Voix Profondes

A morbid little TV movie in the style of "Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense" or "Tails of the Unexpected". Viewers expecting fulci's ultra violent horror may be disappointed. Even so, given the limited budget and TV format he added a realistic autopsy scene together with repeated shots of a corpse in various stages of maggot ridden decay. The only thing that works against this film is that every scene is shot in soft-focus and very brightly lit, which spoils the overall effect. Also it has a happy ending a rarity for a Fulci movie.

Not an essential film by any means but certainly one for fulci's fans. Wait for the end titles though as it includes an odd dedication to Clive Barker from Fulci.

This is one of the last films Fulci directed and you can tell. As this is a decent film it is not a horror movie. It's more of a mystery with very little of what made Fulci a great horror/gore director. It really does stray from the norm for Fulci as this story is more on the story and characters than it is on gore.

Basically, a very wealthy man dies an unnatural death (spewing up blood). His family are all a bunch of money grubbers except his daughter (who is the star of the movie). She has a dream one night that her father comes to her and tells her that he was murdered and that she needs to find the person that killed him before it's too late.

Now, the story is kind of interesting but things just don't click together. You can tell with many of the scenes that Fulci was trying to incorporate his psychedelic horror style but the story wasn't right for that style. There were though many scenes that were good and very eye catching. The music in the movie was very hypnotic and enjoyable. The big problem with this movie is the gore. There is very little gore. The gore that is in the movie doesn't even go on par with his work in the late 70's and early 80's. Though, there was one funny scene at the beginning of the movie involving a crying child and his crazed father threatening to stab him with a knife.

Over all, for Fulci fans I have to rate this a 3/10. For a regular movie, I have to rate this a 5/10. It's not bad but it's not good.

The spirit of a dead businessman enlists the help of his daughter to help find out who murdered him. Made for TV this is one of notorious Italian film director Lucio Fulci's last movies, a far cry from his classics such as The Beyond and Zombie Flesh Eaters, but at least slightly better than the awful The Sweet House of Horrors. Despite having an obvious TV movie look we do thankfully get some Fulci trademarks such as a maggot infested corpse, gore, female nudity (topless) and even a short zombie sequence. But really this movie is recommendable to Fulci fans only, the story is silly, the English language dubbing is appalling, a mother and daughter are played by actresses who were only a couple of years apart in age, some slow motion flashbacks look crap and I was getting a bit bored towards the end. Highlight is Fulci's cameo carrying out a gory autopsy. I love many of Lucio's movies but I won't be watching this one again.

Rest in peace, oh no, not this sorely departed soul. He wants his conniving killer revealed with the help of his innocent daughter. One of his last directorial efforts, Lucio Fulci presents something peculiar, and very patchy. You wouldn't think you're watching a made-for-TV presentation though. While not packed with violence, there's still a persistent mean-streak with Fulci's signature style. 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. 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.

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. Those prolonged dreams, and sometimes nightmares were striking and strange, along with the flashbacks, but without them there wouldn't be any thrills/intrigue/exposition/shocks - just melodramatic tropes and cold stares. While the narrative hardly comes out of first gear, its slow nature gives off a hallucinogenic vibe with the screen being soaked in moody imagery, foreboding aesthetics, swirling camerawork and a distinctive score.

This supernatural mystery doesn't entirely come together, yet remains hypnotic in its ideas and atmosphere.

"Voices from Beyond" is an overall solid Italian thriller, padded with typical Fulciesque gore scenes. I say padded because you'll quickly notice that, albeit very cool and delightfully gruesome, the gory bits are absolutely irrelevant to the story and they just seem to be included because the fans expect no less from Mr. Fulci. The gore occurs during several nightmare-sequences, a totally gratuitous autopsy and through repeated images of a slowly decomposing corpse. The rotting process goes incredibly fast here, by the way. Only moments after the burial, the corpse is already covered in maggots and cobwebs! Anyway, you certainly don't need these gloriously gooey moments in order to follow the story, but they sure make the movie more entertaining and easier to digest (…except if you have a weak stomach, of course). The actual story, written by Lucio Fulci himself, is quite compelling and revolves on the arrogant and despicable Mainardi family. The patriarch – Georgio – died from food poisoning, but his soul is restless and can't help thinking his dead was a carefully planned murder conspiracy. Therefore he seeks supernatural contact with the only remaining person he can trust, namely his cherubic teenage daughter Rosy. Guided by the voice of her departed father, Rosy investigates the various reasons why the entire Mainardi family wanted Georgio dead. The premise might sound a little silly; yet "Voices from Beyond" is quite involving and the tension is adequately build up. The film as a wholesome may not rank among his best efforts, but this is definitely one of Lucio Fulci's finest achievements in directing! There are several highly imaginative scenes to state his mastery, most notably the part where Georgio's body lies in state and the family members come to pay their last 'respects'. With each person standing before him, we are informed – through flashbacks - about the conflicts (read: possible motivations for killing) between him/her and the deceased. Very powerful! There are negative aspects as well, of course, like the occasionally poor dialogs and monologues, especially when Georgio's soul speaks! I suppose this is why dead people don't talk… They say stupid and cheesy things. Also, you should prepare for a dull and completely UNexciting climax. It's a really lousy ending to an overall recommended thriller. Now then, who wants a slice of eyeball-omelet?