Die Uhr des Grauens

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Originally made for Italian television as part of a horror series (ala Tales from the Crypt), but deemed to gory for release, "The House of Clocks" really works fairly well.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

More engaging than I expected after watching the earlier Sodoma's Ghost but the whole thing is still a bit ridiculous. It was also made-for-tv and so that's not surprising. I really enjoyed the beginning where the rich, lavish lifestyle of the mansion owners was juxtaposed with the lives of the thieves. However, it began and to drag somewhere in the middle, and the ending just started to go over the top and became ridiculous. Overall not bad as long as you know what Fulci's 80s output is like.

Come on, you can't really say this movie is lame. It has an original story and a surreal atmosphere for a start that give the movie an unsettling feel.

The story goes like this: 3 wannabe burglars break into an isolated villa and kill the occupants. The 2 elderly occupants are really sadistic killers and have quite a shock in store for the burglars. The old man with his collection of clocks turn back time and soon the burglars are running for their lives.

The acting isn't quite up to scratch and there is a cruel scene involving a cat that in my opinion makes the lead teens truly unlikeable.

Apart from that then you can look forward to a great setting and location. (The villa is lovely but appears dark and unsettling as soon as night falls.) Also on show is Fulci style gore. A maid is literally gutted when the elderly folks find out about her snooping around. You can give a hand to the poor teen thats just had hers stabbed! And, about a dozen shotgun blasts end up hitting everyone. I couldn't believe this was made for cable!

The movie doesn't intend to be amazing, yet the surreal story and the twisted ending notches it up considerably. Just give it a watch. You may be pleasantly surprised. 3 out of 5.

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

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.