Lucio Fulci

Shark vs. Zombie

While fans may consider it disrespectful, Lucio Fulci is basically a poor man's Dario Argento. Fulci films are gorefests with poor budgets that tend to eschew the Troma-style glee, generally making them funnier albeit unintentionally. Fulci's first forays into film were comedies though, and they were quite successful in Italy. His onscreen antics were enough to have him hauled into court where he was forced to recreate special effects to prove that he was innocent of animal cruelty.

American distributors edited Fulci's films to avoid a dreaded X-rating though some were released as "Unrated." Three of his films were included on the UK's video nasty list. Fulci's movies are definitely grindhouse gorefests that often played at drive-ins. He later found lasting fame with the advent of home video.

Lucio Fulci has a large following of fans who appreciate his work and, to be sure, his is a name well-known for good reason. Fulci certainly knows how to heighten the tension to a nearly maddening level and the payoff in gore always delivers. The quality of the effects leaves a lot to be desired, making many of Fulci's kill-scenes anticlimactic.

Fulci also lacks Argento's sense of style, though he has some appreciation for color and certainly theatrics. Fulci's gore comes across as campy, perhaps intentionally so, while both directors are known to go for over-the-top gore. Lucio Fulci's life was marred by tragedy but his film endeavors spanned all genres. His movies are best remembered for their notoriety but his contributions to the Horror genre cannot be denied.

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