The histrionic story is a hazy murder mystery without the mystery build-up, filled with lingering suspicions, sordid family secrets and the afterlife (presented by an echoing voice-over) getting involved through the use of allusive slow-mo dream sequences caused by either guilt or grief, depending on the character, to communicate or torment. A TV-movie you say? Even with those nightmarish details, Fulci's vision is restrained, but there's something rather expressive and personal in his canvas of work. Explicit brutality towards a child, squashed eyeballs in a soup, mausoleum zombies (in a dream), topless nudity and flashes of a rotting, oozing corpse covered in flies and maggots. While not packed with violence, there's still a persistent mean-streak with Fulci's signature style. You wouldn't think you're watching a made-for-TV presentation though. One of his last directorial efforts, Lucio Fulci presents something peculiar, and very patchy. He wants his conniving killer revealed with the help of his innocent daughter. Rest in peace, oh no, not this sorely departed soul. Nevertheless, with "Voices from beyond", Fulci has demonstrated that he could create something of value even with restricted resources. ![]() As everybody knows, fate has declined this favour to him. In fact, in an interview Fulci declared that he wanted to make one more movie with sufficient production values (i.e., "The Wax mask"), so that he can die in peace. Maybe this character expresses Fulci's own incapacity to express himself properly in his latest movies due to extremely limited budgets and equipment. He has to suffer interminable mockings through Mainardi's enemies. We also watch the claustrophobia of Mainardi's father whose spirit is still alive but who has no means to communicate with the outside world, except his tears. ![]() Other fine images include a still life with broken light bulbs (the device used to kill Mainardi) which summarizes the evil plot against him. This dreamlike aspect of the movie is contrasted to the clinical analysis of Mainardi's death and decay, starting from his unpleasant demise on the death bed, ranging over the autopsy carried out by the Maestro (i.e., Fulci) himself, and ending in repeated shots of his decaying corpse. This concept gives Fulci the opportunity to insert many wildly surreal dream sequences (including, believe it or not, a zombie attack), and he makes good use of it. After his death, Mainardi manages to keep contact to the living: To his only trustee, his daughter Rosy, he talks in dreams, and his enemies he haunts with terrible nightmares. During his burial ceremony we are introduced to the main characters and in flash back sequences to why they had good reason to hate him. ![]() After the prologue and the opening credits we witness the violent death of Mainardi, vomitting loads of blood. The story deals with the death of Giorgi Mainardi, a man with a lot of money and enemies. As usual, the subject are the horrors of death and what comes after it. While a long way from the director's best work, there are still a few scenes that make this one watchable: the aforementioned autopsy will appeal to gorehounds (also worth a mention are the frequent cuts to Georgio's interred body, each time the corpse a little more decomposed) those who enjoy the bizarre will love the freaky dream sequence set in a restaurant patronised by weird creatures with tentacles, where a serving of fried eggs turns into a plate of eyeballs and those who like naked ladies will appreciate the T&A from pretty blonde Huff and brunette Bettina Giovannini as Georgio's wife Lucia.Ĭaution: Some plot and scenes revealed "Voices from beyond" is one of Fulci's most coherent and successful productions, especially among his last films. Determined to find out the truth, he contacts his daughter Rosy (Karina Huff) from beyond the grave however, with the majority of Georgio's family and acquaintances having good reason to want the man dead, and with the guilty party covering their tracks, Rosy won't find it easy to solve the mystery. ![]() As an autopsy is carried out (in graphic detail, naturally), Georgio's spirit questions what has happened to him. The story starts with a wealthy man, Georgio Mainardi (Duilio Del Prete), dying from sudden internal haemorrhaging. There are also several surreal dream sequences (including one involving rotting zombies) and a reasonable helping of sweaty nudity for those who prefer their Euro-horror on the sleazy side. Lucio Fulci's penultimate movie is par for the course for the Italian godfather of gore in that it is a largely incoherent effort, an offbeat horror mystery enlivened by some bloody effects to keep the director's die-hard fans happy.
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