Lucio Fulci has a reputation as being the godfather of Italian splatter movies, largely owing to a series of movies shot between 1979 and 1982 that included Zombie Flesh Eaters, The Beyond, City of the Living Dead, House by the Cemetery and New York Ripper. These five movies upped the ante when it comes to blood, guts and gore, however, whilst they are among Fulci’s most well known and highly regarded movies they are merely the tip of the iceberg when it comes to an iconic figure of Italian cinema with 61 directorial credits, mostly for feature films across a variety of different genres.

Fulci For Fake is documentary film that looks at the work of acclaimed Italian director Lucio Fulci, directed by Simone Scafidi (Eva Braun & La Festa), the documentary features interviews with a host of Fulci’s collaborators, friends and family. The most notable interviewees include Fulci’s daughters Camilla and Antonella, soundtrack maestro, Fabio Frizzi (City of the Living Dead, The Beyond & Seven Notes in Black), cinematographer Sergio Salvati (The Good, The Bad and the Ugly, City of the Living Dead, The Beyond & Zombie Flesh Eaters) and fellow director Michele Soavi (La Chiesa, Dellamorte Dellamore & Stagefright). Narrated by Nicola Nocella (The Youngest Son & Easy) takes a fascinating look at the personal and professional life of one of Italian cinema’s most beloved visionaries, but also a man who never received the critical acclaim that was afforded to Dario Argento and Mario Bava. 

The documentary is packed with interesting stories about Fulci, the man and behind the scenes stories of his movies. By far the most interesting and informative segments are those with daughter Camilla, who comes across as open and honest and who’s own heart-breaking story is integral to her father’s. The interviews are interspersed with scenes of Nocella, dressed as Fulci to act out scenes from the great man’s life, which gives the film its title. Whilst Fulci For Fake is crammed with interesting interviews with people who knew him well, the one thing that disappointed me was that there was a lack of clips from his movies, and whilst this was probably down to copyright issues, it felt almost wrong to discuss movies like Zombie Flesh Eaters without any clips or even a trailer. 

Overall, Fulci For Fake is an enjoyable documentary that gives an intriguing insight into a fascinating and intelligent man who deserves to be more well thought of. Films like Don’t Torture A Duckling, A Lizard in a Woman’s Skin, Four of the Apocalypse and Beatrice Cenci show there were many more strings to his bow than just the gore movies that he was famous for, and it’s great to hear his daughters and his collaborators talk so passionately about a man that elicits great respect from all those who knew him well, and whilst I would have liked to have seen more clips from his movies it’s certainly not a deal breaker for me.

The Severin Blu-ray features some lovely bonus materials, most notably the full uncut interview with Fulci’s daughter, Camilla, some rare home videos of Fulci’s private life and rare audio clips of Fulci being interviewed by Michele Romagnoli for his memoirs to name just a few. In addition to all of this the Severin blu-ray comes housed in a rather lovely lenticular slipcase that makes the whole thing feel just a little more special.