The House by the Cemetary [4K Ultra HD Blu-ray]

Overview

This cult horror film from director Lucio Fulci lurches along with a certain amount of disjunction due to cutting, perhaps, if not to an innate Fulci disposition. When the Boyle family temporarily moves into a mansion near Boston so the father can do some research, the son Bob (Giovanni Frezza) starts seeing the ghost of a young girl motioning to him, and eventually he discovers the basement's terrible secret. A certain Dr. Freudstein (Giovanni de Nari) has been hanging out there since 1879 when he was banned from the medical profession, and he has kept himself alive although in miserable physical shape, by murdering the various inhabitants of the house and using their cells to keep his body going. An oversize bat attacks the father, floors come apart and crush unsuspecting victims, and at one point little Bob's blond head is held to the basement door by the evil doctor while the father is wildly swinging his axe through the door to save his son. Scenes like these and others are the real objective of the movie -- the strange and irresolute ending, and leaps and gaps in the plot, are indications that all else is dispensible pretext - gore is the goal and it is delivered in sickening doses.

Product Details

Release Date:	08/25/2020
UPC:	0827058750493
Original Release:	1981
Source:	BLUE UNDE
Language:	English
Time:	1:26:00
Format:	Blu-ray
Sales rank:	9,767

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Paolo Malco	Dr. Norman Boyle
Anna Pieroni	Ann, the babysitter,Actor,Ann
Giovanni Frezza	Bob Boyle
Catriona MacColl	Lucy Boyle,Actor
Dagmar Lassander	Mrs. Gittelson
Giovanni de Nari	Dr. Freudstein
Silvia Collatina	Actor
Giovanni De Nava	Actor
Carlo De Mejo	Actor
Lucio Fulci	Actor
Walter Rizzati	Composer

Technical Credits

Lucio Fulci

Dardano Sacchetti

Giorgio Mariuzzo

Elisa Briganti

Lucio Fulci	Director,Screenwriter
Dardano Sacchetti	Screenwriter
Giorgio Mariuzzo	Screenwriter
Fabrizio De Angelis	Producer
Nazzareno Cardinale	Stunts
Giannetto De Rossi	Special Effects
Nazzareno Cardinali	Stunts
Maurizio Trani	Special Effects
Elisa Briganti	Screenwriter

Editorial Reviews

House By The Cemetery isn't your average haunted house movie. It's the Lucio Fulci version of a haunted house movie, which means that atmosphere is favored over a carefully structured narrative and the shocks often feature extreme, shocking gore (for instance, the opening features one of the more unusual and squirm-inducing stabbings ever shown in a horror movie). Thus, House By The Cemetery isn't for horror fans expecting something as subtle as The Haunting but the film is worthwhile for those who can enjoy a more gruesome and surreal style of horror. Fulci fully capitalizes on the creep-factor of his storyline and mixes in effective bits of subtle, often dreamlike creepiness between the big shocks. The acting in the English language version is impaired a bit by some odd dubbing (particularly the voice used for the family's son) but the actors do a solid job reacting to the film's horrors, particularly frequent Fulci star Catriona MacColl. Finally - and most importantly for a shocker like this -- the film boasts a memorably grueling finale that is capped with a haunting, unexpectedly subtle coda. In short, House By The Cemetery is primarily for Euro-horror fans with strong stomachs -- but this is the kind of atmospheric grue that is perfect for said audience.

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