Ask any Euro-Horror/Fulci fan and they'll probably tell you that by the time Fulci's Touch of Death had rolled around, the erratic director's talents had all but dried up. Still, Touch of Death, one of Fulci's many attempts at a return to form is not quite as demeaning to Fulci fans as some of his other dreck from around that time. As with my recent review of Murder Rock (review here), I feel the need to stress that Touch of Death is not Fulci's finest hour by any stretch of the imagination. Still, there are some standout scenes and historically speaking, the film should be considered (for fans, at least) an essential part of the Fulci lineage. I'd imagine that someone trolling around a local Best Buy, looking for just a 'horror flick' would be placed in an angry, letter writing kinda mood after viewing this one, so be warned. However, Euro fans and Fulci fans alike (or at least the very brave) would be wise to give this little seen exploit a look-see. If this is your first introduction to Fulci, don't start here.

Pretty much everything about this movie is sick. From its story and execution to some of the sleazy over the top performances and even a few of the stand out set pieces. Touch of Death centers around the character of Lester Parson (played by Brett Halsey). Lester is a womanizing and gambling addicted sleaze ball, who doesn't even seem to get his two biggest passions in life right. When we're first introduced to Lester, we are led to believe that the man has got it all together (for a crazy nut that is). From the information that we're given, it would seem as if Lester befriends rich (and as Fulci would lead us to believe, ugly) widows, wines and dines them, and then kills them in order to reach right into their purse. So yeah, he's not really a stand up guy. Fair enough. Day one finds Lester chomping on a steak that we learn has come from his most recent victim's thigh. Lester appears to enjoy his meal, as he watches a videotape of his former 'lover;' scantily clad and prancing around for his amusement. Why Lester finds pleasure in watching these tapes of woman he was (at one time) obviously repulsed by is beyond me. It's from this point on that things begin to fall apart for Lester. Included in this crumbling is some much needed consistency in Lester's actions.

Lester's work begins to get messy. Except when he's hacking through a victim with a chainsaw. He doesn't even get a drop of blood on his stylish baby blue polo. His most apparent failure is in an attempt at slipping something a little 'extra' into his latest victim's drink. This scene in particular (one of the goriest set pieces in the film as well) is particularly unsettling. Lester chases this (bearded) woman around the house, clobbering her on the head. She falls, gets up and tries to escape as Lester clobbers her some more. Things only get weirder for Lester as he is anonymously contacted by a woman (played by Make Them Die Slowly star Zora Kerova). And it would appear as if 'someone' knows what he's been up to.

So, basically what we're left with is a mostly inane hodge podge of a gory horror/black comedy hybrid. Most upsetting of all is the fact that Fulci's strong point (as most fans can attest to) is NOT in the world of black comedy. I think fans (myself included) tend to take it a bit easier on Fulci when he's down, because when he's hot, he is really hot.

Presented full frame, Touch of Death is certainly not going to win any film to DVD transfer awards. For starters, this DVD was taken from a video source, which is evidenced from a ghostly haze at points along with a couple of glitch/drop outs. That being said, for a video transfer, Touch of Death doesn't look that bad. Which really isn't saying too much, it doesn't look that good either. I really feel as if it would have benefited Media Blasters to mark Touch of Death down as a budget title. But still, if you wanna see this flick, options are currently sparse. Audio options include either English or Italian with English subs. I don't know whether to believe the dub or sub for accuracy but the fact that the sub job refers to Halsey's character as 'Pearson' instead of Parson, could be a definite clue. Plenty of other inconsistencies here in the translation as well, including a phone number that's translated differently in the dub than it is in the sub!

Extras however, are where this disc truly shines and alone are almost worth the price of admission. A Fulci interview runs over nearly the entire length of the film with subs, and to be honest, may be the preferred way to watch this flick. Zora Kerova provides an onscreen interview while proclaimed Fulci expert Paolo Albiero speaks on the man and his career. And of course there's a still gallery and plenty of Media Blasters trailers to round things off in the end. While neither the presentation, nor the film itself are Fulci at his finest, there's still enough to recommend here for fans and completists alike.