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Movies => Bad Movies => Topic started by: WilliamWeird1313 on November 19, 2008, 03:01:06 PM



Title: Lucio Fulci Vs. Dario Argento
Post by: WilliamWeird1313 on November 19, 2008, 03:01:06 PM

I did a forum search and didn't find any threads the same as this one, so I thought I'd go ahead and do it. If there was a thread like this before and I missed or something, well then sorry. Just the same... here goes:

Okay, so we all know that Italy has a long and storied (as well as sordid) history in the horror genre, and, to many, Italian horror is a genre all it's own (I don't just mean Giallo here) and I realize that Riccardo Freda and Mario Bava are widely considered to be the father figures of Italian horror. And, yeah, I know there's a ton of notable Italian horror directors, some whose merits may be considered debatable, like Ruggero Deodato, Umberto Lenzi, Antonio Margheriti, Joe D'Amato, Michele Soavi, Lamberto Bava, Andrea Bianchi, and so on and so on and so on, and the list just goes on and on. But I think it's safe to say that the two most famous/infamous, well-known, and prominently displayed names in Italian horror are Lucio Fulci and Dario Argento. Some people don't like either of them. Some people love them both. Some people love on but loathe the other, and some people are indifferent. But the virtues and flaws of both men are often hotly discussed and compared against one another. Me? I'm curious. I wanna know what you guys think of both of these fellas. Which one do you prefer? Now, I'm not asking you to tell me which director you think is the superior filmmaker, technically speaking. I'm asking which of these two do you personally enjoy more than the other.

And, heck, while you're at it, when you case your vote, why don't you tell me which of your choice director's films is your favorite, and why?



Title: Re: Lucio Fulci Vs. Dario Argento
Post by: Psycho Circus on November 19, 2008, 03:07:34 PM
Both great film makers, but I had to lean towards Fulci. I love the "Zombie Flesh Eaters" series and "House By The Cemetary", but when it comes to Argento, I only really like Suspiria, that's a classic.  :smile:


Title: Re: Lucio Fulci Vs. Dario Argento
Post by: Cthulhu on November 19, 2008, 03:37:06 PM
Hey! I can't make that choice. Demons vs The city of the living dead? Tenebre vs The beyond?
They are both geniuses.


Title: Re: Lucio Fulci Vs. Dario Argento
Post by: Torgo on November 19, 2008, 04:03:03 PM
People usually only know of Fulci due to his horror films like Zombie, City of the Living Dead, House by the Cemetery and The Beyond.  Some of his earlier films like Don't Torture a Duckling are actually quite good from both an aesthetic and story telling point of view.   It's too bad that he got pigeonholed into being a horror director and then what people consider a hack due to cinematic atrocities like the Italian sword and sorcery rip off. Conquest.

I used to be a huge Argento fan and still love his movies from The Bird with the Crystal (his 1st film) through Opera (his 1987 film and his last truly good film IMO).  But his out put from Trauma on has been terrible.  In particular, Mother of Tears is one of the worst films that I've ever seen.

But between the two, I would have to go with Argento.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egUxn_bb448


Title: Re: Lucio Fulci Vs. Dario Argento
Post by: voltron on November 19, 2008, 04:17:26 PM
I've only seen a couple of Fulci films and I think he's a bit overrated. He has his moments (Zombie Flesh Eaters, House By The Cemetary), but I think prime Argento (up to say, Phenomena) beats Fulci hands down. Fulci has the gore but I think he lacks the style and atmosphere of Argento.


Title: Re: Lucio Fulci Vs. Dario Argento
Post by: Eyesore on November 19, 2008, 08:02:09 PM
I'm a fan of both, but chose Fulci. I'm colorblind, so I think a lot of Argento's "atmosphere" must be lost on me. I also wonder how much I'm missing by watching poorly edited versions of their films, as well.


Title: Re: Lucio Fulci Vs. Dario Argento
Post by: akiratubo on November 19, 2008, 08:19:49 PM
Hmm.

Argento - I like Inferno (sort of) and Phenomena (kinda).  I think Phantom of the Opera is hilarious.  I've tried to watch Suspiria and Deep Red and found them both to be unbearable.

Fulci - I like Zombie.  The uncut version of House By the Cemetary is decent.  I hate The Beyond.

This is hard.  I guess I have to go with Fulci.  Zombie has given me more enjoyment than any of the Argento movies I've seen.


Title: Re: Lucio Fulci Vs. Dario Argento
Post by: The Burgomaster on November 19, 2008, 10:24:59 PM
Argento is a much better director than Fulci.  Fulci's movies are usually pretty gory, but they aren't very scary or suspenseful.


Title: Re: Lucio Fulci Vs. Dario Argento
Post by: ToyMan on November 20, 2008, 05:19:03 AM
i voted fulci because i feel that the quality of his films is much more consistent. argento's tenebre, profondo rosso, and suspiria are among my favorite films, but opera and inferno were very disappointing.


Title: Re: Lucio Fulci Vs. Dario Argento
Post by: Jack on November 20, 2008, 08:23:47 AM
I didn't vote because I don't think I've ever seen anything by Fulci.  But, since you're asking for opinions, I think Argento is just about the most overrated directer ever.  Sure, his stuff has got atmosphere, usually far less of it than it thinks it does, but pretty much nothing else.  Story and character don't  matter at all to him.  I don't even think he's a director, but just a cinematographer.

I think Mario Bava is quite good, he's done some excellent stuff, and some not too interesting but cool to look at stuff, but my interest in Italian horror pretty much begins and ends with him. 


Title: Re: Lucio Fulci Vs. Dario Argento
Post by: peter johnson on November 20, 2008, 12:36:05 PM
I'm discovering I don't really care for either of them -- I've inherited a bunch of Criterion/uncut/original VHS special edition tapes of many films by both directors, and am slowly getting through them all more out of a sense of duty/need to educate myself than anything else.  I find scenes that are enjoyable to look at in all of them, but ultimately find that I wouldn't watch them again, unlike Hammer films, which I can look at dozens of times and not get tired of.  I guess I just don't like Italian --
peter johnson/denny crane


Title: Re: Lucio Fulci Vs. Dario Argento
Post by: ToyMan on November 21, 2008, 07:58:22 AM
i'm about 30 minutes into fulci's aenigma (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AE_dnuY2kQw). it's seriously causing me to rethink my vote, and i'd already seen demonia (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOr261CHBPI), if that tells you anything...


Title: Re: Lucio Fulci Vs. Dario Argento
Post by: Paquita on November 23, 2008, 01:09:54 AM
I love them both, but after seeing the Mother of Tears I have to go with Fulci.  I really love Fulci's underdramatic actresses and unrealistic gore.
Anyway, the fact that Asia Argento always shows at least one boob in her dad's movies kind of creeps me out.


Title: Re: Lucio Fulci Vs. Dario Argento
Post by: Caronte on November 23, 2008, 07:22:27 AM
Argento knows how to direct a movie better than Fulci buy I enjoy more Fulci's movies for its nonsenses scenes, and for things like the eye-gauguin scene of zombi 2  :drink:


Title: Re: Lucio Fulci Vs. Dario Argento
Post by: Jack Slater on July 20, 2011, 11:25:54 PM

I used to be a huge Argento fan and still love his movies from The Bird with the Crystal (his 1st film) through Opera (his 1987 film and his last truly good film IMO).  But his out put from Trauma on has been terrible.  In particular, Mother of Tears is one of the worst films that I've ever seen.


Agree with everything you said except I haven't seen mother of tears, thankfully. Argento has fallen hard, really hard.

I voted Argento as well. A bit unfair as i've seen the bulk of his output and not Fulci. Visually Argento's style is stunning to the senses While Fulci is Rubish to them.


Title: Re: Lucio Fulci Vs. Dario Argento
Post by: Criswell on July 20, 2011, 11:54:39 PM
I've never really seen much of their Filmographies. I've never seen an Argento film, but I've seen one Fulci Film which was House by the Cemetery. That movie had an incredible feel to it.

EDIT - I will say this, Italians really know how to make horror movies. Modern Horror directors could learn a lot from watching some Fulci Films.


Title: Re: Lucio Fulci Vs. Dario Argento
Post by: RCMerchant on July 21, 2011, 04:42:24 AM
Fulci. ZOMBIE and the GATES of HELL are always fun. As for Argento....I love DEEP RED,PHENOMENA,and some others are good too. SUSPIRIA  has great cinematography and some scary moments-but as a whole I was disappointed. I only seen it once about 19 years ago-mebbe I should give it another look.


Title: Re: Lucio Fulci Vs. Dario Argento
Post by: zombie no.one on July 21, 2011, 05:28:02 AM
last week I bought the new Shamless 'Fan Version' DVD of Fulci's NEW YORK RIPPER. It's without doubt the sleaziest giallo film I've seen, even though this version is still slightly cut. It's probably also the best out of the 5 or 6 Fulci films I've watched, however it doesn't really compare to Argento's DEEP RED which is literally the best horror/thriller/giallo/whatever film I've ever seen... Argento, as mentioned, has his bad films, and his overrated ones, so does Fulci...

It's a tough call really. Two very influential directors, but at his best Argento is a cut above


Title: Re: Lucio Fulci Vs. Dario Argento
Post by: retrorussell on July 21, 2011, 05:49:28 PM
Argento, and IMO it's not even close.  I just can't get into Fulci and I've seen probably 5 or 6 of his movies.  Argento has much better style and intelligence in his films.


Title: Re: Lucio Fulci Vs. Dario Argento
Post by: Skull on July 22, 2011, 06:33:39 AM
People usually only know of Fulci due to his horror films like Zombie, City of the Living Dead, House by the Cemetery and The Beyond.  Some of his earlier films like Don't Torture a Duckling are actually quite good from both an aesthetic and story telling point of view.   It's too bad that he got pigeonholed into being a horror director and then what people consider a hack due to cinematic atrocities like the Italian sword and sorcery rip off. Conquest.

I used to be a huge Argento fan and still love his movies from The Bird with the Crystal (his 1st film) through Opera (his 1987 film and his last truly good film IMO).  But his out put from Trauma on has been terrible.  In particular, Mother of Tears is one of the worst films that I've ever seen.

But between the two, I would have to go with Argento.

[url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egUxn_bb448[/url]


Good point, I believe the problem with Argento is the earlier films has a artist look (colors/graphics/gore) and his later films seem to omit/lacking his typical artist touch. As for horror Director, Argento does know what works (most of the time) and his newer movies like Trauma isnt that bad (especially when you look at simular movies). I do agree Mother of Tears failed but I didnt expect much from the film since I already know Argento wasnt going to splash the movie with some art. (I did like a few parts in Mother of Tears so it's really hard for me to call it the worst film ever). I beleve we know Argento can do better so his newer moves tend to fail.


Fulci is a victim of being 10 years too early. His movies started to get noticed thanks to Video Rentals and the Internet. The truth was back in 1985 I didnt know who Fulci is, I was 15 and into horror at the time but I didnt have any such reliable horror source. There were some Horror Mags, but they were more focused on the special effect of Spielberg, the making of Nightmare on Elm Steet or another Friday the 13th movie.





Title: Re: Lucio Fulci Vs. Dario Argento
Post by: voltron on July 23, 2011, 05:22:12 PM
I've said it before, (forgot to mention it) Don't Torture A Duckling is AWESOME and is probably Fulci's least "Fulci" film, but I'm still sticking with Argento simply for the fact that Deep Red is quite possibly the finest horror film I've ever seen in my entire life.


Title: Re: Lucio Fulci Vs. Dario Argento
Post by: tahrgat on February 24, 2012, 11:01:15 PM
Lucio Fulci. His films are not as high a budget, but He has always worked with that to make crowd pleasing films. I could see myself in a theater watching his films and the audience would be screaming at the gore or cheering with a narrow escape. I simply enjoy his films more and I have seen most from both directors.


Title: Re: Lucio Fulci Vs. Dario Argento
Post by: mrsskinner on February 26, 2012, 04:22:48 PM
Lucio Fulci definately I just love his films


Title: Re: Lucio Fulci Vs. Dario Argento
Post by: Vik on February 26, 2012, 04:41:51 PM
Fulci, mainly because of 'The Beyond'.


Title: Re: Lucio Fulci Vs. Dario Argento
Post by: JPickettIII on February 26, 2012, 07:00:17 PM
I did not vote.

I really enjoy both directors.  I like Argento for his phsycological attack to the movie viewers.    :buggedout:

I like Fulci for his shock value aspect that he uses to keep the movie viewers on the edge of the seats as they say WTF just happened??!!??  :question:

I don't think it would be fair to vote.  Both are well loved/liked creators of great horror.

If there was an option for both I would then vote.

My 2.5 cents.

Later,

John