Anyone up on their Italian horror flicks?

[Guest Super Leather]

I've just started pondering checking out more of these movies, and I don't really know of what to look for and what to avoid. Recommendations, if you would.

 

I already own:

-THE BEYOND/HOUSE BY THE CEMETARY as a two-DVD set.

-THE STENDHAL SYNDROME

-DEMONS/DEMONS 2

-SUSPIRIA

 

As well, my roommate owns ZOMBIE and I am looking for a DVD of CEMETARY MAN. Any thoughts of some goodies I should get before others?

[Guest El Satanico]

There's no Region 1 DVD for Cemetary Man, so if you're in the US you will have to buy an Imported DVD and have a Region Free DVD player.

 

You can't go wrong with any pre 90's Dario Argento. His films from the 70s and 80s are his classics.

 

Deep Red

Inferno

Tenebre

Phenomena(featuring a young Jennifer Connelly)

Opera

Bird with the Crystal Plumage

Cat o' Nine Tails

Four Flies on Grey Velvet

 

 

Mario Bava made some good Gothic horror films in the 60s

 

I Vampiri

Black Sunday

Black Sabbath

The Body and the Whip

Blood and Black Lace

Kill, Baby... Kill!

Hatchet for the Honeymoon

Bay of Blood(an early slasher not gothic)

 

 

Lucio Fulci

 

Don't Torture a Duckling

City of the Living Dead

The Black Cat

The New York Ripper

[Nighthawk 0]

You can get Cemetary Man on vhs, if you're ok with that.

 

Satanico said pretty much what I would have, so I'll just recommend a couple of things:

A Cat In The Brain - Kind of a Fulci twist on 8 1/2, some people don't like it, but I think it's great, so check it out.

And it's German, not Italian, but if you like these kinds of movies, I strongly recommend Premutos: Lord of the Living Dead. If you like Zombie, you'll love it.

[dubq 0]

Lucio Fulci

 

Don't Torture a Duckling

City of the Living Dead

The Black Cat

The New York Ripper

+ Manhattan Baby

[JasonX 0]

Lucio Fulci

 

Don't Torture a Duckling

City of the Living Dead

The Black Cat

The New York Ripper

+ Manhattan Baby

Regarding Fulci:

 

Don't Torture a Duckling

Zombie (AKA Zombi 2)

City of the Living Dead

The Beyond

New York Ripper

House By the Cemetery

 

are the essential viewings of Fulci. I wouldn't recommend Manhatten Baby nor would I recommend Zombie 3 (which Fulci had very little to do with).

 

I'd also recommend "Contraband", a crime drama Fulci did during the period inbetween Duckling and Zombi that is pretty good in terms of violence and gore.

[dubq 0]

The Beyond is definitely my favourite. I didn't mind Manhattan Baby so much, but maybe that's because I found it new for $11.

[Guest Super Leather]

Thanks for the insight, folks!

 

Forgot to mention that I am aware that Argento only has a producer's credit for either of the DEMONS movies. Just watched the first one last night and thought it was great and hilarious. We'll be watching STENDHAL SYNDROME tonight, and I'll see how that is. It did come out in '96, though.

 

I don't mind having a VHS copy of CEMETARY MAN, although I figured that if it was on DVD it might have the "other" ending, which would be cool.

 

THE BEYOND=gratutious eye trauma.

 

MANHATTAN BABY and NEW YORK RIPPER are easily found in my area (Oakland/Berkeley) as a "Lucio Fulci Collection" two-DVD set, which is fine by me. Some of the record stores around here have huge DVD sections and there are always good horror movies to choose from. Hong Kong films too, which I'm also into.

[Guest El Satanico]

After Ed Wood is finally released, Cemetary Man will be my most wanted DVD.

[NoCalMike 0]

I own:

 

City of the Living Dead aka The Gates of Hell

The Beyond aka The 7 doorways of Death

Opera

Demons/Demons 2

 

Suspiria is on my wishlist.

[2GOLD 0]

City of the Living Dead is amazing.

 

I can't disagree with anything on this list and Fulci is just a horror god to me so I basically like anything he does.

[Guest El Satanico]

I own:

 

Bay of Blood

Deep Red

Suspiria

Zombie

 

 

I've seen just about every classic Argento film. I need to see the other Fulci films and Bava's gothic films.

[Guest Super Leather]

I read somewhere that when Lucio Fulci did ZOMBIE, he tried to hype it as the sequel to NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, and thought that was really funny. I actually like it a lot more than I like any of the LIVING DEAD sequels.

 

SUSPIRIA is worth watching, but it wasn't as good as I thought it would be. It does have some gold moments though, that I won't spoil since NoCal Mike maybe hasn't seen it yet. I don't know about you, but I don't have an account at any video store around here, so I just buy what I want to see and return what sucks for store credit. Plus my DVD copy gets these weird black boxes that jump on the screen that won't go away until I restart the Playstation, go to the next chapter, and rewind it back to where I had to leave off. I still have yet to see if that defect also happens with a normal DVD player.

 

I'm gonna try to watch some more of the DVDs I scored and say what I thought of them. Most of the ones I listed I just picked up and have yet to see them.

 

As well, thanks for the Mario Bava recommendations. I will also check out PREMUTOS if I come across it in the store.

[Guest El Satanico]

I really like Suspiria, but alot of Argento's movies aren't for everyone. Some people don't like that he's all about style and artistic deaths. He's not concerned about plots and scripts and some people won't like that.

 

Zombie is a fun movie, but to me it can't compare to Romero's trilogy. The title issue is a mess. I've seen the whole thing explained, but I can't remember any of it.

[JasonX 0]

The title issue is a mess. I've seen the whole thing explained, but I can't remember any of it.

In Europe, Dawn of the Dead was called "Zombi".

 

Fulci, before Dawn of the Dead was released, was working on his own zombie film completely and utterly independant from Romero and Argento with the intent of doing a realistic film about zombie as opposed to doing a massive apocalyptic film like Romero.

 

When Dawn of the Dead/Zombi came out, Fulci's financial backers strong-armed him into naming his film "Zombi 2" and against Fulci's will marketed the film as a "sequel" to Dawn of the Dead.

 

When the film got released in the US, the name had to be changed to "Zombie" because the whole fake Dawn of the Dead/Zombi connection wouldn't make sense in America and because Romero's people had gotten wind of the film and making it clear that they would sue if they tried the same trick in America and pass Zombi 2 off as a sequel to Dawn of the Dead.

[NoCalMike 0]

I read somewhere that when Lucio Fulci did ZOMBIE, he tried to hype it as the sequel to NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, and thought that was really funny. I actually like it a lot more than I like any of the LIVING DEAD sequels.

 

SUSPIRIA is worth watching, but it wasn't as good as I thought it would be. It does have some gold moments though, that I won't spoil since NoCal Mike maybe hasn't seen it yet. I don't know about you, but I don't have an account at any video store around here, so I just buy what I want to see and return what sucks for store credit. Plus my DVD copy gets these weird black boxes that jump on the screen that won't go away until I restart the Playstation, go to the next chapter, and rewind it back to where I had to leave off. I still have yet to see if that defect also happens with a normal DVD player.

 

I'm gonna try to watch some more of the DVDs I scored and say what I thought of them. Most of the ones I listed I just picked up and have yet to see them.

 

As well, thanks for the Mario Bava recommendations. I will also check out PREMUTOS if I come across it in the store.

spoil away, I have seen Suspiria, I just haven't bought it yet.

[JasonX 0]

I read somewhere that when Lucio Fulci did ZOMBIE, he tried to hype it as the sequel to NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, and thought that was really funny. I actually like it a lot more than I like any of the LIVING DEAD sequels.

 

SUSPIRIA is worth watching, but it wasn't as good as I thought it would be. It does have some gold moments though, that I won't spoil since NoCal Mike maybe hasn't seen it yet. I don't know about you, but I don't have an account at any video store around here, so I just buy what I want to see and return what sucks for store credit. Plus my DVD copy gets these weird black boxes that jump on the screen that won't go away until I restart the Playstation, go to the next chapter, and rewind it back to where I had to leave off. I still have yet to see if that defect also happens with a normal DVD player.

 

I'm gonna try to watch some more of the DVDs I scored and say what I thought of them. Most of the ones I listed I just picked up and have yet to see them.

 

As well, thanks for the Mario Bava recommendations. I will also check out PREMUTOS if I come across it in the store.

spoil away, I have seen Suspiria, I just haven't bought it yet.

1. Suspiria is one of the many DVDs that the PS2 fucks with when when you play it on the PS2.

 

2. The high point of the film is the double murder that takes place at the very beginning of the film. Very bloody and graphic, it's considered by many to be THE signature Argento death scene as well as the most graphically disturbing death scene ever to be filmed....

[Guest Dynamite Kido]

I actually have Suspiria and I have played it many times on my PS2 and I've never had a problem. But as far as recommendations go, Suspiria is alright. I was slightly dissappointed though. But honestly for MY money, Deep Red is it. It kicks major ass and is REALLY creepy. I loved the way everything was set up from start to finish. Plus I like the kills in Argento movies. He really sets it up to where you heart is pumping a mile a minute before an on screen death. I also own Zombie too. It's more of a gore flick, but the shark scene(I highly recommend Zombie for this scene alone), totally rules.

[Guest Super Leather]

So I got around to watching the STENDHAL SYNDROME with one of the roommates last night. It came out in '96, nobody's recommended it yet, so I'll bring it up. Not a bad flick at all. Asia Argento is a cop that's tracking a serial killer/rapist that's been baffling the Italian cops for a while. The title of the movie itself is explained when Ms. Argento develops a weird psychological reaction to paintings...when it first happens, she faints and smacks the shit out of her face on a table. The plot twists can be seen from a mile away, but you like it when they happen. Pretty good suspenseful horror movie, and might I add that Asia Argento is HOT no matter what she does in this film?

 

I really liked DEMONS...it sorta reminded me of a cross between GREMLINS and zombie flicks. You're pretty much rooting on the demons throughout the movie. Gotta love the cheesy glam rock soundtrack too. HOUSE BY THE CEMETARY was all right, but I think I ought to watch it again to be sure. The little kid in that movie is goddamned annoying.

 

SUSPIRIA: The opening double murder scene is cool, but I'm more into the scene where Jessica Harper's friend is being chased around by the crazy killer, climbs through a window, and lands in a patch of barbed wire.

 

As well, I think there are better death scenes in ZOMBIE than the shark scene...but let's not jump to conclusions here...the addition of a shark to virtually any movie makes it that much more worth it.

 

Is DEEP RED known by any other title? I think I've only found a DVD of it once and never again. It's annoying that half of these movies have other titles and I don't know it.

 

Also picked up TENEBRE and a movie called THE CHURCH, which is misleadingly packaged as part of the "Dario Argento Collection," but instead is directed by Michele Soavi and co-written/produced by Argento. Why list it as part of his collection when he didn't direct it? Is this his way of putting over younger talent and giving back to the business?

 

Now can we have someone come in here and bag on Argento's movies for being all about the high spots (stylish death scenes) instead of the tried-and-true psychology and storytelling (the plot/script)?

[Guest El Satanico]

The current US DVD Release uses the title Deep Red.

 

It's also known as Deep Red: The Hatchet Murders in the US, but it's Deep Red on the current DVD release.

 

Deep Red

[Anorak 0]

Does anybody know how complete these versions are compared to the original cuts? I saw what was supposedly a pretty much uncut version of Fulci's 'New York Ripper' a couple of years ago and I can't imagine it being avaliable in a version that hasn't been at least partially cut. Some Italian exploitation films of the 70's (especially the slightly lesser known ones) are very troublesome, especially the sub-genre of 'invasion' films influenced by Last House On The Left.

[Guest El Satanico]

I believe most of the DVDs are as uncut as they were suppose to be.

[JasonX 0]

<Is DEEP RED known by any other title? I think I've only found a DVD of it once and never again. It's annoying that half of these movies have other titles and I don't know it.>

 

Public domain copies of Deep Red go by the name "Deep Red: The Hatchet Murders". The difference in the public domain copies of DR and the Anchor Bay one is that the AB version contains about twenty some minutes involving the love story between David Hemmings and Daria Nicolodi and scenes of violece that were cut from the US version. But both versions however FUBAR the ending of the film, opting to end the film on a freeze frame and and not show the footage that runs during the end credits....

 

Furthermore, in Japan Deep Red was repackaged as a "sequel" to Suspiria and was titled "Suspiria 2" overseas and contains the uncensored ending...

 

<Also picked up TENEBRE and a movie called THE CHURCH, which is misleadingly packaged as part of the "Dario Argento Collection," but instead is directed by Michele Soavi and co-written/produced by Argento. Why list it as part of his collection when he didn't direct it? Is this his way of putting over younger talent and giving back to the business?>

 

The Church was supposed to been "Demons 3" but do to legal problems Argento couldn't use the name and had to change it to "The Church". When that happened, Argento kind of lost interest in the film and recruited Soavi to direct it while Argento produced.

[JasonX 0]

Does anybody know how complete these versions are compared to the original cuts? I saw what was supposedly a pretty much uncut version of Fulci's 'New York Ripper' a couple of years ago and I can't imagine it being avaliable in a version that hasn't been at least partially cut. Some Italian exploitation films of the 70's (especially the slightly lesser known ones) are very troublesome, especially the sub-genre of 'invasion' films influenced by Last House On The Left.

All of the Anchor Bay DVDs are uncut with few exceptions. For example, the DVDs for Phenomena and Deep Red are missing footage (most notably Deep Red, which abruptly ends with a freeze frame and doesn't feature ANY of the film footage that runs during the credits). Also the AB version of Zombie is editted to remove one gratuitous T&A sequence.

 

New York Ripper is totally uncut BTW. Ironically, all of the restored footage of the film is from the sex scenes as when the film was released in the US the sex scenes were the sequences that were censored while the violent death scenes were left intact...

[Guest El Satanico]

All of the Anchor Bay DVDs are uncut with few exceptions. For example, the DVDs for Phenomena and Deep Red are missing footage (most notably Deep Red, which abruptly ends with a freeze frame and doesn't feature ANY of the film footage that runs during the credits). Also the AB version of Zombie is editted to remove one gratuitous T&A sequence.

Does anything notable happen during Deep Red's credits?

 

Also are you referring to the new Zombie DVD or the old DVD?

[JasonX 0]

All of the Anchor Bay DVDs are uncut with few exceptions. For example, the DVDs for Phenomena and Deep Red are missing footage (most notably Deep Red, which abruptly ends with a freeze frame and doesn't feature ANY of the film footage that runs during the credits). Also the AB version of Zombie is editted to remove one gratuitous T&A sequence.

Does anything notable happen during Deep Red's credits?

 

Also are you referring to the new Zombie DVD or the old DVD?

1. At the end of Deep Red, the killer is decapitated and the blood starts pouring out of the neck stump during the credits. During the credits you see Hemmings's reflection in the blood and him utterly losing it after watching the killer get decapitated...

 

2. The Zombie DVD I was mentioning was the AB version. The new two-disc DVD of Zombie/Zombi 2 is totally uncut and features the never seen in the US Zombi 2 opening credits...

[Guest Super Leather]

I literally just gained a new appreciation for SUSPIRIA by watching my copy on a normal DVD player hooked up to a video projector. Been meaning to do this for a while. The screen I watched it on is sorta the same size as your standard high school overhead dealie...not movie theatre size, but big enough to get the point. Quite nice to not have to restart it like on the PS2. Excellent, just an excellent movie in which I found myself genuinely creeped out at a few key points (especially the maggots, ugh). Basically what I'm saying is that I can take back what I said earlier about SUSPIRIA.

 

It's cool, I have access to this video projector setup practically whenever I want. Time to take these DVDs over there and get the full effect. If any of you have ever seen ICHI THE KILLER, imagine that on a bigger screen. That's for another thread though.

[Jingus 0]

Maybe it's just me, but I've never gotten into any of Argento's movies that I've seen. I thought Suspiria was overrated, Trauma was boring, and his Phantom of the Opera was the worst version of that story ever filmed. (I'd count The Church as one of his, too; comparing this to Argento and Soavi's other work, it looks a lot more like Dario directed it.) Also, I just can't stand the way he uses his daughter Asia either. She can't act, even by horror flick standards. And yeah, she's smokin' hot, but it's just WRONG to have a father directing and shooting his daughter in an extremely sexualized manner.

 

Lucio Fulci is another case altogether. His movies are cheap, amateurish, and have all the style and finesse of a massive blow from a sledgehammer, but he still captures that something that makes a truly frightening film, instead of just another crappy horror film. I've seen Zombie and The Beyond, was impressed by both, and would like to see more.

 

I've seen one Mario Bava flick, Black Sunday, and was pretty impressed, it was creepy in an old-school gothic way.

 

And finally, anyone else here seen any of the even more obscure and disgusting Italian horror flicks out there? I'm talking about the Cannibal Holocausts of the world, the ones that are SO sick they make even guys like Fulci look like complete pussies in comparison.

[Guest El Satanico]

Yes I've seen several of the "Cannibal" movies. Those are the movies that will get you called a mentally depraved mad man by "normal" people if you own them.

[Guest Annoyed Grunt]

Maybe it's just me, but I've never gotten into any of Argento's movies that I've seen. I thought Suspiria was overrated, Trauma was boring, and his Phantom of the Opera was the worst version of that story ever filmed. (I'd count The Church as one of his, too; comparing this to Argento and Soavi's other work, it looks a lot more like Dario directed it.) Also, I just can't stand the way he uses his daughter Asia either. She can't act, even by horror flick standards. And yeah, she's smokin' hot, but it's just WRONG to have a father directing and shooting his daughter in an extremely sexualized manner.

Except for Suspiria, you've only seen his lesser work. Everything he's done since Opera (not Phantom of the Opera) hasn't done it for me. If you want to give him another chance one day, rent his stuff from the 70's. But I agree that his relationship with his daughter is creepy.