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:

Poker | Stabbing | Blood | Basement | Body Part

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:

One of the early VHS issues of "House By the Cemetery" in America got several of the film's reels out of order, further confusing the already erratic story.

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:

Bob Boyle: Ann? Mommy says you're not dead. Is that true?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Discovering 'Evil Dead' (2002) (V)

Italian horror at its finest ...

"House by the Cemetery," the late Lucio Fulci's 1981 offering of deliriously extreme violence and terror, is an example of Italian horror cinema at its finest. Along with the likes of Dario Argento, Mario Bava, and Lamberto Bava, among others, Lucio Fulci helped to shape the emerging face of Italian horror, a face often characterized by severely brutal death sequences, suspenseful and garish set-pieces, plot holes and narrative inconsistencies, and, above all, style to burn. For American audiences accustomed to the linear style of our domestic releases, Italian horror cinema may, at times, seem bizarre, confusing, and unnecessarily violent, but it is within this seemingly inaccessible framework that dozens of extraordinary horror films have been borne. Lucio Fulci, a cult director dubbed the "Godfather of Gore" by adoring fans, more than lives up to his moniker in this blood-drenched thriller that, along with John Carpenter's "Halloween" and Dario Argento's "Suspira," evokes one of the most relentlessly terrifying atmospheres ever caught on film. From the opening shot of this movie, the viewer is drawn in by Fulci's dark, ominous style, which sets a palpable tone of suspense and dread that will go unbroken for the remainder of the film. Even in the slower sections of exposition and scene set-up, that feeling of lurking fear never subsides, and it is a testament to the underrated Fulci that he could sustain such an aura throughout an entire movie. In "The House by the Cemetery" the ill-fated Boyle family moves into the secret-filled Victorian mansion of the title, only to quickly discover that something sinister and bloodthirsty is sharing their living quarters with them. Suffice to say, the unwelcome and extremely homicidal border wreaks gore-splattered havoc in a series of over-the-top killings that are brutally shocking in their intensity and duration, but also stylishly filmed by Fulci ... and, in my opinion, essential to the tone and integrity of the story. At the time of his death in 1996, Lucio Fulci was not widely known outside of Italy or outside of his rabid fan base, and it has only been in the past few years that his impressive body of work has received the attention and appreciation it rightfully deserves. "House by the Cemetery" is a genuinely scary film full of hair-raising tension, enhanced by Fulci's masterfully-wrought environment of doom, a creeping score, and, of course shockingly brutal slayings turned high art. This frightening masterpiece is one of the best that Italian horror has to offer, and is a tremendous achievement in film.