The House of Clocks (1989)

Admirable film.

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

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

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

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.

The House of Clocks was a film by Italian horror master Lucio Fulci made in his later years. Although not up to the standards of his earlier works, it certainly didn't disappoint. Apart from the distracting dubbing, the acting and plot is reasonable enough to make for a good watch.Three teens travel to an elderly couple's house intent on robbing the place. The elderly couple aren't exactly feeble and prudish however; they act out their homicidal intentions on whom they see fit to. Anyway, the teens' plan goes pear-shaped and they end up murdering the whole household: the couple and their gardener. The old man's collection of clocks then turn time backwards, allowing the couple and the gardener to return to life and seek revenge.After that, it gets a little confusing as time seems to then repeat itself yet still go backwards (two police visit as they did 12 hours previously yet the teens die and time goes back all the way to when they were on their way to the mansion). I just think the film could have been brilliant if the plot was just a little clearer and more explained. That said, the ending was satisfying and very fitting. All in all, not Fulci's best but not his worst either.

What a shame that a director with lot of talent such as FULCI did something awful like this! Please carefully avoid this idiot and boring movie, or you might start to change your opinion on the film maker of NON SI SEVIZIA UN PAPERINO, 7 NOTE IN NERO, etc. The absurdity of the plot (time going back after death, for a couple of old stupid murderers, who look like some lovely grandparents) pairs with the absurdity of the situations and the atrocity (I mean lack of skills) of acting and dialogues. Maybe Fulci was in need of some money and was offered an interesting budget, but all the same, it is a movie BEYOND any limit of decency. VOTE: 2/10.