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House of Clocks

Spencer Wendleton | Independence, MO United States | 01/02/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Fulci's sucess is a teeter-totter of unravelled contents and zombie-head explosions, but House of Clocks isn't a gore epic. I enjoyed this movie because of the inventive plot-concept Fulci uses to engage, not confuse--as in some of his flicks such as City of the Walking Dead. The characters, a trio of cleptos, find themselves caught up in a time warp started when they accidentally kill an old couple in their clock-ridden mansion. Don't give up until the end, the twist is deadly and I admit, it put a twisted smile on my face. There are a few gory moments--a lot of bullet wounds--in this movie, but if that's all you care about, then look somewhere else. Fulci fans need this as much as I need a damn good zombie movie."

UTTERLY STRANGE.....

Mark Norvell | HOUSTON | 01/08/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is a very weird film by Italian goremeister Lucio Fulci that was originally made for an Italian TV horror series called "House Of Doom" but was deemed too violent to be shown on TV. It concerns a wealthy elderly couple in a large estate which the husband has filled with all manner of ticking clocks and timepieces he has collected over the years. They seem benign at first but are revealed to be insane. They have murdered their niece and nephew-in-law and entombed their rotting corpses in the estate's chapel dressed in wedding attire. The wife, Sara, also murders the maid in the greenhouse when she discovers the corpses and threatens to leave. Meanwile, three fresh faced pot-smoking thieves (two guys and a girl) decide to rob the estate. Things go awry and the elderly couple is killed along with their one-eyed gardener. When the old man dies, his grandfather clock stops ticking and all the other clocks follow suit. The young thieves panic and try to get out but the couples' three big black Dobermans stand guard trapping them inside. Then all the clocks start spinning backwards and time begins reversing. The dead gardener, maid and elderly couple come back and begin killing the thieves leaving only the girl watching helplessly while the dead niece and nephew-in-law also return to life and kill the elderly couple! Whew! As if this wasn't enough, the whole thing turns out to be a nightmare experienced by the thieves simultaneously before they broke into the house! After discussing the "dream" and laughing it off, they decide NOT to rob the house and drive off only to die in a bloody car accident when the black cat they had found and put in a bag leaps out and mauls the driver's face causing him to run off an embankment. Well. As for complicated plot twists, this takes the cake. Fulci's reputation for gore is evident here as there is plenty of it in the deaths of the characters. The dubbing is ludicrous at times but not too bad and the film moves along rather nicely with the twists sustaining interest throughout. The performances are good and the photography is excellent. It's creepy, spooky and even scary at times. The DVD presentation is fine and the transfer is crisp and clear. I've read that this is tame for Fulci but I find it handled rather well. It's very watchable and I recommend it as a really strange Italian horror film for buffs. Check it out."

Vintage Lucio

Spencer Wendleton | 05/14/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"HOUSE OF CLOCKS is the best post-1982 movie Lucio Fulci ever made, and delivers the same style of shock violence as his zombie movies.Made for Italian TV, but pulled because it was too gory, CLOCKS will certainly never be shown on British or US TV due to the extremely graphic bloodshed on display, some of which is easily as nasty as his full blown horror movies.The plot involves a trio of unlikeable petty thugs, who accidentally kill an old couple who live in a house full of ornate antinue clocks. They don't know that the murdered couple are serial killers (and very mad, bloodthirsty ones at that!). Wose yet, is that when they die, the clocks stop. Once the clocks start turning backwards, the couple return from the grave and set out to get revenge.Effectively blood spillage mixes well with old-style shocks (including chainsaws suddenly smashing through doors), and its' novel idea makes this a much better bet than the hopeless SWEET HOUSE OF HORRORS, which was shot back-to-back with this.As yet unseen in the States or in the UK, HOUSE OF CLOCKS is essential viewing for Fulci fans, and a good bet for gore fans also."

Decent

Mark Norvell | 12/16/2002

(3 out of 5 stars)

"House of Clocks is typical Fulci past his prime. While interesting enough to get diehards like me to buy it, the film really isn't anything special. It has some nice gore effects, but overall House of Clocks is a rather pedestrian affair. You won't be missing anything if you skip this, but it isn't bad if you do. Maybe a few more dead bodies would have me rate this higher. Thanks to the advent of DVD and the insuing resurgence of interest in Italian horror, I'm thankful we can even see this at all."