I was just commenting the other day that either I have missed them or the number of our genre stars that we’ve been losing has been much lower than previous years. And then we lose Stelvio Cipriani last week, and now there are two more.
It was almost two years ago when I have the joy of watching Lucio Fulci’s The Beyond, one of my all-time favorite films in the theater. But this time it was a little different. Composer Fabio Frizzi was there with his Frizzi 2 Fulci band playing a live score during the film. He called it “The Beyond – The Composer’s Cut”. There was music being played where there normally wasn’t, or maybe the cues were a little longer than originally. Either way, it was an amazing experience to be watching these nightmarish images that Fulci came up with on the big screen, and hearing this chilling score being played live right in front of you.
Now, thanks to Beat Records, you can have a chance to hear that live version over and over again, with the release of The Beyond – The Composer’s Cut: Live in Austin on CD. This release has two different versions here, one by a 51 piece symphonic orchestra and the second one performed by his Frizzi 2 Fulci band.
The CD is has over an hours worth of music and is only $19.95 and will be released Sept. 10th. You can order your copy from Screen Archives by clicking HERE.
Scream Queen Geretta Geretta, known for her role as Rosemary in Lamberto Bava’s Demons (1985), not to mention appearing in other Italian classics like Warrior of the Lost World (1983), Rats: Night of Terror (1984), Murder-Rock: Dancing Death (1984), and Shocking Dark (1989), which was recently released on Blu-ray by Severin Films, will be appearing this Saturday at Reel Art Collectibles in Berwyn, IL!
First of all, just going to Reel Art on its own is a real treat because you can find thousands of amazing movie posters, inserts, half-sheets, as well a ton of other collectibles. But now, you have even more of a reason to go, to meet the lovely and talented Geretta! She will have 8×10 stills, Demon Dolls, and Blu-Rays for purchase for her to sign, including copies of Shocking Dark, which she has an audio commentary on. You can bring your own items for her to sign as well.
They will also be screening Demons around 3:30-4pm, with a Q&A after the film. For all the information, you can check out the event page on Facebook HERE.
For those that didn’t pre-order a copy of the newly revised edition of Stephen Thrower’s Beyond Terror: The Films of Lucio Fulci, that comes in this amazing Eibon case, in a few days, you will have a chance at getting one of the overstock copies left over.
On Wednesday, Feb. 7th, at 2pm CST, Fab Press will have 50 copies of the book go on sale on their website (fabpress.com). You’re going to have to be quick because these will sell out relatively quickly. Not sure what the pricing will be, but I will say, having my own copy, it is well worth the investment.
Don’t Torture a Duckling (1972)
Directed by Lucio Fulci
Starring Florinda Bolkan, Barbara Bouchet, Tomas Milian, Irene Papas, Marc Porel, Vito Passeri
I can still remember when I first got hold of a bootleg copy of this rare (at the time) Fulci film. This was at a time in my career as a horror fan that I only knew Fulci from his gore films such as Zombie, The Beyond, and such. So it was quite a surprise seeing something so different than what I was used to. Plus, it also showed me just how a skilled craftsman Fulci was before he became known for just his gory films. This is a grim tale of a small Italian village where someone is killing young boys. Several people seem suspicious, some are even accused and bad things happen. Fulci shows us a darker side of humanity, while still being able to weave together a great little giallo.
I know this is about a week late but just in case either there were a few of you out there that didn’t know, or maybe just need a little reminder. FAB Press had announced last week that they were going to be setting up a Indiegogo page to help get their new edition of Stephen Thrower’s essential book Beyond Terror: The Films of Lucio Fulci an update, filling it with so much more. The campaign started last Wednesday, with a goal of £7500. Now, less than a week later, they have hit close to £54,000!
Beatrice Cenci (1969)
Directed by Lucio Fulci
Starring Adrienne Larussa, Tomas Milian, Georges Wilson, Mavie, Antonio Casagrande, Ignazio Spalla, Max Steffen Zacharias, Raymond Pellegrin, Massimo Sarchielli, Mirko Ellis
The Beyond (1981)
Starring Starring Catriona MacColl, David Warbeck, Cinzia Monreale, Antoine Saint-John, Veronica Lazar, Larry Ray, Giovanni De Nava, Al Cliver, Michele Mirabella, Gianpaolo Saccarola
The first time I witnessed a Lucio Fulci film was seeing it under a completely different title, the edited American version called Seven Doors of Death. Even the director’s name had been modified, here listed as “Louis Fuller”. This played at the theater I worked at and I remember being very puzzled at just what the hell was happening on screen. I had heard of Zombie, and remember it had been playing at the local drive-in, but I wasn’t driving at that time and couldn’t get anybody to take me to see it. But even then, I had no idea of the connection between the two films. That would definitely come later though.
So…why would I drive 250 miles to a drive-in theater to see movies that I already own on DVD? That is a question that is tough to explain, especially to a someone that isn’t a movie person. And by a “movie person”, I mean it’s a person where movies mean more to you than your average person on the street. I mean, movies have a major impact on your life. So if you’re not one of these, I’m not sure I could explain it to you where it would make sense. If you are one, then there’s no reason to explain it anyway, because you already get it.
When this time of year comes around, there is one thing that you can be sure of….busy weekends! With the Halloween season right around the corner, there are plenty of different movie events coming up, from Dusk to Dawn shows at the drive-ins, to 24-hour marathons, to simple movie screenings of classic monster flicks. With so many to choose from, it’s time to start marking them down in your calendar and start making those plans. Here’s a little run down of the events that we know about coming up in the Chicagoland area. I’m sure there are more, but here’s the ones that I know about. Feel free to leave a notice about one near you in the comment section if you’d like. The more word we can get about these events, the more we can help support them!
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