There are certain names that pop up time and time again with Italian exploitation - Lucio Fulci, Joe D'Amato, Umberto Lenzi - but there are Italian directors we wouldn't dare tag with an exploitation label - Mario Bava, Dario Argento, Michele Soavi. Italian cinema is so brilliant because it deals with extremes. You can watch a film of Bava's and appreciate his artistry, and then in the next step you can watch a film of D'Amato's and wallow in filth. There are a ton of films I could review in this article - including Beyond the Darkness, Cannibal Holocaust, Gestapo's Last Orgy. However, those particular films keep coming up in my mandates as I write so many reviews on exploitation films. I wanted to concentrate on films that have maybe slipped through the net and pay them due attention. However, The New York Ripper is so sleaze-tastic, I had to include it once again. The list wouldn't have been right without it.
9. Ghosts of Sodom (1988)
Made near the end of Fulci's career, Ghosts of Sodom has been massively maligned by fans and critics alike. Personally I quite enjoy this little film that I once called 'Ghosts of Sodomy' in a film forum. One of the moderators thankfully was on the ball and spared my blushes by extricating the y. It is partial Nazisploitation (10 years too late) and partial supernatural horror. Basically, a bunch of teens hole up in an old house that is haunted by Nazis and have a bad time of it. You really don't care about the characters because they are - in true Fulci fashion, totally undeveloped as individuals and ripe fodder for the Nasty Nazis. The opening Nazi orgy sequence is interesting (Fulci would later use this footage for Cat In the Brain) but the subsequent film crawls along at a devastatingly slow pace to the point that the film becomes pure tedium. I never thought I would call a Fulci film tedium. I hated Manhattan Baby but it wasn't tedious - merely annoying. There is also zero gore and atrocious dubbing. A very minor entry in the Fulci canon, but by exploiting the themes of Nasty Nazis and because of its obscurity and pervy title, I decided to include it on the list because it's Lucio Fulci Awareness Raising Day (in my world).