Ranking the Lucio Fulci Films That I Own
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April 15th, 2025
I'm back! It's been about a month since I last wrote a blog post, which is way longer than I ever expected to go between posts. I haven't been just lazing around doing nothing, though. As of last week, I finally completed my watch-through of every Lucio Fulci movie that I own. When I started watching through them in mid-February, I wasn't anticipating it taking about a month and a half to watch 20 films. I had hoped to get them done sooner, but I found myself needing to space out the viewings and page-writings so I didn't burn myself out completely. Now that it's all done, I can cross one marathon off of my plan-to-watch list. Woo!
In all seriousness, I had wanted to watch through all of Fulci's horror films for several years. I was already very familiar with his so-called "classic era" which, depending on where you start it, lasted from about 1972 to 1982. Several of my picks for favorite Italian horror films come from this time. Don't Torture a Duckling and The Psychic are two of my favorite giallos of all time, Zombi 2 is my favorite zombie movie, and the Gates of Hell trilogy show off some of the best gore effects and music that exemplify everything I love about Fulci's films. This era is full of moody lighting, cheesy but effective gore sequences, hand-held camera zooms, and a great sense of pacing. These movies could either be suspenseful and creeping, or in-your-face barrages of excessive blood and violence. Fulci was a seasoned director at this point, and was honing his skills in the horror genre as each film was made. Things finally hit the pinnacle of sleaze and violence with The New York Ripper, and after that one, his filmography begins to become wildly uneven.
Sad to say, the remainder of Fulci's horror films (which took up most of the rest of his directing career) ranges from "pretty good" to snooze-inducing. Certain films like Aenigma or even Voices from Beyond offer the occasional glimpse of the greatness that came before, but don't have the same level of tension that his older horror films did. The imagination is there, but the feelings of suspense and dread are almost completely absent. As he began to suffer from diabetes and liver issues and struggled to get adequate budgets, many of these films were plagued by rushed productions and botched releases. Things like The Sweet House of Horrors or Door into Silence don't even feel like they were made by the same director. Whether it's the cheap effects and sets, unimaginative cinematography, sloppy editing or uninteresting characters, these films clearly show that Fulci was struggling behind the scenes. A sick man can only do so much with what he's given to work with, and while I'm sure he tried as hard as he could, many of these films fail to reach the standards that he set years before. However, they're still worth a watch in their own right, as it is really interesting to watch a master of his craft work within the confines of a changed production landscape.
All of that being said, here is my ranking of all 20 Lucio Fulci horror films that I own. Whether it's a game-changer of the genre or bottom-of-the-bin trash, nearly every horror film he made is worth at least one watch. I loved getting to experience the progression of a director I admire, and I encourage everyone to track these down on DVD, Blu-Ray, VHS, or whatever it is you collect. If you're a horror fan, you can't call your collection complete until you have at least one Fulci film on your shelf. Here's to you, Maestro!
- City of the Living Dead
- The Beyond
- Zombi 2
- The Psychic
- Don't Torture a Duckling
- The New York Ripper
- The Black Cat (1981)
- The House by the Cemetery
- Aenigma
- Zombi 3
- Voices from Beyond
- The House of Clocks
- Touch of Death
- A Cat in the Brain
- Murder-Rock: Dancing Death
- Sodoma's Ghost
- Demonia
- The Sweet House of Horrors
- Door into Silence
- Manhattan Baby