L'emmurée vivante

"The Psychic" is probably one of Fulci's most plot-based movies. It also is fairly restrained; it is surprising that this was not issued a PG-13 rating. The only real gore was in the beginning of the movie when a woman falls off a cliff. Her face is shown hitting the side of the cliff repeatedly. Don't let the lack of gore stop you from renting this, though, because this movie is well worth it.

The story is as follows: A clairvoyant of sorts has a vision of a murder taking place in the house in which she lives. She then digs a skeleton out of the wall of the house. She calls the police, who in turn arrest her husband, the longtime owner of the house. In attempts to get her husband out of jail, she tries piecing together what happened based on her vision. It should be noted that the major plot twists are given away on the back of the box, so avoid reading it if surprise is wanted.

"The Psychic" is one of Fulci's few technically competent movies, containing few plot holes and a great storyline. Unfortunately, the same can not be said about the dialogue, which is subpar, and the quality, which takes away from the movie's viewing experience. Also, the first half of the movie drags, but luckily things pick up for the second half. Be sure to listen for the tune in the watch; it starts out like the theme song to "Zombie!"

This is an enjoyable movie for all audiences. My rating: 7 out of 10.

It's nice when the main character of the giallo you're watching receives all their clues in one huge psychic download five minutes into the film.

Psychic lady, who has already remotely viewed her mother's suicide when she was a child (the only truly gory bit of the film), gets her vision when driving away from the airport after dropping off her new hubby (the always great and glary Gianni Garko of I Am Sartana, I will Kick Your Arse fame).

From then on out it's up to psychic lady to figure out all the clues. Who has she witnessed being murdered and walled up? Why doesn't her vision add up to police evidence? Who done it? It's difficult to review gialli without ruining them so I'll stop there.

I've seen this reviewed as Fulci's best film and his best Giallo, but personally I'd rate Lizard In A Woman's Skin higher (it's more surreal for starters). I would put in on a par with Don't Torture A Duckling though - I was glued to the screen. This man had talent at this point in his career.

Next up: Ghosts of Sodom. I'm thinking the next review won't be so glowing.

Lucio Fulci is best known for his surreal and graphically gory horror movies of the early 80s {i.e.Zombie,The Beyond} but some of his most interesting work was made before. This film,which deserves to be far better known,is a case in point. It's an extremely suspenseful thriller with borderline horror elements,a bit reminiscent of Don't Look Now and quite possibly an influence on several films since such as The Vanishing. Fans of Kill Bill will recognise one of the pieces of music used.

Opening with a graphic but very unconvincing scene of a suicide off a cliff,the head bashing on the rocks,the film does not continue that way,but becomes a slow but intriguing supernatural mystery,with the suspense gradually building and Fulci showing himself quite capable of handling a relatively complex plot. Camera work,music and Jennifer O'Neill's stunning performance are all so good that the relative lack of actual action does not matter too much. Nevertheless, Fulci really proves himself with a really exciting and suspenseful scene near the end where O'Neill is pursued by the killer,and there is clever and evocative use of props throughout.

Interestingly,where most Italian films like this are dubbed by different actors,this one looks like it was dubbed by most of the actual cast,and unfortunately a couple of major plot revelations are hard to make out! However,this is a solid little thriller that ,while not quite on the level of,say Fulci's A Lizard In A Woman's Skin,really deserves to be seen if you think Fulci can only do gore.

... Actually it is not exactly an horror movie, but rather more a thriller (or, better, a giallo). Visionary, tense, well acted (& dubbed), nice locations (villas, interiors, landscapes, cars, etc.), care to costumes and details, a nice 7 notes tune... it is a truly enjoyable little gem from the (not enough) celebrated Italian gore maestro. The plot itself, assuming it is possible to have such supernatural powers, develops convincingly and without too many disgusting bloody scenes . In some points (the visions, particularly the reversed statue) I had the feeling that Kubrick in Shining (1980) might have stolen something (MURDER...). Will it be possible? Oh, I was forgetting, the actress (O neill) is wonderful, and Ferzetti (Once upon in the West, On Her Majesty's Secret Service) is playing as well. 8.5/10 Well done Lucio!

The Psychic finds Italian film-maker Lucio Fulci in a decidedly more restrained mood. Never a director to shy away from excessive sex and violence, this entry in his cannon is far more an exercise in suspense with a real focus on presenting an interesting mystery. There is an early scene where a character falls off a cliff resulting in their face being bloodily shredded by rocks as they fall - basically a scene repeated from Fulci's earlier giallo classic Don't Torture a Duckling (1972) – but apart from this, there is no real excessive blood-letting at all. The story is essentially about a psychic woman who experiences premonitions about mysterious murders, before long she finds herself in the midst of a dangerous situation.

The atmosphere of this one generates a real sense of dread. This is mainly on account of the quite distinctively structured mystery that underpins the story-line. The mixing of visions of the past and events yet to come was clever. It means that there is a real sense of intrigue to this one, with lots of visual clues thrown at us that progressively make sense, while often setting us off to entirely the wrong conclusion. It's a jigsaw puzzle of a movie and this is a very nice touch. Because it came quite late in the giallo cycle I guess it was for this reason that it adopted a more original approach, mixing the standard tropes of the genre with a supernatural angle. Whatever the case, this is one of the better written and thought out story-lines from the sub-genre and what it lacks in visceral excess it does make up for with a well-conceived mystery. It benefits too from a good leading lady in Jennifer O'Neill who later starred in David Cronenberg's excellent sci-fi/horror Scanners (1981). In addition it also features a Goblinesque score which was another nice touch.