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"Touch of Death" Reviews/Discussion - 2012 Horror Challenge: Day 6

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"Touch of Death" Reviews/Discussion - 2012 Horror Challenge: Day 6

Old 09-26-12, 12:03 AM
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"Touch of Death" Reviews/Discussion - 2012 Horror Challenge: Day 6






Touch of Death (1988)



Selected by Trevor



IMDB ENTRY

YOUTUBE LINK

These "October Horror Movie Challenge" threads are for the discussion of the films in the 31 FILM SUBSET list.

MAIN THREAD | LIST THREAD

The plan is for everyone to watch this film on the October day in the thread title, and to start discussing it the morning of the following day.
You may start discussion early if you want, but the preferred plan is for this to be as much of a group exercise as possible, with all of us viewing it "together" and discussing after.

Of course, you are totally encouraged to participate in these threads even if you haven't watched the movie on the designated day.
Even if you haven't watched it in years, or are not participating in the Horror Challenge, please feel free to chime in.



Spoiler tags are unnecessary in here, so if you have yet to see the film BEWARE OF SPOILERS.

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Old 10-06-12, 01:10 AM
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Re: "Touch of Death" Reviews/Discussion - 2012 Horror Challenge: Day 6

I was originally unsure of settling on YouTube quality but I according to imdb.com only lower quality video elements of Touch of Death exist. Kudos to Trevor for suggesting this one. The gory black comedy vibe is great with a distinctive Fulchi feel and well worth it. This is one of those movies that although some of the blue leisure suit era style has not aged well it adds a bit of perhaps unintentional light heartedness (or maybe that was originally intended?). For some reason this reminds me a lot of a Tales From the Crypt episode with the irony, small scale actors, the villain getting his comeuppance. Good movie.
Old 10-06-12, 12:37 PM
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Re: "Touch of Death" Reviews/Discussion - 2012 Horror Challenge: Day 6

The original title is Quando Alice ruppe lo specchio, for those of you doing the alphabet checklist and wanting an easy Q.

I'm streaming it now, catching a break about halfway through to catch my breath. I don't watch Fulci or other really gory films all that often, but I'm enjoying this one so far.

Will probably save it on my computer so I have another Q film for future checklists.
Old 10-06-12, 07:09 PM
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Re: "Touch of Death" Reviews/Discussion - 2012 Horror Challenge: Day 6

going to watch this after the soccer game. We'll see...
Old 10-06-12, 08:38 PM
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Re: "Touch of Death" Reviews/Discussion - 2012 Horror Challenge: Day 6


Well, this film has finally shown me that I don’t really like Lucio Fulci’s work. The first time that I saw Zombie, I was underwhelmed. I thought that City of the Living Dead was average at best. The Beyond is not too bad, but I certainly wouldn’t make a case for it being a classic of world horror cinema. Now comes Touch of Death, and it has proven to me once and for all that Fulci just isn’t a director that I care to follow. He has no discernible style that’s his own, no particular philosophical slant, nothing that really differentiates his work from that of many others. Phil Hardy, in his essential The Encyclopedia of Horror Movies, says that Fulci, and I quote, “is basically a realist director whose work derives its impact from what others put in front of” his camera. I can’t think of one Fulci film I’ve seen that I feel achieved its full potential. For me, Touch of Death is the worst of the bunch. While there are a few amusing touches and a few terribly graphic gore scenes, the film doesn’t hang together as a narrative. I can’t in good conscience recommend it to anybody except the most undiscerning gorehounds.
Old 10-06-12, 09:43 PM
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Re: "Touch of Death" Reviews/Discussion - 2012 Horror Challenge: Day 6

Streaming now, looks great on my Roku. I'm a big Fulci fan, didn't know this was on YouTube. Thanks, Trevor. Also not too familiar with Fulci comedy. Not sure if I like that angle so much. Good gore, though.
Old 10-06-12, 10:25 PM
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Re: "Touch of Death" Reviews/Discussion - 2012 Horror Challenge: Day 6

Undeadcow, totally agree with the Tales From the Crypt comparison. Another film I watched earlier for the challenge, The Night Flier shared that quality, and I also recommend it.

Finally managed to watch a subset film and Touch of Death was a pretty strong one. I'm a Fulci fan, and the guy has such a catalog that I'm always discovering new ones, and thanks to this recommendation I have seen another one. The lighter touch here was great, but it still managed to have an unsettling tone at times. For me, Fulci has lots of recognizable style and thematic elements. The extreme close-ups, jarring cuts, repulsive gore, and perverse misanthropy/misogyny are trademark Fulci.

I had a double-dose of Italian horror tonight and I hope to get some more of these in during the challenge. Fantastic fun! Also happy to see so many other Fulci's that I need to watch were on this guy's YouTube channel. Glad I had a moment to share these thoughts.
Old 10-09-12, 10:22 AM
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Re: "Touch of Death" Reviews/Discussion - 2012 Horror Challenge: Day 6

Wow, this has to have the most abrupt ending to any movie I've ever seen. Dude gets shot, falls down and instantly ROLL CREDITS. I don't think he even had time to die, it's like the editor made a bet to get the film under 90 minutes and realized he was running out of time.

This is only the 2nd Fulci film I've seen(the other being Zombie) and it was pretty entertaining. I liked the dark humor and how pathetic and despicable the main character was. I liked the girl at the end and thought she was attractive despite the lip blemish; and I was glad to see her take out Lester.

I was drinking while watching the movie so I may have missed some important details, but why did the final woman call Lester out of the blue? At first I thought she was an undercover cop working a sting operation... but that never played out. There was a passage of time with the editing and they seemed to have spent some time together developing a relationship before he attacked her and she shot him.

Also the stuff with the shadow kind of escaped me. I thought there would be a significant reveal later on but then I kind of realized that it doesn't matter and it's just for mood. I think Italian cinema tends to be a bit more surreal.
Old 10-09-12, 12:16 PM
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Re: "Touch of Death" Reviews/Discussion - 2012 Horror Challenge: Day 6

This one didn't do to much for me. took me 2 days to finish it.
Old 10-09-12, 01:39 PM
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Re: "Touch of Death" Reviews/Discussion - 2012 Horror Challenge: Day 6

I asked this in the main discussion thread but didn't get an answer. This might be a better place to ask. Is Touch of Death an Italian TV movie or was it just originally conceived for that? I'm wondering as far as the optional checklist goes. I guess if it was originally planned for TV it might be a possible loophole. I would love to knock that one off my list.
Old 10-10-12, 02:50 PM
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Re: "Touch of Death" Reviews/Discussion - 2012 Horror Challenge: Day 6

Watched this today and thought it was just ho-hum. It did have some funny parts in it and mostly held my attention. Some decent gore but the storyline was overall lacking.

Was anyone else as grossed out by the second woman in the movie as I was. Yuck!

My rating: **1/2 out of *****
Old 10-11-12, 03:11 AM
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Re: "Touch of Death" Reviews/Discussion - 2012 Horror Challenge: Day 6

Just watched this movie. Didn't know it was on the list until now. I don't think this was planned for tv but I could be wrong. I thought the lady at the end was a cop but she was just a lady that caught the news at the right time. The shadow was his alter ego trying to stop him from killing, its all in his head. The alter ego left clues for the police to find so Walter couldn't hide. This basically is what tips off the last lady.

The really odd thing about the movie was there wasn't a need for the last lady to confront Walter. She could have just called the police and had them wait for him.
Old 10-11-12, 07:00 AM
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Re: "Touch of Death" Reviews/Discussion - 2012 Horror Challenge: Day 6

Originally Posted by DaveyJoe
...I was drinking while watching the movie so I may have missed some important details, but why did the final woman call Lester out of the blue?...
Subject to interpretation I recall that she allegedly called a wrong number then struck up a conversation but horror movies are starting to blur together at this point so I may be off.
Old 10-11-12, 11:19 AM
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Re: "Touch of Death" Reviews/Discussion - 2012 Horror Challenge: Day 6

Originally Posted by Baron Of Hell
Just watched this movie. Didn't know it was on the list until now. I don't think this was planned for tv but I could be wrong.
Never mind. I looked it up to try to get some clarification. It turns out you are mistaken; it was a TV movie. I just found another review here that had a little bit more information.

Shot for television on 16mm, Touch of Death is visually rather drab, containing none of the 'scope splendor that typified Fulci's earlier works. Unlike some of his other late period TV works, however, there's a genuine sense that the director is enthusiastic about the material and is doing his damnedest to make it work. That he was able to get away with making such a vicious and violent movie within the confines of television is something in itself, but the film gains added points by not being nearly as lethargic and lifeless as many of his other final works.
So, even though I have now already seen a made-for-TV movie, it does look like Touch of Death could be counted as such.

Last edited by clckworang; 10-11-12 at 11:24 AM.
Old 10-12-12, 07:02 AM
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Re: "Touch of Death" Reviews/Discussion - 2012 Horror Challenge: Day 6

Originally Posted by clckworang
Never mind. I looked it up to try to get some clarification. It turns out you are mistaken; it was a TV movie. I just found another review here that had a little bit more information.



So, even though I have now already seen a made-for-TV movie, it does look like Touch of Death could be counted as such.
Thanks for clearing that up clckworang. I'm trying to finish up the checklist this weekend and not quite sure if I have another TV film.
Old 10-12-12, 11:13 AM
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Re: "Touch of Death" Reviews/Discussion - 2012 Horror Challenge: Day 6

Originally Posted by Trevor
Thanks for clearing that up clckworang. I'm trying to finish up the checklist this weekend and not quite sure if I have another TV film.
Cool. I figured that would end up helping someone. It seems appropriate that someone would be you considering it was your subset choice. I wish I had bothered to look for that clarification before I watched a different TV movie! But it was an MST3K, so it wasn't too painful.

I just realized I hadn't actually commented on the film. Overall, I didn't think it was too bad, but as I said in the main discussion thread, I think I have a weakness for gory Italian films. And this certainly qualifies! There were some interesting ideas here, but it didn't completely work. The humor was a big distraction at times; it just didn't always work. I can certainly understand how some people wouldn't like the movie, even if it wasn't so gory. Fulci films can be an acquired taste; I know it took me a while to get into them.
Old 10-12-12, 11:16 AM
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Re: "Touch of Death" Reviews/Discussion - 2012 Horror Challenge: Day 6

Originally Posted by Undeadcow
Subject to interpretation I recall that she allegedly called a wrong number then struck up a conversation but horror movies are starting to blur together at this point so I may be off.
Yeah, I think that's right. I just thought it was unusual that two strangers would want to meet after a couple of mis-dialed numbers. I think that's why I assumed it may be some sort of police sting operation.

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