Euro-horror Films (1 Viewer)

[Herm C]

These rank right up there with the likes of Halloween and Dawn of the Dead.

Dario Argento is the giallo maestro and Lucio Fulci is the godfather of gore.

Let's consider Fulci's Zombie (aka Zombi2 in Europe).While many consider this film to be a a Romero rip-off, it most definitely is not. The zombies in here are much better than Dawn of the Dead, and this is a completely different story than Dawn. Some of the scenes in Zombie are just stunning and one wonders just how Fulci filmed them. A vastly under-appreciated masterpiece from Fulci.

Argento's Tenebrae is also vastly under-appreciated.

Comments?

 

[Brian Lawrence]

My favorite euro-horror directer would have to be Jean Rollin. Check out Living Dead Girl & Fascination
Just stay the hell away from Zombie Lake

 

[William DAnnucci]

Two words:

MARIO BAVA

I enjoy some of Argento's stuff, but he is a distant second to the maestro.

BLACK SUNDAY, BLACK SABBATH, THE WHIP AND THE BODY, BLOOD AND BLACK LACE, KILL BABY...KILL, LISA AND THE DEVIL...

Bava was so prolific, doing amazing work in other genres as well. While he was never afraid to show gore in some of his films, Bava has the ability to terrify and fascinate me with just a little bit of howling wind and creeping mist. Argento, Scorsese, Lynch, Burton, and a host of other filmmakers have taken ideas from his films. And the new Bava DVDs look terrific!

I also like LES YEUX SANS VISAGE (EYES WITHOUT A FACE), a very influential French film.

Glad you like Fulci, but he's not for me. I barely sat through ZOMBIE and THE BEYOND. Couldn't stand them.

 

[Herm C]

Hi William, the only Bava flick I really enjoyed is Twitch of the Death Nerve. I barely made it through Blood and Black Lace. As the saying goes, different strokes for different folks. Yes, I consider Argento and Fulci to be top euro-horror directors.

 

[Julie K]

I think one of the best Euro-horror movies is the woefully under appreciated Dellamorte Dellamore.

 

[Justin_S]

Eurohorror is awesome! I think that Fulci's two best films are CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD and NEW YORK RIPPER. The nipple slit in ripper makes me cringe every time, and the duck voice is amusing.
Mario Bava made several classics, but my favorite would have to be LISA AND THE DEVIL. I must admit that I hated HATCHET FOR THE HONEYMOON though.
Michele Soavi is another excellent Euro director, and its a shame he has only made four genre films. They are all great though. His masterpiece, DELLAMORTE DELLAMORE is proof that he is a master filmmaker!
Another of the best Eurohorror films of all time is the classic that is THE HOUSE WITH THE WINDOWS THAT LAUGHED! This film is soooo wonderful! Easily Pupi Avati's best film, and its a shame not very many people have seen this masterpiece. I can't wait for the upcoming DVD from Image!

 

[Herm C]

Yes, I'm looking forward to it as well. Also looking to get the Giallo collection from Anchor Bay too.

Another great slasher film by Soavi is Stagefright. Great DVD by the way.

 

[Matthew Chmiel]

As you all know, I'm a big fan of Argento. I can't say the same about Mario Bava (I can't stand his films) or Lucio Fulci (but I did enjoy The Beyond and Zombie).
Dellamorte Dellamore is Michele Soavi's best film. The only other Soavi film I saw as The Church, and that was god-awful (it made Demons 2 look like Citizen Kane).

Argento's Tenebrae is also vastly under-appreciated.

Damn straight. Same goes for Phenomena and The Stendhal Syndrome.

 

[Brook K]

Ugh, can't stand The Stendahl Syndrome, but I've liked most everything else I've seen from Argento with The Bird With The Crystal Plummage, Deep Red, & Suspiria my favorites.
For Bava I loved Black Sunday, thought Black Sabbath was ok, and disliked Planet of the Vampires.
Fulci, my favorite, and maybe my favorite Eurohorror film is Don't Torture A Duckling, I also like New York Ripper & Zombie, but thought The Beyond was poor and City of the Living Dead even worse. I mean, how can you make a self-respecting zombie film that has like 5 zombies in it?
Demons was ok, the 2nd one sucked, though it was virtually the same film.
I also saw some piece of crap called City of the Walking Dead or something like that with zombies that had Dr. Who quality costumes where you could see the actors eyes and skin under the masks.

 

[Herm C]

Brook, nice choices. I also didn't care too much for Stendhal Syndrome.

For me, the top 2 Argento films are Tenebrae and Phenomena, while for Fulci films, it's Zombie and House by the Cemetery.

 

[RayG]

My favorite euro horror film is probably Argento's Deep Red. I also like anything else by Argento and Bava.

By the way does anyone know why Soavi hasn't made a feature film since Dellamorte Dellamore? The imdb lists two TV movies, but no new features.

 

[Herm C]

Apparently he was having family issues to deal with. That's what I heard.

 

[Mark Zimmer]

I think that "family issues" = "drying out" but that's just the word at Mobius and I don't have any independent knowledge of that.
I saw Four Flies on Grey Velvet theatrically when I was 11 (what the hell was a Eurohorror giallo doing playing in rural Wisconsin, anyway?) and I've never been the same since. Heck, I even like Zombie Lake (can't say that the multitudinous crotch shots of the nekked gals hurts it any).

 

[Anthony Thorne]

Soavi's 'family issues' basically revolved around taking care of his infant son, who was born with a fairly serious disability around the time of DELLAMORTE DELLAMORE, or shortly afterwards. This info has been backed up by a lot of different sources, including Tim Lucas and Jay Slater (from Britain's THE DARK SIDE magazine), and has been discussed on Mobius a couple of times. I've never, ever heard the 'drying out' rumour that Mark alludes to, but at this point I'm not really inclined to believe it, either. For what it's worth, Soavi is also independently wealthy from being one of the heirs to the Olivetti typewriter fortune, and can probably take time off in a more comfortable fashion than others.

Soavi did make efforts to work in the States after DELLAMORTE, and was briefly attached to direct a Dolph Lundgren film during the mid-90's (much as John Woo debuted in America with HARD TARGET) before the producers of the movie changed their minds and destined the production to complete obscurity. From what I've heard, Soavi is interested in doing further theatrical productions in Italy, but the Italian film industry has been in a fairly low ebb for a few years, and many directors (not just Soavi) are having trouble getting new movies off the ground.

 

[Herm C]

Viva Italia! We need another Argento classic. It seems the Germans, Spanish and now Japan have over-shadowed others in the horror genre. Not complaining, just an observation.

 

[Kevin M]

You know, usually I am pretty good at figuring out intentionally "confusing" endings or plots but could someone please explain just what the ending of Lisa & The Devil was supposed to mean?
I think it was suggesting that she was dead through most of (if not all) of the film & she was basically in hell being toyed with by Satan. That she was a ghost too.


I think that is what it was (in it's Night Gallery-ish kind of way) trying to say but I have been wrong before.

 

[Peter M Fitzgerald]

Antonio Margheriti's CASTLE OF BLOOD, VIRGIN OF NUREMBERG and LONG HAIR OF DEATH are quite good, particularly CASTLE OF BLOOD (coming soon on DVD from Synapse). I like Mario Bava's films, particularly BLACK SUNDAY, BLACK SABBATH, BLOOD & BLACK LACE and KILL BABY KILL. I've only seen a couple of Argento flicks, SUSPIRIA and INFERNO, which were pretty good, although cohesive plots aren't among Argento's strong points (the same could be said of Bava).

TOMBS OF THE BLIND DEAD, from Spain, was pretty good, as was EYES WITHOUT A FACE. I Still have yet to see a Fulci, Soavi, Rollin, Lamberto Bava or Pupi Avati flick.

 

[Herm C]

Euro-horror films aren't known for their cohesive plots, they are more a showcase for style and breathtaking visuals, namely splatter fx.

 

[Peter M Fitzgerald]

Understood. Style is good.

 

[William DAnnucci]

Kevin-

Regarding Bava's Lisa And The Devil, you hit it right on the nose in my opinion.

I'm fairly fond of that odd-ball flick. So, if you have any questions, email me.

-Bill