Rating: 
Summary: Underrated
Review: A complaint that can be made of just about every one of the many horror films out these days is that they have in some way, shape or form ripped off something from their predecessors. Manhattan Baby is no exception. Although I do not get the overt Exorcist connection that most people see in this film, I can definitely see the parallel with Poltergeist. Interestingly, although the film begins in an Egyptian tomb, most of the action takes place within an apartment-and the stylish way he transmits the claustrophobia of a tomb into this apartment for the duration of most of the film is where I think Fulci triumphs the strongest. Things I thought were effective: the actress who played the girl, the photo in the park, the conjured doorway, the body in the wall, the eyeless entity in the beginning of the film, and (I may stand alone on this one) the attack of the birds at the film's end-this scene was so out there, I was taken in nevertheless . . . strings and all.
Rating: 
Summary: a by the numbers film-yet still worth a view
Review: A complaint that can be made of just about every one of the many horror films out these days is that they have in some way, shape or form ripped off something from their predecessors. Manhattan Baby is no exception. Although I do not get the overt Exorcist connection that most people see in this film, I can definitely see the parallel with Poltergeist. Interestingly, although the film begins in an Egyptian tomb, most of the action takes place within an apartment-and the stylish way he transmits the claustrophobia of a tomb into this apartment for the duration of most of the film is where I think Fulci triumphs the strongest. Things I thought were effective: the actress who played the girl, the photo in the park, the conjured doorway, the body in the wall, the eyeless entity in the beginning of the film, and (I may stand alone on this one) the attack of the birds at the film's end-this scene was so out there, I was taken in nevertheless . . . strings and all.
Rating:
Summary: The end of Fulci's gothic road.
Review: Falling as the very last film in Fulci's "gothic" cycle (consisting of Zombie, City of the Living Dead, House By the Cemetery, The Beyond, and The Black Cat) Manhattan Baby is far to often the victim of bad press, mainly due to the admittedly disappointing lack of gore, somewhat "low budget" production values, and the almost non-existent story. While all of the aforementioned downfalls do exist, they in no way destroy the film as a whole.Manhattan Baby is what all of Fulci's horror films of that period were, an exercise in visual cinema. While this time around the visuals tend to not be of such an evisceary nature, they remain visceral none the less. Heavy clouds of green and yellow envelope the screen in the opening desert scenes, (added towards the end of production, and against Fulci's wishes) creating a vast hopelessness that near rivals his visions of hell in The Beyond. After we move from the desolate landscapes of Egypt, to the claustrophobic confines of a New York apartment, the color schemes move more into blue's and reds, (while not of the extreme Suspiria, or Whip and the Body variety). With this, the atmosphere of the film drops into a creepy drone, very efficiently conveying the confusion and fear of a frightened child. Up to this point the movie works wonderfully, the problem is that it never really picks up a full head of steam after that. Somewhat uneventful deaths follow one after another, all taking place without the patented Fulci gore that fans have come to expect from his films (especially of that era). And while the feel of the movie remains dark in tone and cinematography, most of the "creepy" scenes fail to shock due mostly to a lack of the necessary budget to pull them off. It isn't until the last few minutes of the film that the maestro pulls out all the stops with a neck spurting, face ripping finale. But even that suffers from Fulci's habit of using unconvincing animal puppets in attack scenes, whose similarity to the Muppets can quash the fear from even the scariest of scenes. (See the tarantula attack in The Beyond, and the always loveable Cat in the Brain) One watches this film with somewhat mixed feelings; both enjoying the experience while simultaneously wishing that they could see the film Fulci had envisioned. If he had only been granted the time and money to make the film he had originally set out to achieve, Lucio would no doubt be celebrated for Manhattan Baby the way he is many of his other classics. As it stands though, we still have this, a skeleton that was the makings for a classic that only the Maestro could have pulled off.
Rating:
Summary: The end of Fulci's gothic road.
Review: Falling as the very last film in Fulci's "gothic" cycle (consisting of Zombie, City of the Living Dead, House By the Cemetery, The Beyond, and The Black Cat) Manhattan Baby is far to often the victim of bad press, mainly due to the admittedly disappointing lack of gore, somewhat "low budget" production values, and the almost non-existent story. While all of the aforementioned downfalls do exist, they in no way destroy the film as a whole. Manhattan Baby is what all of Fulci's horror films of that period were, an exercise in visual cinema. While this time around the visuals tend to not be of such an evisceary nature, they remain visceral none the less. Heavy clouds of green and yellow envelope the screen in the opening desert scenes, (added towards the end of production, and against Fulci's wishes) creating a vast hopelessness that near rivals his visions of hell in The Beyond. After we move from the desolate landscapes of Egypt, to the claustrophobic confines of a New York apartment, the color schemes move more into blue's and reds, (while not of the extreme Suspiria, or Whip and the Body variety). With this, the atmosphere of the film drops into a creepy drone, very efficiently conveying the confusion and fear of a frightened child. Up to this point the movie works wonderfully, the problem is that it never really picks up a full head of steam after that. Somewhat uneventful deaths follow one after another, all taking place without the patented Fulci gore that fans have come to expect from his films (especially of that era). And while the feel of the movie remains dark in tone and cinematography, most of the "creepy" scenes fail to shock due mostly to a lack of the necessary budget to pull them off. It isn't until the last few minutes of the film that the maestro pulls out all the stops with a neck spurting, face ripping finale. But even that suffers from Fulci's habit of using unconvincing animal puppets in attack scenes, whose similarity to the Muppets can quash the fear from even the scariest of scenes. (See the tarantula attack in The Beyond, and the always loveable Cat in the Brain) One watches this film with somewhat mixed feelings; both enjoying the experience while simultaneously wishing that they could see the film Fulci had envisioned. If he had only been granted the time and money to make the film he had originally set out to achieve, Lucio would no doubt be celebrated for Manhattan Baby the way he is many of his other classics. As it stands though, we still have this, a skeleton that was the makings for a classic that only the Maestro could have pulled off.
Rating:
Summary: Underrated
Review: First off, this film is only of interest to Fulci diehards. That being said, it's nowhere near his best work, The Beyond. Only those with a short attention span will find it boring, because it isn't propelled by gore. There is some, but nowhere near his other excesses, most notably the final death of the film. The music is good, but for some reason was pulled straight from The Beyond. The story centers around the possession of a young girl from an eye medallion she recieves in Egypt from an old woman with white eyes. The cycle seems to be continuous, with no true end to the eye, which houses an evil force that appears as white light. Like I said, Fulci diehards should seek it out, but it may be tedious to the unconverted.
Rating: 
Summary: Worst Lucio Fulci movie I've seen yet!
Review: I admit, the last four years, I've been buying a lot Euro-horror titles and I enjoy most of them. But this movie I cannot recommend to anybody! I liked ZOMBIE, DON'T TORTURE A DUCKLING, THE BEYOND, and even NEW YORK RIPPER, but this movie just plain stinks! The movie is slow moving and the kid they had portray the son is really annoying! If you watch the extras on the DVD, the director even admits they had a hard time completing the film and that it didn't turn out like they had planned. Also he states that the EXORCIST-type scene was added in at the last minute! This movie is just bad all around and the problem starts with the script! Lucio Fulci shouldn't have made this film! If he were alive, I think he would agree!
Rating:
Summary: Fulci Misses The Mark
Review: Italian horror will never be seen as art to the masses. Even the hardcore fans admit to the cheesiness as being part of the attraction to them, but even though it's a trashy kind of genre, you can screw up! Lucio Fulci screwed up here. To people now taking an interest in Fulci, I'm sure this dvd cover has stared out at you from the shelf at the store and beckoned you to take it home . Don't listen to it! Yeah, it's Fulci, and yeah, it's from Anchor Bay, but don't let that fool you. Manhattan Baby is BAD, even for a Fulci film. With most of his horror films you could always guarantee to have a fun viewing experience, but this is actually quite painful. Everything you love about his previous works is nowhere to be found here. Fulci was actually trying to make a real horror film with suspense and stuff. Many directors accomplish this, but Fulci never has, and he certainly doesn't here. Fulci's films excel in atmosphere, music, gore, cheesiness and just downright strangeness. This film has none of that. It's basically a reworking of the Charleton Heston mummy flick, The Awakening-which was no masterpiece, but better than this. The only purpose this dvd will serve is to make your Italian horror dvd collection look bigger, coz it will get only one or maybe two viewings-mark my words! You just may be better off investing in a Kiss Koffin. That will at least get more use.
Rating:
Summary: Fulci Misses The Mark
Review: Italian horror will never be seen as art to the masses. Even the hardcore fans admit to the cheesiness as being part of the attraction to them, but even though it's a trashy kind of genre, you can screw up! Lucio Fulci screwed up here. To people now taking an interest in Fulci, I'm sure this dvd cover has stared out at you from the shelf at the store and beckoned you to take it home . Don't listen to it! Yeah, it's Fulci, and yeah, it's from Anchor Bay, but don't let that fool you. Manhattan Baby is BAD, even for a Fulci film. With most of his horror films you could always guarantee to have a fun viewing experience, but this is actually quite painful. Everything you love about his previous works is nowhere to be found here. Fulci was actually trying to make a real horror film with suspense and stuff. Many directors accomplish this, but Fulci never has, and he certainly doesn't here. Fulci's films excel in atmosphere, music, gore, cheesiness and just downright strangeness. This film has none of that. It's basically a reworking of the Charleton Heston mummy flick, The Awakening-which was no masterpiece, but better than this. The only purpose this dvd will serve is to make your Italian horror dvd collection look bigger, coz it will get only one or maybe two viewings-mark my words! You just may be better off investing in a Kiss Koffin. That will at least get more use.
Rating:
Summary: Why I Never Wanted a Sandbox
Review: Manhattan Baby, considered a failure by many critics that wanted Fulci to conform to the formula of horror that made him successful, was actually one of his more entertaining movies. This was because it did break from the proverbial mould, building more on a storyline and an ever-present, overwhelming scene of doom. Unlike many of his earlier movies (Zombie, The Beyond) that brought this bleak overview with them as well, Lucio decided to try a new avenue in this presentation, one that only briefly sprinkled gore into the cinematic formula, causing much of the fallout experienced. He said that he wanted to present a more metaphysical terror, using a small array of special effects in the process, that would give his film a more Catholicist, "evil can be beaten but not truly destroyed," mentality. Well, mission accomplished.
The storyline, with its Egyptian focal point, deals with the manifestation of an ancient evil that is awaken (and overused) by a little girl after her foolishly curious archeologist father prods at things best left alone. It has some nice scenes with pieces of dark humor mixed together with catchy "manifesations/proofs of the dark forces present," plus some humorously cheap scenes that keep the movie from taking itself too serious. All in all, its fun and a bit dark at the same time, and is a good film for horror lovers/Lucio fans that remember his Sci-fi trials/Westerners and not simply his gore films.
Rating: 
Summary: Luicio Fulci at his worst
Review: Ripping off POLTERGEIST, THE EXORCIST, this dreadful Fulci film takes place in a dull Manhattan apartment where a family are the victim of an Egyptian curse. Dreadfully boring and makes little sense at times. There is nothing scary about this movie unless you are under five years old and are really gullible and afraid of things flying around on visible strings. Buy THE BEYOND instead even if you already own a copy.
|
