Beyond Terror The Films Of Lucio Fulci

By Sherry Gross


Fear is an inherent emotion in every human being. Even though one may put up a strong facade in the face of the unknown, there will still be that one thing that still scares you even if you are old enough to know that fear only exists in the mind. The most common fears of man include heights and a certain fear of clowns, yet there are also those that are less known of and are even very ridiculous like the fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of your mouth, better known as arachibutyrophobia.

The horror genre is also undoubtedly one of the most successful ones in the world of movie productions. Most horror films have an underlying element of gore in them, and it is no surprise to horror fans to see mutilated bodies and whatnot in the course of the film. Whenever one mentions gore and all things Beyond Terror, the first person that comes to mind is always Lucio Fulci.

Fulci is well known Italian director, actor, and screenwriter. He is known to fans as the Godfather of the Gore due to his graphic rich films at the pinnacle of his directing success. He is also one of the very few horror directors that has successfully made use of zombies in a horror film that has incited terror from millions of audiences all over the world.

It is easy to assume, based on his perfectly made horror films, that he has started very early off on the road to macabre. Contrary to popular belief, Fulci was actually once a med student when he was at the university. He just employed the knowledge that he had gained about the human anatomy to give a new hair rising definition to the word torture.

When he entered the movie industry, he first ventured into the comedy genre, starting off as a young and eager screenwriter. He inevitably became a director in the same genre, working with famous comedy stars of the day. In fact, he has completed 18 flicks though they did not really earn much nor were they known outside of Italy.

It is still quite a mystery to the fans how he had decided to transfer to the horror department, but it was a very wise decision on his part. He gained much respect from fellow Italians with his controversial film Dont Torture A Duckling. The film itself bravely tackled sensitive issues that earned the tag as anti Catholic, which only heightened its popularity.

He is also a director that uses a certain character inherent in horror genres, the zombie. He loved the idea of using the walking dead in his flicks so much that one in particular, Zombi 2, was the one responsible for his rise to stardom in the international movie scene. This was originally marketed as a sort of sequel to another one that was also famous to horror fans.

Most film distributors give his pictures an R rating. This is mainly due to the very close up shots depicting torture and pain. Eye injuries seem to be one of his personal favorites, as most of his motion pictures have sequences wherein a character loses sight due to piercing of the eyeballs and even by pulling it out of its socket.

You can come to learn more about this director by a book by one of his most devoted fans, Stephen Thrower. The copy also features an introduction by the daughter, Antonella. It is deemed by many to be the greatest testament to the Grandfather of Gore.




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