cimitero would stand as the third entry in the
ing notably well at the Spanish box- office.24 It was
series and concluded that “given Fulci’s rate of
released in the U.S. in 983 through Aquarius Re-
filming, his cycle will no doubt be finished long
leasing, under the title 7 Doors of Death, with
before Dario Argento’s revelation of Mater
heavy cuts to tone down the murder scenes and
Lacrymarum.”2
a new score by Walter E. Sear. The film received
After praising the director’s work on the vi-
a limited theatrical release in its uncut form in
suals, Gans analyzed Fulci’s approach to Grand-
the States only after Fulci’s death, by Grindhouse
Guignol, pointing out how he didn’t hesitate in
Releasing. In the U.K. it was originally passed by
the BBFC with an X rating and with several cuts
systematizing his methods as a horror filmmaker to
for cinema release; it was included in the DPP
the point of conferring his new film the appearance
list of “Video Nasties” made public in 983, in
of an eloquent catalog of monstrous deaths—prodi-
Section 2, among non- prosecuted films. After a
giously bloody outbursts that not even the Americans
987 video release (with approximately 2 minutes
would dare to consider today under a censorship all
cut) it was finally released uncut to home video
too generous in libelous “X ratings. And while the
in 200.
U.S. filmmakers overcome this problem by stretching
Over the years, news of a sequel to L’aldilà
the hide- and-seek parts (The Burning) and the su-
came to the surface. In 993, issue #4 of the
pernatural paraphernalia (Fear No Evil), Fulci
British fanzine Book of the Dead even included
purifies the fantastic manifestations and all the other
slownesses to the point of bypassing them abruptly.
the title Beyond II, a.k.a. Beyond the Beyond
What is, then, that danger glimpsed by the widow in
(“announced but never released”) in an Italian
the morgue? We will never know, for what matters
zombie filmography. But neither Sacchetti nor
is only the result, in this case a face slowly gnawed
Fulci ever worked on such a project. In 20,
by acid, which goes through all the colors of decom-
however, the scriptwriter penned a reboot of
72 1981: …E tu vivrai Italian lobby card for …e tu vivrai nel terrore! L’aldilà featuring Cinzia Monreale (left) and Maria Pia Marsala.
sorts set in Scotland, Beyond Evolution, which
the Italian prints, was retained in color for the German re-
remains unfilmed to this date.2
lease.
9. A script of L’aldilà (both in Italian and English lan-
guage, as The Beyond) is deposited at SIAE and registered
Notes
on July 4, 980.
10. Interestingly, the original summary (first distributed
1. October 6, according to Rome’s Public Cinemato-
by De Angelis at Milan’s MIFED in order to gain
graphic Register. Albiero and Cacciatore report October
financings) turned up again in promotional flyers con-
20 as starting date.
cocted by the English distribution company. Apparently,
2. Giuseppe Salza, “Le retour de Lucio Fulci,” L’Écran
nobody realized that the synopsis didn’t correspond to the
fantastique #44, April 984.
movie.
3. Schlockoff, “Entretien avec Lucio Fulci” (98), 2.
11. Romagnoli, L’occhio del testimone, 7
4. Sacchetti declared he wrote the script in 0 days, at
12. Gomarasca and Pulici, “La paura dell’aldilà,” 69.
De Angelis’ request, with the help of “three or four packets
13. Schlockoff, “Entretien avec Lucio Fulci” (98), 20.
of cigarettes a day, and one or two bottles of vodka. I
14. Dardano Sacchetti interviewed.
worked overnight, and often two or three days in a row,
15. Ibid.
without stopping.” Albiero and Cacciatore, Il terrorista dei
16. Manlio Gomarasca, “Intervista a Catrona MacColl,”
generi, 277. On another occasion, however, Sacchetti con-
November 7, 207, www. nocturno. it (http://www.noc-
tradicted himself, claiming that he had written the script
turno.it/intervista-a-catriona-maccoll/).
in 979, long before watching The Shining (which came out
17. “I think it was near the end of Winter 98. I saw
in the U.S. in May 980, and in Italy in late December of
L’aldilà in a theater in Milan, at the midnight show. There
that year, when shooting for L’aldilà had already begun).
were few people in the audience, the right climate to ap-
Dardano Sacchetti interviewed, in www. davinotti. com
preciate the indiscreet charm of fear. And in fact, that’s
(http://www.davinotti.com/index.php?option=com_con-
what happened: and so, I fell in love with that movie …
tent&task=view&id=7&Itemid=79).
and with Lucio Fulci, master craftsman of Cinecittà, with
5. Albiero and Cacciatore, Il terrorista dei generi, 276.
a long and varied career.” Claudio Carabba, “Memorial
6. Schlockoff, “Entretien avec Lucio Fulci,” (982), 2.
Fulci,” in Mystfest ’84. 5° festival internazionale del giallo e
7. Robin Wood, Hollywood From Vietnam to Reagan …
del mistero (Cattolica: Edizioni del Mystfest, 984).
and Beyond (New York: Columbia University Press, 2003),
18. Kezich, Il nuovissimo Millefilm, 48.
4.
19. Reported in Il Patalogo Quattro. Annuario 1982 dello
8. The prologue, black- and white and sepia- tinted in
spettacolo cinema e televisione (Milan: Ubulibri, 982), 20.
1981: Fantasma 73
20. Philippe Ross, “L’au-dela,” La Revue du cinéma #367,
meets on the bus a woman he loved in his youth,
December 98, 48.
Anna Brigatti, now aging and ugly. The meeting
21. Gans, “Les deux nouveaux films de Lucio Fulci,” 6.
takes place in conjunction with a heinous crime,
22. Ibid.
23. Ibid., 7.
as a concierge is murdered near the place where
24. According to the official ministerial data, it was seen
Anna appeared. Nino learns from a doctor friend
by 329,3 spectators and grossed an amount corresponding
that the woman died of cancer three years ago,
to 342,406 Euro. (http:// infoicaa. mecd. es/ CatalogoICAA/
after marrying Count Zighi and moving to Son-
Peliculas/ Detalle?Pelicula= 6224).
25. Manlio Gomarasca and Davide Pulici, “Al di là del-
drio. Nino goes to Sondrio to meet the count and
l’aldilà,” Nocturno #, March 202, 70.
comes across Anna, now looking still attractive as
she was in her prime. They settle for an appoint-
Fantasma d’amore (Ghost of Love)
ment on the banks of the Ticino River, in the
D: Dino Risi. S: based on the novel Fan-
places of their youthful love, but Anna falls from
tasma d’amore by Mino Milani; SC: Dino Risi,
the boat and drowns. Sometime later Nino meets
Bernardino Zapponi; DOP: Tonino Delli Colli
Anna again, old and ugly, in Pavia, but she dis-
(Technicolor); M: Riz Ortolani (Ed. C.A.M.); E:
appears in the river once more. Nino becomes con-
Alberto Gallitti; PD, SD: Giuseppe Mangano;
vinced that he has met a ghost and gets hospitalized
ArtD: Gianni Giovagnoni; CO: Annalisa Nasalli-
in a nursing home where Anna reappears in the
Rocca; MU: Giulio Natalucci, Michel Deruelle;
guise of a young nurse…
Hair: Corrado Cristofori; AD: Claudio Risi;
Four years after Anima persa (977), Dino
APD: Gianni Giovagnoni; C: Carlo Tafani; AC:
Risi returned to the Gothic genre with Fantasma
Sandro Battaglia; KG: Augusto Michisanti; ChEl:
d’amore, a crepuscular ghost story set in Northern
Giuliano Michisanti; SP: Paul Roland Pellet; SO:
Italy, amid the shadows and fogs of the Lombard
Vittorio Massi; B: Giulio Viggiani; SOE: Italo
town of Pavia, based on the novel published in
Cameracanna; Mix: Gianni d’Amico; AE: Lidia
977 by Mino Milani and adapted by Risi and
Pascolini; SS: Carla Giaré. Cast: Romy Schneider
Bernardino Zapponi.
(Anna Brigatti Zighi), Marcello Mastroianni
As in Anima persa, the story focuses on the
(Nino Monti), Eva Maria Meineke (Teresa
mid- life crisis of its protagonist, Nino, played
Monti), Wolfgang Preiss (Count Zighi), Michael
by Marcello Mastroianni. Again, then, Risi in-
Kroecher (Don Gaspare), Paolo Baroni (Ressi),
vestigates the dread of growing old: whereas in
Victoria Zinny (Loredana), Giampiero Becherelli
Anima persa the Dorian Gray syndrome resulted
(Prof. Arnaldi), Ester Carloni (Count Zighi’s
in the Engineer’s (Vittorio Gassman) crazy alter
Housekeeper), Riccardo Parisio Perrotti (The
ego sporting a childish behavior, in an obsessive
Magistrate), Raf Baldassarre (Luciano), Maria
and desperate infantile regression, here the ap-
Simona Peruzzi, Liliana Pacinotti, Adriana Giuf-
parent acceptance of fleeting time is eroded by
fré. PROD: Pio Angeletti, Adriano De Micheli
the tide of memories which submerge Nino
[and Luggi Waldleitner, uncredited] for Dean
when he finds himself in front of Anna, the
Film, A.M.L.F. (Paris), Roxy- Film (Munich); PM:
woman he loved years earlier. She now appears
Mario D’Alessio; PS: Alberto Passone, Rossella
first as an old faded lady, and later in her past
Angeletti; ADM: Roberto Mezzaroma, Marcello
splendor, bringing back in him the burning
Nusca. Country: Italy/West Germany/France.
awareness of happiness gone forever, and of a
Filmed on location in Pavia and at Cine Inter-
quiet but loveless marriage.
national Studios (Rome). Running time: 96 min-
Compared with the eerie Venetian setting
utes (m. 264). Visa n. 76387 (3.3.98); Rating:
of Anima persa, Risi and Zapponi immerse their
all audiences. Release dates: 4.3.98 (Italy),
Gothic tale in an everyday, almost trivial reality,
4.29.98 (France), 2.2.98 (Spain), .2.982
amid bus rides, bourgeois parties and reunions
(West Germany), 0.982 (USA; Chicago Inter-
between old friends. Hence, the moments that
national Film Festival); Distribution: Ceiad. Do-
openly deal with the Fantastic—and, as with the
mestic gross: 42,000,000 lire. Also known as: Fan-
sequence of the murder of the concierge, with
tôme d’amour (France), Fantasma de amor
horror—stand out even more. In addition to the
(Spain), Die zwei Gesichter einer Frau (West Ger-
stylized and evocative flashbacks (see, for in-
many), Fantasma de Amor (Portugal).
stance, Nino and Anna’s bike trip), the director
Note: In the Italian version Romy Schneider
often finds a convincing balance between ro-
is dubbed by Vittoria Febbi.
manticism and dread: the kiss between Nino
Pavia. Nino Monti, a well- to-do accountant,
and his beloved, now reduced to an old woman
74 1981: Fantasma with rotten teeth and (presumably) a putrid
Fantasma d’amore was shot on location in
breath, with the man immediately cleaning his
the Lombard town of Pavia, in Fall 980: accord-
mouth in disgust afterwards, looks like a nod to
ing to Rome’s Public Cinematographic Register,
the Tolstoy story which Mario Bava adapted for
filming started on October 26. A strikingly cin-
I Wurdalak.
ematic town, Pavia had been used several times
Although with a sometimes- finicky ap-
over the years by filmmakers, most notably by
proach, bedraggled by product placements and
Alberto Lattuada (Il cappotto, 92), Renato
narrative hesitations, and denoting a modesty
Castellani (I sogni nel cassetto, 97), Dario Ar-
that borders on shyness in its approach to the
gento (Le cinque giornate), and Eriprando Vis-
supernatural (see the rather botched subplot
conti (La orca, 976, and its sequel Oedipus
about the defrocked occultist priest, played by
Orca). As Milani recalled, “Pavia was, and had
Michael Kroecher), Fantasma d’amore reaches
always been, a city of long autumns and thick
the same conclusions as so many Italian Gothic
fogs, and that kind of rain that moistens without
horror films of the past. The dead return for re-
wetting… . In the film, then, some scenes were
venge, but especially for love, and time and its
patently grey and veiled; but the weather did not
effects are mostly an illusion that the living have
cooperate, and Risi had to resort to a fog ma-
built as a barrier (“You really believe time exists
chine. So, in the authentically old streets, and
… time which makes us age, which consumes
on the banks of the authentically poignant Ti-
us, that indeed exists. But inside of me, I’m not
cino, Schneider and Mastroianni met amid
aged at all,” Anna says), and the boundaries be-
floating, very costly artificial smokescreens.” In
tween life and death are fragile and pervious.
addition to a top- notch cast and crew, Risi man-
“You see, my dear sir, what they say about the
aged to enroll another prestigious name: the
beyond, about this life, those are all nonsense
then 72-year-old Benny Goodman, who played
… because we are still ourselves, we are dead,
the solo clarinet in Riz Ortolani’s moody orches-
and we are alive at the same time… ” says Nino
tral score.2
in the end.
Risi’s film was released in several European
Hungarian lobby card for Fantasma d’amore (1981, D
ino Risi), starring Romy schneider and Marcello Mastroianni.
1981: Murder 7
countries and was screened at the 982 Chicago
John Richardson (Oliver), Anita Strindberg
International Film Festival. Italian box- office re-
(Glenda Stanford), Silvia Dionisio (Deborah Jor-
sults were disappointing given the two stars in-
dan); uncredited: Fabrizio Moroni (Michael as a
volved, and critics were perplexed too. Fantasma
child), Riccardo Freda (Elderly man on the set).
d’amore is indeed a disjointed work, which partly
PROD: Enzo Boetani, Giuseppe Collura, Simon
suffers from a subpar literary source. But it fea-
Mizrahi for Dionysio Cinematografica (Rome),
tures an intense, poignant female character,
Societé Nouvelle Cinévog (Paris); PS: Antonio
beautifully played by Romy Schneider. Anna is
Boetani. PSe: Salvatore Carrara. Country: Italy/
not a vampire seductress but a victim of society
France. Filmed at Palazzo Borghese, Artena
and men alike, who can celebrate her victory
(Rome) and at De Paolis In.Ci.R. Studios (Rome).
only as a ghost, and yet is still radiantly superior
Running time: 97 minutes (m. 2660). Visa n.
to the male: her appearance to Nino, atop the
7784 (0.3.980); Rating: V.M.8. Release date:
villa stairs, strikingly recalls those of other
2.24.98. Distribution: Regional. Domestic gross:
Gothic heroines. Above all, Anna’s love makes
n.a. Also known as: The Wailing; Unconscious;
her able to live beyond death, like Elisabeth
Murder Syndrome (USA—home video), Angoisse
Blackwood in Antonio Margheriti’s Danza
(France), Obsessão Assassina (Portugal), Satan’s
macabra. “I am a woman, Nino, and women do
Altar (Greece), Himomurhaaja (Finland).
not destroy anything, but they cultivate and pre-
Note: On the poster for the foreign English
serve… ” she says.
language release titled Unconscious, Freda is
On the other hand, Nino—weak, submis-
credited as “Robert Hampton.”
sive, petty, a “man without qualities”—suits him-
Following a violent raptus on the set that al-
self to the situation. He soothes and suffers in
most led him to strangle his co- star Beryl, actor
silence, and when things go wrong he simply
Michael Stanford returns to the family home in
closes his eyes to the truth, dreaming that his
Surrey after a fifteen- year absence, for a period
Italian Gothic Horror Films (1980-1989) Page 22