Olivier. It was not intended, I think, as a compliment.” This state of emergency caused Luigi Ciccarese to lose his grip on the situation. Some of the images he shot, following Fulci’s will to capture the strange, solar light of Sicily, are simply overex- posed and out of focus. As the scenes weren’t covered, this over- blown footage turns up in the fi- nal cut. Fulci’s volition to find an alternative to Salvati’s visual style didn’t pay off.
Everything was shot faster and faster as the days passed, giving an amateurish flavor to the whole project instead of the final masterpiece Fulci initially wanted. Clarkson recalls that the most simple safety rules were chucked
Isabella Corradini as the lead possessed nun.
out the window—for example, in the deaths of Sean and Kevin: “Throughout the day, when ask- ing about the fall-into-the-pit scene, both Pascal and I were told that we had stunt doubles and would not be needed for that scene. We were ac- tually introduced to the guys. However, by the time it came to shoot that scene, they’d gone home, so Pascal and I ended up doing it. It was an inte- rior and it was night. There was no rehearsal that I recall. [...] It would, we were told, be filled with mattresses. But I do remember that when we shot the scene, the only thing visible was the light smack in the eyes. All else was deeply dark. I seem to recall that a cut was called, early in one take, and I was told I was looking into the camera (a no-no in movie-land), although I had no clue as to where the lens was, behind the lights that were blinding us. So, on the next take, I tried to not look wher- ever it was I had been looking before. Maybe, di- rections were being called by Fulci, as I went through the motions. I remember that, when it came the moment to fall into the pit, I wasn’t re- ally sure whether or not I was headed for the hole. As it happened, it was perfect. In fact, more per- fect than I knew. It was brighter in the hole and I did not have light in my eyes. When I heard the cut for the scene, I opened my eyes and found myself looking straight into a rock abutment that was not covered by mattresses, not two centime- ters from my face. I’d barely missed either death or a major concussion, by the grace of God.” Christmas was getting close, but there wouldn’t be any miracles and Fulci, except for his beard, didn’t look like Santa.
38 December 25, 1989
We got to the set at the top of the mountain. Getting information, for an actor, is one of the hardest parts of the job. Where is the scene shooting? What section are we going to do first? By steady prodding and asking the right people, you can finally get the information. An assistant director—Antonio [Tentori, who remained uncredited, was on the set]—was always quite helpful. He’s a quiet sort of guy. You wouldn’t suspect him of being such a horror movie participant. He would kindly show us where things would be happening and go over in halting English at least an approxi- mation of what was going to be included in the shot. The costume people were really fucked- up. Dear Hilda (another one surprisingly involved with horror) was always fussing about—but she never quite got it right. It was not necessarily her fault. Lots of the confusion can come right down to pre-production planning—or the lack of it. Fulci just doesn’t seem to have these things organized. And he screams. He screams at everyone all the time. It’s not necessarily an angry scream, but it is tiring after a short time.
In spite of Fulci’s constant yelling, the movie took form. The murder victims’ screams covered those of the director. Every image evoked other times, even if DEMONIA failed to capture the overall structure of ZOMBIE or THE BEYOND: seemingly chaotic movies that relied upon the capacity of the spectator’s gaze to make irrational links
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