by wanderers and bums.”8
yarn with plenty of horrific elements which was
Despite his care for atmosphere, Fulci
an embarrassing box- office bomb, grossing less
failed to give the film an incisive pacing. Even
than 00 million lire. The decline had started,
though it is mainly focused on visual analogies
and the director’s following films of the early to
and symbols, and would- be iconic images nicely
mid–Eighties would be as many efforts to get on
rendered by Guglielmo Mancori’s photography,
the bandwagon of such diverse genres as the
Manhattan Baby drags along to a less- then-
post- apocalyptic (I guerrieri dell’anno 2072), the
satisfying circular ending, a sign that this time
giallo, spiced with references to the dance movie
the director didn’t care enough for the material.
thread spawned by Flashdance (Murderock—Uc-
Fulci claimed that he shot Manhattan Baby to
cide a passo di danza), and the morbid erotic
“get him [De Angelis] out of my balls,”9 but he
drama (Il miele del diavolo, 986).
was paid 40 million for the film, the highest
Manhattan Baby was picked up for distri-
salary that De Angelis ever gave him: Sacchetti
bution overseas in 984 by 2st Century Distri-
recalled that during filming the director took a
bution, as Eye of the Evil Dead, but it was
trip to Cannes, where producer Giovanni Di
released theatrically only in 986 to little success.
Clemente—who behaved like a tycoon, unlike
In the U.K. it was released directly on video in
the thrifty De Angelis—hired him to make Con-
983, as Possessed.
quest, offering him 90 million lire, and upon his
return Fulci’s mind was somewhere else.0
Notes
Manhattan Baby came out on August 2,
1. Reported in Albiero and Cacciatore, Il terrorista dei
982, in a venue in Rivabella, on the Romagna
generi, 34. Thrower reports March 22 as starting date
coast, marking the seventh Fulci film released
(Thrower, Beyond Terror, 20).
theatrically in Italy in two years (Luca il contra-
2. Davide Pulici, “Manhattan Baby,” www. nocturno. it
(http://www.nocturno.it/manhattan-baby/).
bbandiere being released on August 8, 980).
3. Newman, Nightmare Movies, 29.
Italian critics pointed out the similarities with
4. Albiero and Cacciatore, Il terrorista dei generi, 3.
The Exorcist and called the story “unconvincing
5. Garofalo and De Lillo, “Il cinema del dubbio. Inter-
and rather predictable,” although some noted
vista a Lucio Fulci,” 9.
the director’s “usual—and even more refined—
6. Salza, “Le retour de Lucio Fulci.”
7. Palmerini and Mistretta, Spaghetti Nightmares, 27.
technical skills.” But most reviewers still dis-
8. Romagnoli, L’occhio del testimone, 49.
missed Fulci as a hack. In the Corriere della Sera,
9. Garofalo and De Lillo, “Il cinema del dubbio. Inter-
Leonardo Autera launched a scathing compar-
vista a Lucio Fulci,” 9.
ison: “They say that Lucio Fulci, the director, is
10. Pulici, “Manhattan Baby.”
11. A.V. [Aldo Viganò], “Terrore in casa dell’archeologo,”
the most gifted heir in the “Italian horror” genre,
La Stampa, August 26, 982.
of the late Mario Bava. But there is a substantial
12. L.A. [Leonardo Autera], “Quella pietra blu combina
difference: Bava knew how to follow Poe’s lesson
disastri,” Corriere della Sera, August 23, 982.
that even the absurd must have an inner logic;
Fulci, instead, navigates in the most absolute ar-
Notturno con grida (Nocturne with Screams)
bitrariness, the kind not even the old- time
D: Vittorio Salerno, Ernesto Gastaldi. S and
“Grand-guignol” would have dared.”2
SC: Ernesto Gastaldi, Vittorio Salerno; DOP:
The film was distributed by Fulvia Film it-
Benito Frattari, Marco Frattari (Eastmancolor,
self, which possibly influenced its negative com-
Telecolor); M: Severino Gazzelloni, conducted
mercial impact in Italy. With a little more than
by Luciano Michelini (Ed. Eter); E: Dario Spac-
400 million lire grossed, it was a box- office dis-
capeli; ArtD, CO: Amarilli Gastaldi; SO: Luciano
appointment, and marked the end of the direc-
Muratori; Mix: Adriano Taloni; El: Mario Loris
tor’s stint with De Angelis. The attempt at estab-
Zamariola; SS: Giuseppina Gastaldi; PA: Nino
lishing Fulci as the box- office rival of Dario
Vendetti. Cast: Mara Maryl [Maria Chianetta]
06 1982: Notturno (Brigitte Benoit), Gerardo Amato (Gerard), Alan
part looked like the scaly back of a prehistoric
Collins [Luciano Pigozzi] (Paul Benoit), Gioia
beast, set his imagination on fire. “What if that
Maria Scola [Gioia Maria Tibiletti] (Sheena),
gigantic stone coming from a distant past had
Franco Molè (Christian Coreau), Martine
some form of mysterious life, I thought, some
Brochard (Eileen). PROD: Welcome Films and
magic, occult power?”2 That night Salerno stood
Television Coop. (Rome). PM: Armando Govoni.
up thinking about that “petrified beast” and
Country: Italy. Filmed on location in and around
came up with a story about five characters who
Soriano nel Cimino (Viterbo). Running time: 94
hate each other and get lost in the woods. They
minutes (m. 280). Visa n. 789 (9.29.982);
are attracted by the mysterious rock, which be-
Rating: V.M.4. Release date: 0.2.982; Distri-
comes “the amplifier of their bad desires, their
bution: Samanda Film. Domestic gross: approx.
projects of mutual duplicity … and mysteriously,
200,000 lire. Also known as: La fuerza del de-
no one will get out of the woods alive.”3
monio (Spain).
Salerno discussed the idea with his friend
A medium, Brigitte, her husband Paul and
Ernesto Gastaldi, who suggested they provide
their friends Gerard, his fiancée Eileen and their
the protagonists with a background; hence the
young acquaintance Sheena organize a séance.
idea of reusing the same characters from their
They evoke the spirit of Christian—who was
debut giallo, Libido (96), and turn the project
killed ten years earlier in the same room and
into a sequel of sorts to that film. To gather the
whose body disappeared—to find out who is the
necessary financing, they resorted to article 28
murderer. In a couple of days Christian will be
of the 96 “Corona law” (Law 23, 4 November
declared officially dead and all his fortune will be
96), which allowed the State to finance up to
inherited by his ex- wife Eileen. The
next morning
30 percent of the budget of films with cultural
the party of five takes a trip in the nearby beech-
or artistic aspirations in which the cast and crew
wood, which Eileen and Gerard plan to cut down
participated in the cost of the production.
to build an exclusive residential center. Soon,
Article 28 had been scarcely used in the 960s
however, they fall prey to strange events. Mean-
and 970s, but after the economic crisis became
while, we learn the characters’ secrets: Sheena and
more severe with the new decade, more and
Gerard are lovers and plan to kill Eileen after the
more filmmakers started using it as a shortcut
wedding to gain her wealth, while Paul (an ex-
to put together their films, and it became a staple
seminarian) and Brigitte also have unspeakable
in Italian film production in the Eighties. It was
skeletons in their past. One by one they fall victim
originally intended as a loan, but very rarely did
to supernatural forces, and Gerard becomes con-
any of the films financed with it turn a profit.
vinced that Brigitte is a witch…
Over the years, article 28 lost its initial purpose
“It was 980 and I hadn’t shot a single foot
(that is, being a special resource for debuting
of film in five years. I went hunting woodcocks
filmmakers who were developing artistic inno-
on the Cimini mountains near Viterbo,” Vitto-
vative work) and became the main source of fi-
rio Salerno recalled about the genesis of Not-
nance for Italian cinema, along with television.
turno con grida. “At about noon I came back to
In order to have access to the 60 million
my car … and took a walk in the beechwood
lire granted by the Ministry of Spectacle, Gastaldi
with my dog.” The ninety- feet tall, imposing
and Salerno came up with an ingenious trick:
beeches had been there for centuries, and
they submitted the project to the Ministry under
covered an area of over 6 hectares. Salerno
the title La coscienza, pretending it to be some
strolled around the woods and came upon the
sort of avant- garde psychological drama. After
so- called “trembling stone.” It is an enormous
obtaining the financing, they founded a coop-
millenarian oval stone of volcanic origin, of 90
erative together with the actors, and established
cubic meters, 8 meters long, 7 meters wide and
their fees as quotas on the distribution grosses.
3 meters thick, weighing 20 tons and balanced
The cast included Gastaldi’s wife Maria Chi-
on a very narrow base. It can be made to vibrate
anetta under her a.k.a. Mara Maryl, their friend
by prying under it with stick used as a lever.
Luciano Pigozzi, who had already starred in Li-
Because of this peculiarity, Pliny the Old de-
bido, plus only three more actors: the French
fined it “naturae miraculum” (natural wonder)
Martine Brochard, Michele Placido’s brother Ger-
in his book Naturalis historia.
ardo Amato (with whom Salerno had worked the
Salerno was dumbfounded. The sight of
previous summer on a stage adaptation of Gio-
that imposing and sinister rock, whose upper
vanni Verga’s novelette La lupa directed by his
1982: Notturno
07
brother, Enrico Maria), and the young and rav-
bodiment of the protagonists’ dirty conscience
ishingly beautiful Gioia Maria Scola.
(Salerno’s interpretation is that in the end he is
Notturno con grida was shot in three weeks
possessed by the Devil).
and a half in April 982, on 6mm and with
The supernatural element, which is pre-
direct sound, under the working title La forza
dominant in the film from the very opening
del male (The Force of Evil). The two directors
séance sequence, makes Notturno con grida a
worked with a bare- bones crew, comprising only
late addition to the Gothic thread, presented in
the five actors and four technicians: d.o.p. and
a minimalistic way and with very sparse special
cameraman Benito Frattari (who had shot Ja-
effects. Some reviewers have noticed similarities
copetti’s Africa addio and Gastaldi’s own La
with The Blair Witch Project (999, Daniel Myrick,
lunga spiaggia fredda), his nephew Marco as as-
Eduardo Sánchez) and not just because of the
sistant cameraman, a sound technician and a
eerie subjective shots in the woods (surprisingly
boom man, plus a handyman (provided for free
akin to those in Sam Raimi’s The Evil Dead, which
by the mayor of Soriano nel Cimino) who
however was released in Italy only in 984). Like
helped the 60-year-old d.o.p. carry the heavy
in the 999 film, the characters get lost in the
crate with the camera and the accessories. To
woods and cannot find their way out, and space
cut costs, Gastaldi and Salerno took care of all
and time coordinates seem to lose significance—
the other technical duties. As for lighting, the
a recurrent theme in Italian Gothic. Paul’s watch
filmmakers used mostly natural lights, taking
stops, a wound in his hand reopens, the protago-
advantage of the peculiar illumination of the
nist’s car disappears from its parking place, an
area. Only a flash was used for close- ups. The
apple appears out of nowhere next to Brigitte as
experience of working with two directors at once
if thrown by an invisible hand, a book of Latin ex-
was not particularly satisfying for Brochard,
orcisms is found.
who complained: “One day you shoot with one
Gastaldi and Salerno incorporate sepia-
director and he tells you one thing, the next day
toned footage from Libido in the story, liberally
the other tells you the opposite… . ”4
altering the previous film’s plot: for instance, the
Given the tiny budget, it’s no wonder that
characters of Paul and Eileen, who were mur-
Notturno con grida relies so heavily on dialogue
dered in the first film, here are revived via
that it almost looks like a play of sorts, recalling
clumsy expository dialogue. Paul, who in Libido
in this some of Gastaldi’s earlier works as a
fell from a cliff to his death, here explains that
scriptwriter. His trademark snappy dialogue
the apparently deadly fall resulted only in his
here is filled with grim jokes and one- liners,
legs being broken, a decidedly hard- to-swallow
which in the case of Maryl’s typical airhead per-
plot contrivance. Some scenes from the 96
formance often sound grating, such as when she
film were interpolated with footage shot in 982
quips, “But what was Pliny the Old’s name when
and toned sepia, fea
turing Maryl and Pigozzi,
he was young?” The overall mood conveys a
the former carefully lit to conceal the age differ-
pessimistic vision of humanity, with five despi-
ence. Gastaldi and Salerno also added simili-
cable characters doomed to self- destruction,
tudes with the first film: in the climax, Maryl is
who are deservedly punished for their sins.
tied spread- eagle to a rock just as in Libido she
Brigitte herself, a psychic whom the others
was tied to a bed.
believe to be a witch, is a typical character in
For a film whose literal title (Nocturne with
Gastaldi’s scripts, a mixture of naiveté and nas-
Screams) hints at Chopin’s solo piano pieces
tiness, childishness and greed, while Paul and
(Nocturnes), it was no wonder the directors de-
Gerard are weak male figures who end up de-
cided to invest the 3 million lire they had been
feated by their own schemes and fears. “Do you
left with after post- production in the music
believe in life after death?” someone asks, and
score. The choice fell on Severino Gazzelloni,
the reply is: “The darkness before is the same as
the world’s best- known flautist: in Salerno’s
the darkness that follows. Before we are born
idea, a flute- driven score would suggest the god
and after we die, it’s the same.” Yet someone
Pan and enhance the film’s peculiar eerie mood.
returns from the afterlife: Christian (a special
Gazzelloni accepted: he composed the main
participation by playwright Franco Molè,
theme and improvised the rest on the spot, while
Brochard’s husband, in the role played by Gian-
watching the film. He completed his work in six
carlo Giannini in Libido), a supernatural avenger
hours, coming up with about one hour of im-
from the grave who may or may not be an em-
provised, dodecaphonic music. The soundtrack
08 1982: La villa includes also a couple of themes taken from Lu-villa, two men and a woman kill each other in an
ciano Michelini’s score for Morte sospetta di una
unexplained murderous frenzy. 22 years later, at-
minorenne (97).
torney Ugo Ressia and his associate Casati sum-
The profits Salerno and Gastaldi hoped to
mon the heirs for the reading of the will. The three
see never materialized. Notturno con grida was
heirs are affiliated with each other but are located
barely distributed, at a time most second and
outside Turin. Elisa is in Paris, her cousin Bruno
Italian Gothic Horror Films (1980-1989) Page 32