The House by the Cemetery (1981)

An academic named Boyle moves his family to the house of a colleague that committed suicide.  He does this in an effort to continue the project that the man was working and to maybe figure out why he killed himself.  What he figures out is that the house, which used to belong to a Dr. Freudstein, is the key.  Seems that Dr. Freudstein conducted some experiments that got him kicked out of the medical profession.  These experiments included using bodies of other human beings to extend his life…  So guess who is “living” in the boarded up basement?  Things go from bad to worse when the good doctor figures out that Boyle has figured it out and that Boyle and his family would make for some good spare parts!

I had the unique privilege of watching this one with my lovely wife.  I say this was a privilege because she never watches this kind of movie.  She started off laughing at the bad dialogue and at times hokey acting.  Oh and she really cracked up at the bit with the mechanical bat and the blood spraying everywhere.  But as the movie went along was soon covering her eyes and saying “ew” a lot.  I can’t think of a better way to describe a Fulci movie and especially this one. 

The story is at times really silly and the characters don’t always do the smartest things.  They have a tendency to stand around waiting for bad things to happen to them.  But the movie is fun.  Even if you are laughing at the flaws and silly stuff The House by the Cemetery will reach out and grab you.  The plot starts off really confusing and it takes a long time to explain itself, but to be fair by the time we get to the big showdown it does make sense.  Though I still have an issue with the ending, which doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.  Then again as soon as the movie ended my wife and I started talking about what the ending was supposed to mean.  That said I really don’t dig vague endings when it comes to my horror flicks.

The gore in The House by the Cemetery is top notch and Fulci fans will be happy.  You have decapitations, neck gouging, a throat getting stuck with a poker, and an arm gets lopped off.  My favorite and most memorable bit of gore involves a knife going thru a skull and popping out thru the mouth.  Now that is a killer effect!  The design of the creature is average and I wasn’t thrilled with it.  But it doesn’t get much screen time so that doesn’t take away from the fun.  Other behind the scenes stuff like camera work and lighting are all nicely done.  There are some really pretty shots in this movie.  You know so many people focus on the gore in Fulci’s movies that they tend to miss the fact that they are really pretty.  The man really knew how to use the camera.

Speaking of looking good I watched the new Blu-Ray from Blue Underground for this review.  They did an amazing job on this disc.  The picture is sharp and really the movie has never looked better.  The Blu-Ray is also packed with all kinds of goodies.  We get an interview with stars Catriona MacColl and Paolo Malco called Meet the Boyles.  They have some great stories about working with Fulci and shooting the movie.  There is also a feature called Children of the Night that features interview with the actor and actress that played the kids Giovanni Frezza and Silvia Collatina.  It was cool to see the now grown up child actors talking about working on the movie and with Fulci.  Also included on the disc are interviews with special effects artists, cinematographer, the writers, and another with the actress that played the real estate agent.  They did such a great job on this Blu-Ray.  Oh and before I forget I thought that it was a nice touch that all the special features are in HD as well.  I wish more companies would do this.

If you like The House by the Cemetery or have just always wanted to check it out then this is the disc that you need to pick up.  For more information on it head on over to Blue Underground’s site at http://www.blue-underground.com/  I highly recommend that you add this Blu-Ray to your collection.

3 ½ out of 4

reviewed by John Shatzer

© Copyright 2011 John Shatzer