The House by the Cemetery (1981)
Directed by Lucio Fulci
Ah Italian horror, you confuse the ever living shit out of me. I swear either I’m dumb or the majority of these movies are fever dreams. Zombi 2, Cannibal Holocaust, Cannibal Ferox, Eaten Alive, and New York Ripper, I can follow but movies like this and The Beyond, I always have to read up on after. While they confuse me, they still entertain me and the gore is always top notch, especially when Fulci is involved.
House by the Cemetery is about a house by the cemetery, the end. Well there’s this family that moves in and shit hits the fan. Basically there is some presence in the basement that is killing people, but sometimes it is a dream and other times it isn’t but it isn’t always obvious. The evil presence ends up being some derranged doctor that is hundreds of years old. He uses the blood of victims to regenerate the cells of his rotting body. Yeah very original and disturbing.
The special effects are insane, which is to be expected in a Fulci movie. There’s numerous mutilated bodies laying around and brutal kills. Surprisingly there’s no eye trauma, which seems to be Fulci’s trademark. If you have seen Zombi 2 or New York Ripper, then you know what I’m talking about haha. The acting isn’t amazing, but it is hard with Italian movies because they’re always dubbed over, even if the actors are originally speaking English haha. The kid that plays Bob is annoying as hell, and I know I’m not the only one that thinks so.
If you like Italian horror, or can understand it unlike me, you’ll probably like this. It has a fair amount going for it. The gore is crazy, the atmosphere is creepy and the kills are intense. I have a hard time grading these movies, or even reviewing them, but I give this a B-.
