Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #38318 in DVD
• Released on: 2004-03-02
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Dubbed, NTSC
• Original language: Italian
• Dubbed in: English
• Running time: 87 minutes

Review
House By The Cemetery isn't your average haunted house movie. It's the Lucio Fulci version of a haunted house movie, which means that atmosphere is favored over a carefully structured narrative and the shocks often feature extreme, shocking gore (for instance, the opening features one of the more unusual and squirm-inducing stabbings ever shown in a horror movie). Thus, House By The Cemetery isn't for horror fans expecting something as subtle as The Haunting but the film is worthwhile for those who can enjoy a more gruesome and surreal style of horror. Fulci fully capitalizes on the creep-factor of his storyline and mixes in effective bits of subtle, often dreamlike creepiness between the big shocks. The acting in the English language version is impaired a bit by some odd dubbing (particularly the voice used for the family's son) but the actors do a solid job reacting to the film's horrors, particularly frequent Fulci star Catriona MacColl. Finally - and most importantly for a shocker like this -- the film boasts a memorably grueling finale that is capped with a haunting, unexpectedly subtle coda. In short, House By The Cemetery is primarily for Euro-horror fans with strong stomachs -- but this is the kind of atmospheric grue that is perfect for said audience. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide

Synopsis
This cult horror film from director Lucio Fulci lurches along with a certain amount of disjunction due to cutting, perhaps, if not to an innate Fulci disposition. When the Boyle family temporarily moves into a mansion near Boston so the father can do some research, the son Bob (Giovanni Frezza) starts seeing the ghost of a young girl motioning to him, and eventually he discovers the basement's terrible secret. A certain Dr. Freudstein (Giovanni de Nari) has been hanging out there since 1879 when he was banned from the medical profession, and he has kept himself alive although in miserable physical shape, by murdering the various inhabitants of the house and using their cells to keep his body going. An oversize bat attacks the father, floors come apart and crush unsuspecting victims, and at one point little Bob's blond head is held to the basement door by the evil doctor while the father is wildly swinging his axe through the door to save his son. Scenes like these and others are the real objective of the movie -- the strange and irresolute ending, and leaps and gaps in the plot, are indications that all else is dispensible pretext - gore is the goal and it is delivered in sickening doses. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

DVD Menu

• Side #1 --
  • Play Feature
  • Scene Selection

Customer Reviews

underated
This is a very underated film. When i first saw it i thought it was stupid and pointless. But then i saw it again a few years later and changed my mind.The story is ok and the acting is average and like most Lucio Fulci films is there is plenty of gore. If you are looking for a good horror film, this would be a good choice.

Less Gore More Talk
Bon cé surement pas le meilleurs de Fulci et le pire quand meme , j'ai eu beaucoup de misere a comprendre l'histoire (Écouter en V.O) et il est un peu différent des autres , l'aspect appesant est moin mise en valeur dans ce film, nettement moin gore que les autres que j'ai vue. La fin nous laisse sur une longue réflexion comme pour frayeurs (city of the living dead). Bref a voir au moin une fois.

House By The Cemetery Delivers!!
This was the first Lucio Fulci film I've had the pleasure of viewing! I look forward to seeing his other works! The House by the Cemetery hits on all points of a horror movie! It's creepy, eerie and has some awesome killing scenes and GORE!! They don't call Lucio "The godfather of gore" for nothing! The acting? Well, sub-par at best. Plot? Interesting, but not deep. The dubbing well it's pretty bad but who cares it's a great horror film.

The Boyle family move from their cramped New York apartment into an old mansion near Boston so that the father can do some needed research. The new tenants, unbeknownst to them, have a god awful secret living in their basement. A certain Dr. Freudstein has been housed below since 1879 and has kept himself alive by murdering inhabitants of the mansion and using their cells to keep his body going. Gore, horror, and great special effects makes a visit to the House by the Cemetery a killer stay! A knife through the skull, nice throat ripping and slashing, decapatation, and some maggot spewing make for a "pleasurable" movie for the avid horror fan.

We all know horror movies aren't supposed to be deep with Academy Award winning acting. If we wanted that we wouldn't be watching this type of film. I can't compare this film to Fulci's other works because I haven't seen any others, but to me this was impressive and one I would recommend to fans of the genre!!