but I respect it greatly.  At one point in my life, I was a major gore-hound and looked up "gore" on Amazon.com.  The results were staggering and I wrote a lenghty list of all the films I wished to see.  I sprinted to the video store and began searching for my listed titles.  I only found one, though.  That film was "Zombie".  I rented it of course and then took it home lovingly (kidding), whipped up a bowl of popcorn and sat down to watch the film. 

I was horribly bored through about the first hour, thinking that perhaps I had been duped.  Then came the infamous eye-gouging scene.  I was fascinated by this scene and still remember quite vividly.  And I remember thinking, while the wood splinter inched closer to her eye, "It's not going to happen.  She'll back up and everything will be fi...BWAH?! "  And as the eyeball - obviously plastic but disturbing nonetheless - oozed goo, I sat with a look of horrified bewilderment for about a half hour.  Since then, I have encountered several horror fans such as myself and we have stumbled upon the topic of "best horror sequence".  And my pick is always the same.  A lot of people I know have not seen "Zombie", but I always recommend it.

As for Fulci, I'll get to him later so prepare for a rant.  At the moment, I need to have lunch.  So cheers to all and have a fun day.

Re: Italian Horror....

   Thank you, Froggy!    But, I have to ask you, it sounds like you have seen this movie only once?   If that is the case then you need to watch it again!   This is one of those movies that actually gets BETTER every time you watch it!   Much like...

   JAWS

   The Exorcist

   The Wild Bunch

    The Magnificent 7

    The Beyond

   Dracula

   Frankenstein

    Rocky III

    Mars Attacks

   ... I will quit here before I wander TOO far off track!

   Ooh! wait! ... a couple more! ...

   Cannibal Holocaust

   Make Them Die Slowly

Re: Italian Horror....

Risselada:

What is it about Italy that produces directors and people who make movies like this?  Is it some sort of cultural thing that is obsessed with this kind of violence, gore, and shock?  Or was there something to do with the movie industry and the way that movies were being made and the situation in Italy in that respect that produced these?  Are there films like this that were made in any considerable quanity by any directors in any other European countries?  What is the deal??

   It is a little of both, Rizzo!   Throughout my life I have known MANY "Mafia-like" type of characters.... ( I have to be careful what I say over the internet! remember?)....   Just watch "The Godfather" !   This movie is AMAZINGLY true to life!   (don't ask me how I know this!) ...  My answer is YES, these people ARE 'obsessed' with this kind of violence, gore and shock!    NOT that there is anything WRONG with that!   (I am somewhat the same way myself!) ...

    My answer the second part of your question is... YES this has EVERYTHING to do with the movie industry in Italy at the time! ...  That is what I wanted to talk about, anyhow!   I think your questions will be answered in the following post!

Re: Italian Horror....

It's funny, because the Italian horror industry was actually invented as a way to "up the ante" on the already pretty extreme Spaghetti Western. Once the Western sort of played itself out, a new wave of Italian shockmeisters rolled in to bring on that mix of blood and extreme violence that works so well in foreign markets. I don't if Dario Argento was the first, but he's probably the best known. Out of his stuff, I love Suspiria and Deep Red.

 Speaking of Fulci, The Beyond is great piece of bizarro gross-out cinema. Involves the gates of hell existing under an old New Orleans hotel. The plot makes little sense, and the gore is more funny than scary, but Fulci at times creates some great atmosphere.

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   "The Beyond"  is my second favorite Fulci flick!   I was going to get into that one in time!   But, before I get into my other favorite Italian Horrors, I want to share a couple of interesting tidbits about "ZOMBIE" and about Italian Horror from that era in general...

   First off, the 'Zombie vs. Shark' scene.   For all of you younger members, this was WAY before CGI was ever invented!   In other words, this scene was filmed using a VERY REAL Tiger Shark!   (probably drugged... but still!) ...   On the day they were to film this scene, the 'stuntman' suddenly 'got sick' and so they had to put the 'shark handler' in zombie make-up and film the scene with him (!)   It worked quite well!   Except for the obviously fake "arm being bitten off" this scene was quite exceptional!   

   Second, about the "title" thing....   This movie is known as  "ZOMBIE" , "ZOMBI 2" and "ZOMBIES 2" !   The reason for that is this...   George Romero's "Dawn Of The Dead"  was released in Europe in a re-edited (by Dario  Argrnto) form as "ZOMBI" or "ZOMBIES: Day Of The Dead"... "ZOMBIE" was filmed as a 'prequel' to this movie and, actually, this WAS a much better 'prequel' to "Dawn Of The Dead" and "Day Of The Dead" than was the original "Night Of The Living Dead" ...

   Third,  and this is an interesting one, you might have noticed how these infamous Italian movies are 'dubbed' ! and yet it would appear that they are all speaking in English!   Here is why.... At the Time, American Horror Movies were quite popular in Europe!   Italian movies were NOT!    So, they tried to disguise these movies as 'American' by filming them in english etc.

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