Lucio Fulci

Italian filmmaker and "Godfather of Gore" Lucio Fulci is best known for his work in the giallo and horror genres. Fulci originally studied medicine before becoming an art critic, and finally decided to work in film as a screenwriter. He wrote his first screenplay for "L'uomo, la bestia e la virtu" in 1953. The film was directed by the prolific Steno and starred the legendary Orson Welles. Working mainly in the comedy genre early in his career, Fulci made his directorial debut in 1959, with "I ladri." He continued to direct comedies throughout the 1960s but turned to more controversial giallo thrillers in the 1970s, with films like "Lizard in a Woman's Skin" and "Challenge to White Fang." Fulci's films were as commercially successful as they were unsettling, often depicting mutilated animals and obscene religious imagery. Fulci's breakthrough in the horror genre came in 1979, with "Zombi II," a film which was marketed as a European sequel to George A. Romero's "Dawn of the Dead." Fulci made some of his most notable and goriest films during the 1980s, with the zombie thrillers "City of the Living Dead," "The Beyond," and the giallo thriller "The New York Ripper." All the films Fulci directed during the early 1980s were viewed as extremely violent and disturbing, and he had numerous creative battles with the films' censors. He continued to write and direct horror films up until his death at the age of 68.