The House of Clocks

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Originally made for Italian television as part of a horror series (ala Tales from the Crypt), but deemed to gory for release, "The House of Clocks" really works fairly well.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.

I'm a big fan of Italian horror maestro Lucio Fulci, but in spite of that; I put off seeing this made-for-Italian-TV movie, as I feared it wouldn't be very good compared to earlier Fulci offerings. Now that I've seen it, however, I am happy to report that with this film; Fulci doesn't disappoint! While it lacks the grandiose of Fulci's excellent Zombie Flesh-Eaters and the intrigue of his early Giallo offerings, House of Clocks still shows Fulci's talent for making horror movies, in spite of the conditions under which it was made. The plot certainly is intriguing enough, and it follows an old couple that live in a house full of the man's 'children'; namely, a bunch of clocks. The trouble starts when a troupe of pot-smoking crooks, who see the house as an easy target, decide to break in and rob it...only to find that after murdering the inhabitants; the 'children' start running backwards, and our protagonists may only have a matter of time before they meet their own gory demise...

Speaking of gore, Fulci is famous for it; and this film certainly has it; but from some of the scenes, you do get the overwhelming impression that the gore is only there to satisfy his fans. Not that that's a bad thing. Like many Italian horror films, this one suffers from poor dubbing, worse acting and lots of incoherence in the script. It's easy to forgive the film for these negative aspects however as it breathes a great atmosphere and there's some absolutely great horror shots, that are sure to delight fans. That's the thing about Fulci – people see the gore and then write him off as a hack, when this isn't the case at all. This film does pretty much write itself off by the end, however, as, for some reason, Fulci has opted to tack on one of those endings that just sucks all the credibility out of the film; and on the whole it means that you will leave the film with a very sour taste in your mouth. Really, I recommend turning it off at about the 70-minute mark. Still, while the ending ruins it and it suffers from lots of imperfections; this is still a very nice horror film, and one that is very enjoyable too!

Title: House of Clocks

Director: Lucio Fulci

Cast: Paolo Paolini, Carla Cassola, Betina Milne, Karina Huff, Keith Van Hoven, Peter Hintz

Review:

A fulci film that focuses more on characters and story development then on gore and zombies? And its also good? Well holy macaroni its true! I was pleasantly surprised to see that I enjoyed this movie without the usual onslaught of gore that Fulci drowns his movies in.

The story is about a trio of hoodlums who decide to go and rob an wealthy elderly couple that lives out in the country side in a huge mansion filled with clocks. Once they get there, something in the mansion turns time back and pretty soon the trio of petty thieves find themselves running from Lucio Fulcis zombies.

Id heard about this movie before and Id heard that it was a made for TV movie, so the fact that it was going to be a low budget made for TV film kind of turned me off to watching it for that reason alone. I thought maybe a minuscule budget would not let Fulci cut loose with his usual brand of mayhem. Well I was wrong. Yeah the movie has its gore sprinkled evenly all through out and yeah it had a few zombies....but what amazed me about this one was that fulci actually focused on making the atmosphere in the house (and its surroundings) very dreadful and eerie. I loved those exterior shots of the house filled with fog, I loved how he focused on those old statues outside the house. And I loved the lighting inside of the house. Very shadowy, very dark.

I don't know how fulci did it, but he did a really entertaining low budget flick that delivers on all expected fulci staples! I mean yeah, you could tell that it was a notch less then Fulcis films technically speaking, it doesn't have that super glossy look that his normal films have. But for a TV movie, I say he did a bang up job! Great atmosphere the actors did a decent job and the gore though in less quantities was always there. In other words, fulci managed to give us what we like from him even with a low budget.

The only thing that I didn't like was those scenes when the clocks start going back in time. First off, the thing that attracted me the most to watching this film where #1 that Fulci directed and #2 the idea behind the film. A house that goes back in time? How awesome does that sound? How about the possibilities that this idea alone opens? Well that attracted me to this movie, but when the time came for time to go back, it wasn't all that impressive visually speaking. I thought it was a missed opportunity to do some really interesting visual things, but I'm sure that since this was a made for TV film, Fulci didn't really have that much time to elaborate on the visuals. I wish there had been more time to elaborate a bit on the idea of time going back in only one place, like the interior of this house. I mean from a visual standpoint...a lot more could have been done. But its not a big problem for me though, since the story was moving along so smoothly.

The acting isn't all that great, most of the actors do OK, but nothing too amazing at all. Still, their acting is not bad to the point of annoying or distracting you. The characters, well non of them are likable in fact they are all pretty despicable, even the old couple who end up being more dangerous then anything else in the house. Its kind of strange, but you end up feeling sorry for the trio of thugs. They just seem like three dumb kids who decided to rob the wrong house. Too bad for them.

I was amazed that Fulci expected this film to be aired on TV. I mean there's a lot to be said about that. You don't see American made for TV horror movies looking and being this good! At least I don't remember any, and that just shows how cool it is to live in a country that doesn't have any sort of ratings board and all that crap! No MPAA! But, even with all those liberties, the movie was deemed too violent for even Italian TV, so it was never aired. It was supposed to air in a TV show called "Houses of Doom" along side three other "house" themed movies like "Sweet House of Horrors" which Fulci also directed. Still, now on DVD we can enjoy it in all its "too bloody for TV" gory glory.

I was surprised that the music was really good in this one. I mean, it actually fit with the dark look and atmosphere of the film. It was distracting or out of place as in for example Zombie when they put that horrendous Calypso music. In this one the music is actually perfectly spooky.

The idea of a house going back in time is kind of like very Twilight Zone-ish, and that was a big pull in for me. Maybe some of you guys and galls will find that idea entertaining as well. Specially when its delivered by Italian gore maestro..fulci. Its not Fulcis best of course, but for a TV movie, I think he did an excellent job.

Rating: 3 out of 5

Lucio Fulci made this film for Italian TV - as part of a series called Houses of Doom and including four films, of wich he did two (this one and "La Dolce Casa degli Orrori") and Umberto Lenzi the others ("La Casa delle Anime Erranti" and "La Casa dei Sortilegi"). An old couple lives in a big house that is filled with clocks, which are the old man's hobby. But the couple is everything else than nice: Within the first minutes, the missus kills her household lady in an extremely violent way. Three young delinquents break into the couple's home and kill them, but as soon as the old man is dead, the clocks stop ticking and then start going backwards. Trouble brewing for the three youngsters...

Fulci tells a surprisingly surrealist story here and manages to establish a thrilling atmosphere right from the beginning. As soon as the clocks go backwards, the film gets more and more absurd, giving Fulci enough opportunities to imply some humoresque moments. Even though this is a made for cable production, there are plenty of gore effects, and they are all nasty and "typically Fulci", if I may write so.

Of all the films Fulci made after 1982, this one is my personal favorite. Main reason is the startling story that is neither common nor standard, but very original. Highly recommended, not only for fans of gory horror (but certainly not for the squeamish).

Two guys and a girl decide they are going to rob an isolated mansion owned by an eccentric old couple. Naturally, things get weird as the house is filled with clocks and the trio become trapped in the place. When it comes to Lucio Fulci's '80s horror films, I've only got a handful left that I haven't seen so I've been doling them out slowly over the years. This was one of his TV films, which is surprising as it is pretty dang gory. The story isn't any great shakes, but it moves at a considerable clip and never drags during its 80 minutes. And the film is well shot and the location is impressive. Look for Al Cliver as the couple's handyman.