Lucio Fulci was a great filmmaker and unquestionably one of the most essential & influential horror directors that ever lived; still not all his movies are masterpieces. This one could be considered as one of his weaker efforts, especially because it got released amidst his most notorious achievements like "The Beyond", "City of the Living Dead" and "New York Ripper". "Manhattan Baby" is slightly more ambitious than we're used to see of Fulci and I'm not quite convinced whether that's a positive change. There are no hideous zombies or sexually perverted killers in this script, only supernatural types of malice and they're not exactly strongest trumps. During a research vacation in Egypt, a New York archaeologist is blinded inside a pyramid whilst a local witch gives his daughter an uncanny medallion. Back in the States, George's blindness only appears to be temporary but the medallion and its evil powers are there to stay! The evil spirit of an ancient Egyptian deity possesses his two children and suddenly there are doors leading to other dimensions, people vanishing inside elevators and ferocious scorpions crawling out of bedside drawers. The plot is incoherent as hell and makes absolutely no sense, like it's some sort of supernatural puzzle nobody expects you to solve. Oh well, senseless or not, Fulci still takes the time to implement his favorite trademarks, like loads of eyeball-terror for example! The very first character to die has his face impaled on stakes, the good old-fashioned Lucio Fulci way! The gory bits, along with the music are the only worthwhile elements in the entire movie. "Manhattan Baby" is slow-paced, poorly edited and just way too confusing.
Review of Manhattan Baby
