Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #14262 in DVD
• Released on: 2001-05-21
• Rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 81 minutes

Special Features
English
Region 0

Synopsis
A fantasy tale of the macabre, focussing on the bizarre events that occur when a young family take up residence in an eerie house by a cemetery. An evil demon lurks within their home...

Customer Reviews

teenage thrills
i remember seeing this at the cinema , aged 16 and scared the heck out of me! it later became a mainstay of our 'tuesday night video b movies',
scoring well on gore,laughs and downright cheesiness.
if you are a fan of b horrors you'll love this.

VORTEX OF FEAR
If I have to be objective, I would say that I understand why some people criticize The House By The Cemetery for being a film that lacks of logical explanations all the way through. As a matter of fact, regardless of how much I love this film and how biased I can be, I admit that it is overflowing with nonsensical and misleading sequences that only add a little bit of confusion. This is not the only occasion when Fulci is accused of being ambiguous and practically senile for developing such random and unsystematic states of affairs in one of his films. However, it is not the only time in which the results are unquestionably effective and unforgettable either. I think we ought to accept by now that several Italian horror movies, let alone the ones directed my fulci, are not exactly to be praised because of their plot and exceedingly appropriate logic. The hight point in The House By The Cemetery, along with many other films directed by Lucio Fulci, is without a doubt the atmosphere and pleasant demonstration of fear provoking imagery.

In The House By The Cemetery, Dr. Boyle moves to the countryside in New England with his wife Lucy and his obnoxious little son Bobby, his purpose is to continue an unfinished research and find out what happened to his colleague, who killed himself and his mistress for no apparent reason. Dr. Boyle, who is pretty excited about the research and the fact that he is going to earn five thousand dollars extra, tries to cope with the constant ranting coming from his wife and little Bob, who claims he sees a little girl who says they shouldn't go to the house. Despite the consequences, Dr. Boyle prepares for his research, without even considering that Bobby's so called hallucinations and lies should be taken seriously. In the cellar of the house, there is something waiting for them. Something that is beyond anyone's nightmare and the Boyles are about to find out what it is.

Like I said before, it seems many people were deeply offended by the lack of logic and while I'm not saying this is untrue, personally I don't think its a blame worthy feature. Building up an extremely sensible story, obviously wasn't Lucio Fulci's strongest suit. However, what this film lacks in logic is surpassed with other things, for instance, Dr. Freudstein, who is definitely one of the most horrendous villains and his bone chilling appearance throughout the last minutes. The sequence in which we see the family trying to fight against this outlandish creature, taken from Fulci's worst nightmares, is by far one of the most shocking and professionally made scenes I have ever witnessed in a horror movie. Not to mention that there is also a nice share of gore as a bonus for those who always in he mood for brutal murders and guts all over the place. It seems like I may be one of the few who enjoyed the nonsensical succession, like for example, the flash back in which little Mae sees a mannequin loosing her head, or the eyes close up on the arrival of Ann to the house. Those were some of the most criticized and somehow far fetched little details that I personally enjoyed, for contributing to develop Fulci's nightmarish atmosphere, which is somehow his trademark. The music is also one of one of the things I really enjoyed about this film, although it seems like not many people noticed that little nicety. Its quite melancholic and beautiful. The same music is used from the baginning until the end, which somehow helps to create a less fearful atmosphere at the right moments. I think The House By The Cemetery is one of those films that only pleases horror fans who can accept Fulci's films for what they are, instead of focusing on the ambiguity and lack of logic. This film is enjoyable for its atmosphere and nightmarish sequences. I wouldn't want it any other way.

Thank you for reading my review.

One of Fulci's big four
If you are a Fulci fan, you will probably want to add this to your collection as "House by the Cemetery" comes from Fulcis generally recognised "golden age" of movie making. The plot tells of Norman and Lucy Boyle, a young couple who move to a remote mansion with their young son Bob for a summer of rest and relaxation, only to find that the place is haunted by an evil presence living hidden in the cellar. After several near misses and lots of spooky bad omens, the family discover the identity of the sinister occupant and end up fighting for their lives to escape his twisted plans.

The film tries to weave a web of unease and mystery around the secret in the cellar, and for a while it really works. The camera work and the general look of the locations is pretty good, with a sense of brooding gothic mystery hanging over the poor family. The house itself looks particularly impressive in most of the external shots. However the story rapidly unravels as the film proceeds to throw countless red herrings into the mix and then either completely abandons them (people claiming to have seen Norman at the house in the past, the things that Bob's mysterious playmate Mae tells him about the house's former occupants), or blatantly contradicts itself (most notably the Boyles babysitter, Ann, who's behaviour suddenly swings from one style to the total oppostive with no explanation). But if you can put the irregularities of the script to one side, you should enjoy the ride on a purely shallow level. Lots of scenes are drenched in great atmosphere, such as those involving the enigmatic Mae, and especially the last portion of the film when we get to see exactly what has been going on in the depths of the cellar.

The acting's pretty good, and even though poor Bob has been given a thoroughly unconvincing vocal dub, the scenes with him in peril are among the best that Fulci has ever filmed. I would point out his "axe through the door" scene as one capable of producing a real jolt from any first time viewers. It's also one of the only Fulci films with an enigmatic ending that actually works - I love the other-worldly closing scene and find it very fitting. Plus, it's extremely gory, especially the death of one character who is slowly and repeatedly stabbed with a poker, with blood shown jetting out of every close-up wound. Another character has her throat repeatedly slashed with a large knife until her head appears about to drop off.

So worth adding to any horror collection, as long as you don't mind a plot with quite this many loose ends. However, to the shame of the UK, the British censors are still too squeamish to release the film totally uncut, so I wouldn't recommend this Vipco version, even though it is pretty cheap, because all the gory excesses of the murders have been trimmed. Fulci's trademarks are his gore set-pieces, always presented with lots of suitable build up to, so tampering with them as has been done here dilutes the film's power considerably. You get what you pay for, which is why the Vipco version is forever languishing in the bargain bins. So leave it where it is...The Anchor Bay Region 1 import is the one to go for.