Lucio Fulci

Plot Synopsis by Robert Firsching
A minor comedy from Italian filmmaker Lucio Fulci (Zombi 2; L’Aldila), this anthology is of interest primarily to cult devotees for marking the notorious director’s only collaboration with legendary “scream queen” Barbara Steele (La Maschera del Demonio). Lushly photographed and filled with popular comedians of the era (including Franco Franchi and Ciccio Ingrassia, who made several of their “Franco and Ciccio” comedies with Fulci), the film’s sketches spotlight various manias. As might be expected, nymphomania gets an extended treatment, with all the requisite mugging, leering, and smarmy asides common to Italian comedies of the period, as well as a lengthy parade of songs, many scored by Ennio Morricone, and some international burlesque performers. Enrico Maria Salerno and Walter Chiari lead a cast which includes Lisa Gastoni, Gaia Germani, Umberto d’Orsi, and Raimondo Vianello.Read More »

Description: “Though today he is revered for his graphic horror films, writer-director Lucio Fulci got his start in comedy. With this in mind, The Eroticist makes perfect sense — it continues the delirious stylistic inventiveness of ‘Perversion Story’ and ‘A Lizard in a Woman’s Skin’, yet its bawdy humor fits in perfectly with his origins in the cinema. The nonsensical English title implies that the film is a cash-in on William Friedkin’s The Exorcist, yet the film — originally titled The Senator Likes Women! — dates from a year before the American blockbuster. Make no mistake about it: this is as far removed as imaginable for the horror genre, at least in terms of content, although the sharp satirical barbs at the Catholic Church and Italian politics fits in comfortably with many of his better known works.Read More »

Quote:
Lucio Fulci and Edwige Fenech? Yep, that’s right. Like so many other Italian directors of the time Fulci did a lot of sex comedies so perhaps it was inevitable that at some point he would have crossed paths with one of the leading actresses. In La Pretora (the French release title translates as The Judge and the Whore) Fenech plays twin sisters, one a judge and the other a porn star. Enemies of the judge devise a plan to confuse the two and create problems. Or at least that’s what seems to be happening since there’s no subtitles and they would be helpful in parts. It’s a bit slow going at first but there’s a good bit of Fenech later in the film (the screenshot of Fenech combing her pubic hair kept being deleted by the image host so I left it out). For Fulci fans this is only for completists because it’s not very Fulci-ean and has zero horror elements. It could have been done by numerous directors. Fenech fans, though, will consider it a must.Read More »