Lucio Fulci's unfortunate swansong was the Louisiana-shot Filmirage production DOOR INTO SILENCE. Based on his own short story, it follows Melvin Deveraux (John Savage) on a delirious road trip as he encounters a mysterious woman (Sandi Schultz, who Savage later married) and DUEL-like encounters with a hearse carrying a coffin with Melvin's name on it. Is it all a product of coincidence and Melvin's guilty conscience, or is he on a collision course with death... As much as Fulci and co. try to keep us in suspense, DOOR INTO SILENCE is a slog through all-too-familiar territory with a lot of filler. There are some nice shots and Savage takes it all seriously, but there's only so long the film can hold your interest.
I first saw this hard-to-see film (it was never released in America) on R2 PAL DVD from the Italian Raro Video. It featured the original English mono track and an Italian dub as well as an Italian-only audio commentary with Italian critics (an English-language DVD was released in Japan years before, but it is out of print). I picked up the barebones Severin disc just to see the differences. The transfers do look slightly different and you can read my review and see the comparison caps over at DVDBeaver.
LINK: DVDBeaver comparison review of DOOR INTO SILENCE.
