Overrated by whom? Fulci is a cult director who most fans, even many horror movie fans, have never even heard of. He doesn't enjoy much widespread popularity and he's certainly no critical darling.
For me Fulci is a victim of the "auteur theory" (like Francis Ford Coppola). He made some classic horror movies like "The Beyond", "Zombi", "City of the Dead", and "House by the Cemetery" because, at the time, he was surrounded by the talent and had the means to do so. Later though he alienated a lot of his collaborators (like screenwriter Dardano Sachetti)and was hamstrung by tight-fisted producers and lack of financing and, consequently, he made some unbelievably awful crap like the "autobiographical" "Cat in the Brain". The whole problem with the "auteur theory" is that one man, no matter how talented he may be, can not make a good movie by himself because filmmaking is a collaborative process that requires the coming together of a certain amount of talent, financing, and sheer luck. It's like a recipe--the presence of one ingredient (however tasty) will not necessarily make the whole thing good.
Fulci is also still most famous for his gore scenes, which look less and less impressive every year, when he should be more famous for the more timeless elements of his movies. "The Beyond" should be admired for its incredible atmosphere, its impressive cinematography, and even its off-the-wall, non-linear (and at times, non-sensical) plot. I'm probably in a minority here, but my favorite films of Fulci's are his early gialli which have little or no explicit gore in them ("One on Top of the Other", "A Lizard in Women's Skin", and "Don't Torture a Duckling"--the latter two have been recently released on DVD). Fulci was definitely talented, but that certainly doesn't mean everything he touched turned to gold.
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camruud
19 years ago
I also find Fulci very overrated, especially on internet. Almost every horrorsite glorify him and his movies like they were Gods creations.
As for me, his movies gives me very little. They have some decent interesting concepts, but Fulci misses on almost every point. F.ex, the music he puts in his movies doesn`t fit in and mostly ruin the feeling completly. His movies also suffer of boring moments, uninteresting characters and oftenly bad production.
The movie I like best is Zombie, which is an OK film, but it has its downbearing moments...
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19 years ago
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camruud
19 years ago
Just because I don`t think Fulci is the greatest director in the whole wide world, does`nt mean that all fun of watching horror movies are gone. I like a lot of cheesy horror movies like Basket Case, The Stuff, Toxic Avenger... The list goes on and on.
The quicker you guys accept that not every horrorfan in the world think Fulci is THAT great, the quicker you`ll understand why. And its not because I don`t understand them, because I do. I just don`t like his style, or the way he make his movies. As a matter of fact, his movies bores me. I understand why some people likes his movies, and I`ll respect them for that. I just wish it was mutual when it comes to guys like me who does`nt like them.
I don`t mean to be an a-hole, but i`m just tired of those quasi-intellectuell Fulci fans who try to bash and represent us non-Fulci fans as ignorant and un-intelligent people who don`t understand the point of movies.
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19 years ago
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Zorin-2
19 years ago
I own many Fulci films and I have to kinda agree that he is "overrated", but I find that word not to be the best. In the horror realm, many speak about him like he is a god like director and I frankly have to disagree. I really liked Zombie, and I also liked The Beyond, but that's about it. Every other Fulci film I've seen has been a mess. Gates of Hell was decent, but very sloppy. HOuse by the Cemetary was also decent. I also own Conquest, Demonia, House of Clocks, Zombi 3, and The Black Cat which are terrible. Fulci has some decent films under his belt, but overall a majority of his films are terrible. I would never catorgorize him as a horror director god in the vein of George Romero or John Carpenter.
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19 years ago
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camruud
19 years ago
Maybe Fulci had an important influences, but that does`nt really matter. If you like his movies, you like his movies. You don`t like his movies, you don`t like his movies. So simple is that. But I still find him very overrated, because there are many more and much, much better horrormovies that came out at that time that stands in the shadow of his movies, but again, its my opinion.
I think most of all Italian movies has this same a-typical style repeated over and over, which makes them very boring. There are exceptions, but mostly of them just does`nt make my evening.
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wj1222
19 years ago
IMO, if you wanna see a good gore flick by Fulci, go see "The Gates of Hell", I find that one more interesting then "The Beyond". I love both movies though, but "The Gates of Hell" just has some of the best gore scenes ever in it. I love how the zombies snatched the brain right out of the back of your head, or when the girl vomits her insides, or when the retard gets that 2' drill bit in the side of the head. By the way, Fulci is a great director, but De Rossi is the real master(other then Savini) when it comes to gore, not just the director.
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