A New England home is terrorized by a series of murders, unbeknownst to the guests that a gruesome secret is hiding in the basement.
Lucio Fulci was an Italian filmmaker who loved to make horror movies. He never shied away from torturing his audience with an overabundance of blood and gore with some scenes going so far they caused outrage and prevented his films from being released in certain countries (see a young prostitute’s eye and nipple being slashed in “The New York Ripper” with a razor blade). Director Edgar Wright had his “Three Flavours Cornetto” trilogy: (“Shaun of the Dead,” “Hot Fuzz,” “The World’s End”), John Carpenter had his “Apocalypse” trilogy: (“The Thing,” “Prince of Darkness,” “In the Mouth of Madness”), and Lucio Fulci had his “Gates of Hell” trilogy: (“City of the Living Dead,” “The Beyond,” “The House by the Cemetery”).
My personal favorite of Fulci’s movies is “Zombi 2,” which had also been released under the titles “Sanguella,” “The Island of the Living Dead,” “Zombie Flesh Eaters,” “Zombie,” “Zombie: The Dead Walk Among Us,” and many more. “The House by the Cemetery” was the last entry in his “Gates of Hell” trilogy and it was also a big letdown, especially when you compare it to the first two entries in the trilogy, “City of the Living Dead” and “The Beyond.” With “The House by the Cemetery,” Fulci wanted to pay tribute to H.P. Lovecraft without actually adapting any of his work. The film was inspired by Henry James’ ‘The Turn of the Screw.’
The movie begins with Norman and Lucy Boyle (Paolo Malco and Catriona MacColl) and their young son Bob (Giovanni Frezza) who are on their way from New York City to the small town of New Whitby in Boston. Norman works for the New York Institute of Research where an ex-colleague of his, Dr. Peterson, had moved to New Whitby to a house in the country where he was staying with his mistress but not long after, he allegedly hung himself after dismembering his mistress. Apparently he was studying suicide statistics before becoming one himself. Norman and his family move into the house but things get weird fast with strange noises coming from the blocked-off cellar. As people begin to mysteriously disappear, Norman discovers that the house used to belong to a Dr. Freudstein, a Victorian surgeon who conducted illegal experiments back in the day. At the local library, Norman digs deeper into the house and its history and realizes that Freudstein’s spirit still dwells within the walls of the house and he must make his way back home before Freudstein kills his wife and son.
“The House by the Cemetery” has to be one of Fulci’s most straightforward narratives ever and because of this, it comes across as just another generic haunted house story. Fulci always managed to add a sense of mystical and otherworldly elements to his movies and while “The House by the Cemetery” is most certainly a supernatural horror, it is your most basic horror. There is nothing within the film that screams original and although Fulci had a knack of provoking ire from cinemagoers and critics alike with his over-the-top and exaggerated violence and bloodshed, here, he appears to be on autopilot, cruising from one insipid scene to the next until the movie’s ambiguous finale.
Blue Underground is doing an amazing job releasing many of Fulci’s old titles as well as other renowned horror filmmakers’ movies in 4K quality. Films like Fulci’s “Zombie” (3-Disc Ltd. Edition/4K), William Lustig’s “Maniac” (3-Disc Ltd. Edition/4K), Fulci’s “The New York Ripper, (3-Disc Ltd. Edition/4K), and George A. Romero and Dario Argento’s “Two Evil Eyes” (3-Disc Ltd. Edition/4K Restoration), are seeing the light of day unlike any of their previous releases and most of these titles also include the soundtrack to the movie. “The House by the Cemetery” is worth a look, especially if you’re a Fulci fan but even if you’re not, it’s worth checking out to see where the infamous director began his downward spiral into mediocrity. For more information about Blue Underground please go here.
Now available on a 3-Disc Limited Edition Blu-ray From Blue Underground
