The House of Clocks (1989)

Three lowlife punks are trapped in a posh villa while trying to rob it and become at the mercy of the murderous owners whom have the power to stop and reverse time via their mystical clocks.

Director:

Lucio Fulci

Writers:

Gianfranco Clerici (screenplay), Lucio Fulci (story)

Stars:

Keith Van Hoven, Karina Huff, Paolo Paoloni

Cast

Cast overview:
Keith Van Hoven	...	Tony
Karina Huff	...	Sandra
Paolo Paoloni	...	Vittorio Corsini
Bettine Milne	...	Sara Corsini (as Bettina Milne)
Peter Hintz	...	Paul
Al Cliver	...	Peter
Carla Cassola	...	Maria
Paolo Bernardi	...	The Nephew
Francesca DeRose	...	The Niece
Massimo Sarchielli	...	Storekeeper

Storyline

A gang of vicious young punks break into the house of an elderly couple, terrorize, and then murder them. Suddenly, the clocks in the house begin to run backwards, and the dead come back for revenge!

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Plot Keywords:

time manipulation | frozen time | time going backwards | time control | time distortion | 

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Genres:

Horror

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Certificate:

Unrated

Did You Know?

Trivia

This film was originally intended for Italian television and shot in spherical widescreen for subsequent sales to foreign theatrical markets. It was then ruled to be too gory even for Italian TV viewing and released straight to video.

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Connections

Followed by The House of Witchcraft (1989)

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Soundtracks

Esatto!
Written and performed by Francesco Salvi

User Reviews

One of Fulci's better latter-career efforts...

After The New York Ripper in 1982, the quality of Fulci's efforts as a filmmaker drastically declined. The impenetrable dark atmosphere and genuine artistry of his previous films was definitely on the way out, as is evidenced by such unremarkable video fodder as "Daemonia", "The Ghosts of Sodom", and "The New Gladiators".

Not everything the man did after "Ripper" is entirely forgettable, however - 1983's "Conquest" retains a lot of Fulci's hyper-gory, atmospheric sensibilities, and is demented fun in it's own right. "The House of Clocks" is also a fairly accomplished piece of work, and is probably the best of his post-1982 films.

Originally made for Italian television as part of a horror series (ala Tales from the Crypt), but deemed to gory for release, "The House of Clocks" really works fairly well. It has moments of genuine creepiness; hints of the strong, evil atmosphere Fulci was so adept at creating pop up here and there. The film is quite interestingly lit (many of his later pictures have a similar, glowing-like look to them), and contains a few memorable characters - not the least of which being the demented, wizened old couple, who seem kind and hospitable one moment, and are disemboweling you with a large metal spike the next. Also, there are several moments of the kind of gut-spilling gore we've come to expect from Mr. Fulci, which is more than welcome. One of the reasons that many of his films succeed are the over-the-top, positively nightmarish gore scenes. Save for "Cat in the Brain" and "Touch of Death", many of Fulci's later-career efforts shy away from the excessive gore, which turns many of them into colossal bores. This is not the case with "House of Clocks" - while not nearly up to the violence level of "The Beyond" or "New York Ripper", there are enough violent murders and scattered entrails to please the average Fulci fan, and nauseate anyone else.

While many Fulci fans will simply overlook "The House of Clocks", being that not only was it made in Fulci's autumn years but also for television, this would be a mistake - "The House of Clocks" is well-worth seeing for any admirer of the work of Lucio Fulci. Others might wanna beware, though.

Details

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Release Date:

1989 (Italy)

Also Known As:

The House of Clocks

Company Credits

Production Co:

Dania Film, Reteitalia

Technical Specs

Runtime:

84 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1