Lucio Fulci, infamous for his explicitly violent and downright gross films, surprises his fans (and probably his opponents even more) with this tense and mainly story-driven tale of terror. It is and remains a Fulci effort, so the House of Clocks does contain more gore than your average horror film but still it's awkward not to constantly see eyeballs getting poked out or throats being torn to pieces. This was a movie produced for TV-distribution (which probably also explains the gore-limitation) and script successfully attempts to go for supernatural tension. The House of Clocks revolves on 3 lowlife crooks that plan to rob and home-jack an obviously wealthy elderly couple living in an isolated mansion. This couple, however, isn't as indefensible as they look as they have a bizarre clock-fetish and they keep dark secrets hidden in their basement. When the robbery goes terribly wrong, and all the couple's beloved clocks suddenly stop and turn back; the crooks face unimaginable terror and payback. The film bathes in an uncanny atmosphere and Fulci makes great use of the cool scenery. I can't give a scientific explanation for it, but there's something naturally eerie about a collection of ticking clocks. The idea of showing seemly harmless old people who then turn out mentally deranged isn't exactly new, but it still works and it definitely unsettles you. Near the end, the plot-holes become bigger and bigger and the abrupt plot-twists are disappointing. So, hopefully, the very good first hour of House of Clocks already makes a positive impression on you before the ineptness begins to show. To me it did. Other disadvantages include wooden acting and a very bad case of English dubbing (the DVD I tracked down at least). This is definitely a movie worth checking out in case you're an Italian horror fanatic. For the fans of the more outrageous Fulci-work, he made "Cat in the Brain" one year after this and that certainly is one of the sickest movies ever.
Review of The House of Clocks
