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10 Best Italian Gut Muncher Horror Movies

These films are a real munch to the gut.
Italian Bloody Horror
By  · Published on October 29th, 2019

5. City of the Living Dead (1980)

“Gut-muncher.” This particular description sends my stomach immediately to sour. I could get sick just writing this blurb. The phrase conjures up a very specific image. One that I saw when I was far too young, and one that will occasionally infect my mind at random times to this day. Lucio Fulci is a master of the gnarly, and I love him for it, but gaaawwwwwd, when City of the Living Dead‘s phantasmic Father Thomas psychically assaults Rose’s mind, forcing her to regurgitate every molecule of her insides, I have to cry “Uncle!” It’s too much. No. Please, stop. I gotta go. BLARGH! (Brad Gullickson)


4. The House by the Cemetery (1981)

Directed by Lucio Fulci, the Godfather of Gore, The House By The Cemetery is a grisly and beautifully indulgent dive into gut-munching delight. The film’s plot follows a family who moves from New York to rural New England to live in a house known as — in signature Fulci subtle fashion — the Freudstein mansion. Terror befalls them as it becomes clear that someone or something is lurking in the basement, intent on devouring anyone who makes the mistake of venturing too deep into the manor’s mystery. The plot is loosely structured, some might say barely there, but frankly who cares — the film is a hell of a lot of fun, zealously gory, and a showcase for the skills that have endeared Fulci to cult fans everywhere. (Anna Swanson)


3. Cemetery Man (1994)

For those unfamiliar with Michele Soavi’s Cemetery Man, imagine if Constantine were a red-wine chugging horny Italian and you’re half-way there. Romantic, creepy, and frequently hilarious, the titular Cemetery Man is Francesco Dellamorte (Rupert Everett), the lonely caretaker of the Buffalora graveyard, where the dead have a habit of rising as man-munching zombies. Beautiful man-munching zombies I might add; hauntingly decrepit and captivatingly colorful. They’re lusty and slow, (except when they’re on motorcycles), back-talking with impunity and giving our existential anti-hero as much of a hard time as possible. It’s a terrifically weird film with zombies to match. (Meg Shields)


2. Demons (1985)

The ‘80s were a hysterical time. Some uptight people believed that horror movies and heavy metal music caused genuine harm to people, so Italian maestro Lamberto Bava unleashed a splatterfest that exploited this crazy notion. Demons is about hellspawn that enter the realm of the living via a movie theater screen, so it takes the idea of movies harming people and makes it literal. The soundtrack boasts a variety of hair metal bands that encountered their fair share of controversy back in the day, and there’s a scene depicting a motorcycle/katana sword massacre. (Kieran Fisher)


1. Zombie (1979)

Munchy horror-Zombies have been chewing on living flesh for ages, and odds are they’ll continue to do so long after you’re dead, but you can’t have a serious discussion about Italian gut-munchers without showering Lucio Fulci’s 1979 classic Zombie with all kinds of love. The third act goes heavy with the literal meals made out of intestines and such, but the film is filled with highlights. A zombie fights a shark! The infamous eyeball meets wooden sliver scene! Zombies shambling slowly across the Brooklyn Bridge! This is top 10 zombie shenanigans, and I’ll hear no dissent. (Rob Hunter)

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Chris Coffel is a contributor at Film School Rejects. He’s a connoisseur of Christmas horror, a Nic Cage fanatic, and bad at Rocket League. He can be found on Twitter here: @Chris_Coffel. (He/Him)