Demonia

One of the best films of Fulci’s late years. His later films were already quite dead, they lacked atmosphere or were almost unwatchable and played on the lowest instincts (see the terrible Touch of Death from 1988), but here Fulci seemed to remember his better years. For the first two thirds the film maintains a nice kind of tension as it unravels an ancient tragedy, Meg Register has an interesting face and you believe her as the lost archaeologist, the backdrop of the crumbled monastery is fine. On the other hand, the basic idea of the story, why the villagers are trying to keep the nuns' secret even centuries later, lacks logic, and in the last 10 minutes the whole thing falls apart and the scenes stop making sense. That's just so Fulci can live up to his nickname "The Father of Gore" and get unleashed, so we can see an impalement on a stake, a tongue nailed to a butcher’s block, eyes gouged out and someone being cut in half while alive. For the unprepared viewer it could be quiet a shock, but for those of us familiar with Fulci's work, it can't come as a surprise. There is also Fulci's traditional fetish in the form of macro shots of the protagonists' eyes, and the director himself, as was always his habit, appears in a small role as an inspector. Considering what he produced since the weak Aenigma, this at least has some of the chops of his older stuff. PS: The decent 4K Blu-ray transfer did the film good. (2023.05.13)