House by the Cemetery (1981)
Often considered the worst of Lucio Fulci’s “Gates of Hell” trilogy, The House by the Cemetery is constantly mocked for a its less-than-stellar dubbing and nonsensical plot. However, I am here to tell you why I think this film deserves another look from you, dear reader.
If you are not already familiar, the story begins in perhaps the creepiest house ever committed to film, Daniela Doria is getting dressed after a romp with her boyfriend. She calls for him, but there is no answer. She finds him at last, but wait a second, he’s been brutally murdered with a pair of scissors. She screams, and as she’s doing so gets done in herself. After this ever-so-awesome exposition we meet the Boyle family living in New York, consisting of the uber-badass Paulo Malco as the father, Norman, the great Catriona MacColl as the mother, Lucy, and the unmatched awesomeness known only as Giovanni Frezza the son, Bob, who has a telekinetic bond with the ghost of a young girl. When Boyles move to New York, all sorts of insane carnage find them. The reason for this is because their realtor (the worst ever to don a red blazer) convinces them to move into creepy house that also happened to once be the home of the most feared of doctors, the mad Dr. Freudstein. I won’t waste your time going into the carnage that occurs once the Boyles get situated, but let me assure, once they are in the house, this movie gets extremely creepy, very quickly, thus cementing itself, in my mind at least, as a worthy addition to your cult or horror collection.
The edition of this film that I am reviewing is the Arrow Video “Masters of Giallo” edition. Let me just say, if you ever are interested in purchasing this film, buy this edition. It really is worth every cent. What you get in this package (and yes it is a package) is a short, but very sweet indeed, documentary, entitled “Fulci in the House: The Italian Master of Splatter” detailing what are widely considered to be Fulci’s “golden years” (1979-1981), featuring interviews with Tony Timpone, Joe Dante, and Lloyd Kaufman, an international and domestic trailer, a TV Spot, a Deleted Scene, and a Photo Gallery to round out the bunch. The disc presents “The House by the Cemetery fully uncut in its original 2:35:1 aspect ratio with a Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo track. The video and audio look very good considering the film’s age and you have to appreciate the preservation of the film’s original aspect ratio. As for the packaging, you get a double-sided jacket featuring two covers: the original video/poster art and very cool, newly commissioned poster art by Rick Melton, a poster featuring the new art on one side and a list of “Masters of Giallo” titles on the other, and, finally a booklet entitled “Video Nasty Vixen!” by Calum Waddell, featuring an interview with the lovely star of the film, Catriona MacColl.
So, in closing, see “The House by the Cemetery if you have an interest in Lucio Fulci, surreal horror, or euro-horror, and buy the Arrow Video DVD if you are interested in the film. Just remember, “In this house, what you don’t know will hurt you.”
Film Rating: 3 out of 4
DVD Rating: 4 out of 4
reviewed by Brendan Keating
© Copyright 2010 John Shatzer
