Lucio Fulci
From The Deuce
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Overview
Lucio Fulci was born on the 17th of June in 1927 in Rome, Italy. He became one of the most famous genre filmmakers and was one of the pioneers of Italian horror cinema.
In 1959 Fulci made his first little movie called "I Ladri" (English: "The Thieves"). This small underground project was a crime comedy. After a few very cheap productions he directed one chapter of the legendary Spaghetti Western series "Django". Then with a script by Fernando Di Leo he created "Massacre Time", a classic, gory Spaghetti Western. After a few crime and mystery movies like "One On Top Of The Other" he directed his first true horror film called "Non si sevizia un paperino", known worldwide as "Don't Torture A Duckling" in 1972. He then shot another Spaghetti Western called "Four of The Apocalypse" (1975) which was one of the most brutal and terrifying Westerns ever made.
After two very popular movies, Fulci had alot of fans. With "Zombi 2" (1979) Fulci made one of the first real prototypes of the Italian gore film with a very artistic style and great direction. His new fans began to call him "The Godfather of Gore", because of the heavy amount of graphic violence in his movies. After another crime movie called Contraband he directed one of his most brutal films: "City Of The Living Dead", also known as "Gates of Hell". With a shocking drill-through-head scene and the famous buried alive sequence he showed audiences some truly incredible cinematic violence.
After directing an Edgar Allan Poe adaptation called "The Black Cat", Fulci made his classic "The Beyond". It had some of the best use of camera perspectives, gore sequences, color and an absolutely stunning atmosphere. Fulci had created one of the most artistic and beautiful works of "pure cinema" ever made. Now Lucio Fulci became a God for fans of ambitious, powerful European horror films. After his highly acclaimed masterpiece "The Beyond" Fulci didn't stop working and he directed "The House by The Cemetary", a classic shocker starring Catriona MacColl, his favorite actress from "The Beyond". After making a big international impact with "The Beyond" and "Zombi 2", he directed "The New York Ripper". A shocking giallo featuring his classic over-the-top violence and trademark style. By the mid 80s, fans and critics could feel Fulci's time was over. After several big flops Fulci lost his ambition for making well crafted films. His 1988 movie "Zombi 3", which he directed with the uncredited Bruno Mattei made some money, but it was not a classic like "The Beyond". In 1991 Fulci directed his last film "Door to Silence". On March 13th, 1996 master filmmaker Lucio Fulci died in his birthplace of Rome, Italy. A legend is gone, but we will love his movies forever. Thank you, Lucio!