The House of Clocks (1989)

Three lowlife punks are trapped in a posh villa while trying to rob it and become at the mercy of the murderous owners whom have the power to stop and reverse time via their mystical clocks."The House of Clocks" is one of four films made for the Italian cable TV series House of Doom. Lucio Fulci himself would direct two films for the series (the first being "The Sweet House of Horrors"). Director Umberto Lenzi would also direct two films ("House of Witchcraft" and "House of Lost Souls"). Unfortunately the finished films were deemed too violent by producers and were never aired.Al Cliver is mostly memorable for starring in exploitation and horror films such as Lucio Fulci's Zombi 2, The Black Cat, The Beyond and Demonia. Here he plays a semi-blind handyman. Karina Huff, who is actually English, went on to appear in Fulci's "Voices from Beyond" (1991) and Luigi Cozzi's "Demons 6" (1989).This is by no means a terrible film. No one would deem it Fulci's best, but given the limitations of working in television, it seems rather good. I much prefer it to Argento's "Do You Like Hitchcock?", for example.

Lucio Fulci is one of the most important Italian horror film-makers for sure but by the tail end of his career the quality of his output got pretty bad. The House of Clocks falls into this bracket unfortunately. It would only be fair to say that part of the issue in this one was that it was a made-for-TV production, so it was of a noticeably lesser budget than he was used to. Production values are consequently bargain basement in every respect, which does nothing to help this film in any way. Interestingly, despite being a made-for-TV movie, it seemingly was never actually shown on television due to its explicit violence. There are several cheap gore sequences punctuated throughout and do at the very least alleviate the tedium at least to some extent. The story is about three thieves who break into the house of an elderly couple. Trouble is, these oldsters are psychopaths and their house of clocks has supernatural powers with the ability to reanimate the dead.The story is certainly unusual enough to garner at least some credit. But it's just not really executed in a very good way at all. For the most part it's kind of tedious in actual fact, while it never looks anything other than cheap with very little in the way of atmosphere. By the late 80's the Italian film industry was struggling financially and it's certainly an indicator that the man who made so many good to excellent genre pics ended up working on a low quality TV production such as this. Overall, this one can really be recommended to Fulci completists only.

For a while, it looks like "House Of Clocks" will be a rarity in Lucio Fulci's filmography: a film whose main strength is the script. The initial idea is simply awesome: magical clocks that stop and reverse time itself. Add to that the fact that the seemingly harmless elderly couple that collects those clocks are actually a pair of twisted maniacs, and you have the recipe for an ambitious sci-fi / horror combo. Unfortunately, Fulci and his co-screenwriters don't seem to have thought their ideas through. The hands of the clocks are constantly being shown moving backwards rapidly - but, while this is happening, the action on the film goes both backward and forward. Where did those clocks come from? Does the elderly couple control them or do they "act" on their own? Does the situation affect time in general or time inside the house? Why does it affect only some characters and not others? To these and other questions....don't expect answers. There are some pleasingly old-school, graphic gore effects, some nice visuals (Fulci even manages to work zombies into the story!), a fitting music score, but the problem remains: this film makes absolutely no sense, even on its own terms. ** out of 4.

Fulci's early horrors (THE PSYCHIC; ZOMBIE; CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD) featured protagonists that the audience could root for. Goofballs, in some cases, but you cared whether they got splattered or not. Most of his later works were just gore free-for-alls between detestable characters that you hated from Frame One. HOUSE OF CLOCKS definitely belongs in the last category.Sarah and Victor Corsini live with their servants in a remote mansion. We find out immediately that the rich old coots are not only murderers with two corpses stashed in a back room, but killers with elitist attitudes as well. Old Victor has filled the mansion with all manner of watches and clocks, which he talks to as if they were the children he never had, thank God. Into this happy household come two hoodlums and their girlfriend. (When she talks her way into the mansion with the old "broken down car" story, this young lady asks Corsini, in all seriousness, "Do you collect CLOCKS???" Well, Doy-EEEE!!!!) Brief comedy aside, the trio that's come to rob ends up committing mass murder; the Corsinis and caretaker Al Cliver end up as bloody messes on the floor.Then the clocks and watches start running backwards. You can probably guess what happens next.Unlike another late Lucio opus, DEMONIA, HOUSE OF CLOCKS doesn't have one person in it to root for. It does boast some good moments and creepy atmosphere which is more than can be said for SWEET HOUSE OF HORRORS. The ending is pure poetic justice, as a crime committed by the thugs early on catches up with them. And for those who want gore and nothing more, this film delivers blood and guts by the bucketful. Where else but in a Fulci flick would a character suffer a small stab wound and have her intestines come spilling out?Best of all, HOUSE OF CLOCKS is a perfect metaphor for Lucio Fulci's career. Long-time fans and newcomers alike should definitely watch his last films first and then work their way back.