So much average

Good movie but grossly overrated

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

Running over the tramp was great. The character speaking to someone/or to self by way of tape recorder was interesting. Cinematography was great. Decent acting. Good music. The story was OK, not great. Better if they left out the comedy. The ending sucked. Very watchable.Running over the tramp was great. The character speaking to someone/or to self by way of tape recorder was interesting. Cinematography was great. Decent acting. Good music. The story was OK, not great. Better if they left out the comedy. The ending sucked. Very watchable.

Touch of Death (1988) ** (out of 4) Lester Parson (Brett Halsey) is about as evil as you can get. He spends his time looking for rich old women to fall into bed with and then takes pleasure when it comes time to brutally murder them.This later day Lucio Fulci picture is certainly a mixed bag. On one hand it's a low-budget version of Bluebeard but the budget is just so low that it gives the film an incredibly cheap and unprofessional look. The other side, and the positive one, this does contain some outrageous gore scenes and graphic violence that you can only find in a Fulci film. In fact, the majority of these gore scenes were later used in the director's A CAT IN THE BRAIN.There are some rather surprisingly good elements that can be found here including the black humor that the director brings to the picture. There are some really funny moments including one of the women who is a tad bit hairy and Halsey has to deal with her role hair getting into his mouth. Another funny bit deals with a woman whose legs keep popping out of the trunk that he's trying to stuff her in.The main reason to watch this movie is for the gore. The special effects aren't nearly as good as what we saw in earlier Fulci movies but there's no doubt that the majority of the budget went to them. We've got some pretty brutal stuff here including one woman who gets her head bashed in with a large stick. This here is one of the goriest and most violent moments from any of the director's films. There's also a chainsaw scene, which is just pure Fulci in the campiest way.TOUCH OF DEATH has some major problems as well. The story is pretty much non-existent because it's just a bunch of small scenes. We see him meeting a woman. We then see him killing the woman. There's really not too much that happens here so we're basically just sitting through a bunch of boring stuff waiting for the next death to happen. Halsey offers up a fine performance and you can also spot Al Cliver (ZOMBIE).

There are certain horror directors for whom I've built up so much respect & admiration over the years, that they can't possibly disappoint me know matter what garbage to decide to put on film. Lucio Fulci is surely one of them, but damned, he's trying to disappoint me with his later efforts! You can easily afford yourself to skip most of the films Fulci directed or produced during the late 80's and simply watch "Cat in the Brain" instead, because that one title gathers and repeats the best and absolute goriest footage of no less than SEVEN other Fulci-flicks, including the sickest murders sequences featuring in "When Alice Broke the Mirror". As a whole, this movie definitely ranks among our director's weakest and most pointless achievements. The script is incoherent as hell, the basic premise is totally implausible and somewhat stupid and there's absolutely no suspense to enjoy. I love the title, but it's actually quite meaningless. There is a character named Alice in the story, but it's only a supportive role and she certainly doesn't break any mirrors. I suppose she could break stuff simply using her voice, as she's an opera singer, but she doesn't. The plot revolves on a middle-aged and gambling-addicted playboy who spends his days seducing wealthy widows and killing them for their money. Lester Parson butchers the ladies (as well as unwelcome witnesses) in gruesome ways, makes steaks out of their juiciest body parts and feeds the remainders to his cat. There's also a silly psychological sub plot in which he thinks his own shadow is responsible for the murders instead of him. The difference between "When Alice Broke the Mirror" and some of Fulci's greatest horror films ("The Beyond", "City of the Living Dead", …") lies in the fact that he totally doesn't bother to create a horrific atmosphere. The characters, Lester included, are colorless and boring and the murders are ordinarily depicted; like it's the most common thing in the world to put a woman's head in a microwave or repeatedly run back and forth over a human body with a car. The lighting is poor, the cinematography super-ugly, the editing clumsy and amateurish and the acting performances are downright miserable. If I didn't know any better, I would think Lucio deliberately made a lousy film in order to protest against all the harsh critics that dislike his repertoire no matter how much spirit and effort he put into it. The obvious element to enjoy here is simply the outrageous gore & bloodshed, because even the attempt to blend in black comedy doesn't work properly. As long as Lester swings around his chainsaw and cuts off women's feet, "When Alice Broke the Mirror" is an undemanding piece of horror entertainment, but other than that, there's isn't a whole lot to recommend.

Quando Alice ruppe lo specchio is not Fulci s best. Its far from his "golden era" but its still a good movie, at least a funny and with some good gore elements. Lester is a psycho playboy who needs to seduce and kill rich women to steal their money and keeps his status quo. Also, he is a lost gambler, and he always lose money...so, ugly rich women is his salvation...always. Some good gore (mostly at the beginning of the movie), good funny moments (the mustached lady part is amazing), also some reminiscences to "American Psycho". Its a horror thriller with gore and black comedy. Off course, if you compare this to other Fulci movies (L Aldilla, Paura, etc) this will looks tame and crappy. But, you don't need to compare, and its a good Fulci movie. 7/10