Quella villa accanto al cimitero (1981)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

Lucio Fulci

Writers:

Elisa Briganti (story)
Lucio Fulci (screenplay)

Release Date:

1 March 1984 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

BEWARE THE DEMON FORCES OF THE...BLOOD BEASTS

Plot:

A deranged killer lives in the basement of an old mansion and pops out occasionally to commit grisly murders that include be-headings...

Plot Keywords:

Body Part | Poker | Basement | Stabbing | Blood

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Catriona MacColl	...	Lucy Boyle (as Katherine MacColl)
Paolo Malco	...	Dr. Norman Boyle
Ania Pieroni	...	Ann, the babysitter
Giovanni Frezza	...	Bob Boyle
Silvia Collatina	...	Mae Freudstein
Dagmar Lassander	...	Laura Gittleson
Giovanni De Nava	...	Dr. Jacob A. Freudstein
Daniela Doria	...	First female victim
Gianpaolo Saccarola	...	Daniel Douglas, the librarian
Carlo De Mejo	...	Mr. Wheatley
Kenneth A. Olsen	...	Harold (as John Olson)
Elmer Johnsson	...	Cemetary Caretaker
Ranieri Ferrara	...	Steven, a victim
Teresa Rossi Passante	...	Mary Freudstein

Also Known As:

The House Outside the Cemetery
The House by the Cemetery (USA)
Zombie Hell House (USA)

Runtime:

87 min | USA:82 min (2002 DVD release) | UK:85 min (cut)

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:18 (re-rating: 1988) (heavily cut) (re-rating: 2001) (cut) | UK:(Banned) (1984-1988) | UK:X (original rating: 1981) (cut) | Sweden:18 (video rating) | Canada:16+ (Quebec) | West Germany:18 (cut) | Netherlands:16 | UK:18 (uncut version, re-rating) | Italy:VM14 (DVD rating) | Argentina:18 | Australia:R | France:-16 | Italy:VM18 | Norway:(Banned) (video rating) | USA:Unrated | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Filming Locations:

Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Company:

Fulvia Film

Trivia:

The trailers for the US release of this film were narrated by Brother Theodore.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the scene were Laura Gittleson - the real estate agent is killed by Dr Freudstein, we see her body lying on the floor with her eyes closed and her mouth open. A few moments later we see Freudstein drag her into the basement and her eyes are now open, but her mouth is closed. Then later, when we see her hanging in the basement near the end of the film, her eyes and mouth are both open.

Quotes:

[Ann is kneeling on the floor, mopping up a huge pool of blood]
Lucy Boyle: What are you doing?
Ann, the babysitter: I made coffee.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in House of 1000 Corpses (2003)

One of the better 80s offerings from Italian splattermaster Lucio Fulci.

Professor Norman Boyle (Paolo Malco) moves his wife Lucy (Catriona MacColl) and "cute" (a-hem!) little blonde son (Giovanni Frezza) from New York City to a cursed three-story Boston house by a cemetery. The digs come complete with creaky floorboards, crying/moaning spirits, loud bangs, a rabid devil bat, bleeding walls, a sexy/weird live-in babysitter (Ania Pieroni), the friendly ghost of a little girl and the murderous rotting, eyeless corpse of the house's former owner Dr. Freudstein (Giovanni De Nari); who hides out in the basement and emerges only to hack people up for their blood.

Extremely gory Euro-splatter overdone as only Fulci overdoes it: Why slit someone's throat once when you can do it three times? There's also an impalement (make that three impalements), several decapitations, a knife through the head, a ripped out throat, maggots and other gruesome FX stuff to keep it humming along nicely for spaghetti splatter fans, and it all ends with a Henry James quote! Just be prepared to put up with some choppy editing and bad dubbing. Especially grating is the dub on the little boy... yikes!