1. Lucio Fulci (1927-1996)
The name - Lucio Fulci - usually provokes a highly positive response among fans of Italian exploitation cinema. The man was/is a legend with lots of impressive films under his belt. Fulci was born in Rome and studied medicine at university. He didn't get to doctor status because he decided to become an art critic. Fulci then got involved in the world of Italian cinema - first as a screen writer and then he directed, in the 1960s, a fair amount of Italian comedies which are not available outside of Italy (apart from One On Top of the Other/Perversion Story). In the 1970s, Fulci tried his hand at Gialli - directing two genre classics - Don't Torture a Duckling and A Lizard in a Woman's Skin. The former was quite a scandal because it seems to be attacking the Catholic Church by having a murderous priest who kills little boys. Fulci always called himself a Catholic despite the controversy he instigated with his films. In the late 70s/early 80s Fulci entered a golden age of horror film making with films such as Zombie Flesh Eaters, The Beyond, House by the Cemetery, City of the Living Dead. These fantastic gory horror films gained Fulci international acclaim from the horror community. At the same time, some of his films gained notoriety through their violence against women and sleazy tone. The New York Ripper is probably the best example of critical revulsion fired at Fulci - to this day, the film's misogyny and lurid plot still have the power to get the critics' knickers in a twist. For one man, an awful lot of his films were banned in Britain in the early 1980s Video Nasty scare. I think this only served to heighten the cult surrounding his films. The heyday of the early 1980s would fade when Fulci became seriously ill with hepatitis, cirrhosis and diabetes from 1984 onwards. He still worked as a director but there is little doubt that his health woes were affecting his competence as a director. Apart from Cat in the Brain (which I personally loved but most people hate) he directed nothing of worth during this period of ill health. He tried desperately to hide how ill he was so he could keep on making movies. Fulci suffered a fair amount of tragedy in his life. Frequently accused of misogyny - he claimed to love women, however he received some terrible blows concerning the women in his own life. His wife committed suicide and his daughter died in a car crash. Fulci had a dislike of Dario Argento and for a long time slagged him off and refused to work with him. He was jealous of the 'respectability' of Argento's films and his critical success. Fulci thought the critics deemed him a horror 'hack' with no imagination. Towards the end of his life he dropped his grudge against Argento and the two men decided to collaborate on a project called The Wax Mask in 1995. However, Fulci died in 1996 before production had a chance to get started. Fulci died of complications related to diabetes. His work will probably never gain widespread critical acceptance (although there has been some critical acclaim afforded to Don't Torture a Duckling - in my opinion, his greatest work). However his cult within horror movie fans will surely continue to grow. The Beyond, in particular, is admired so greatly by Quentin Tarantino that he engineered a cinema re-release of the film. Fulci always thought poorly of himself and believed he would be a mere 'postscript' in Italian cinema. He would be amazed by the size of his international fan base and the warm regard they have for his films. Yes he directed much nonsense but his greatest films are shining jewels for the horror fan to feast upon.