House by the Cemetery (1981)

aka Quella villa accanto al cimitero

***THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS THROUGHOUT--YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED***

There are a few titles that come to mind instantly when people talk about Lucio Fulci; THE BEYOND, CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD, ZOMBI 2, and HOUSE BY THE CEMETERY. The last one on that list (and the movie that I'm reviewing today), seems to get the least amount of respect for some reason. I actually have a lot of love for the film, and hold in the same regard as the other three. HOUSE BY THE CEMETERY is a great horror film, Italian or not--though it is an acquired taste. It's a simple 'boogey man' tale wrapped in the guise of a 'haunted house' movie. The title was probably a cash in on the success of haunted house movies like, AMITYVILLE HORROR and THE SHINING which were popping up around that same time, but HOUSE BY THE CEMETERY features a story about something living in the basement, and it's no ghost, it's very real, and very evil---eeeeeevil!

Catriona MacColl is back, and this time she plays, Lucy, the wife of Dr. Norman Boyle (Paolo Malco/THE NEW YORK RIPPER). Dr. Boyle, Lucy and their toe-headed son, Bob (Giovanni Frezza/MANHATTAN BABY), move to a small New England town so the Doc' can do some research on a colleague that killed his own mistress, and then himself in that very town. Once in the town, they stay in the same house where Norman's colleague went mad. Lucy is unhappy due to being a city girl, and Bob is warned by a mysterious little girl to avoid the house (she's able to speak to Bob through ESP...or possibly something even more supernatural).

The house is very creepy, with the family cemetery outside the house, a crypt inside the house (in the front room), and a boarded shut basement door--it's no dream home. There are odd sounds (bangs, scrapes, and typical haunted house noises), and disembodied weeping from what sounds like a small child as well. The couple hire a nanny for Bob--she's a little off her rocker herself, and she seems to know something about the house's history (actually she's just in the movie to throw off the audience. See? I said there would be spoilers). Bob continues to play with the mysterious little girl, that no one else seems to see.

Then we learn that the house does in fact have a dark history. At the turn of the century, another doctor, by the name of Freudstein, lived in the house, killed his entire family, and it has been "haunted" ever since. Seems Norman's colleague was doing research on Freudstein, and went mad---MAD, I tell you! Norman finds the research, and takes over where his friend left off.

It becomes very clear that there is something in the basement, and it's no ghost (unless it's a ghost that breaks every rule of cinematic ghostdom). The thing soon leaves the basement, and the killings begin--though you only ever see the creatures' hands. People are killed one by one until it comes down to Lucy and Bob alone in the basement, where we find that the thing is the preserved living corpse of Dr. Freudstein!

Yes, Fulci throws in red herrings to throw people off (why do people in the town keep saying that they've seen Norman before?), and you have to let go of some logic—this is a supernatural horror movie, c'mon people, let it go. The dubbing is bad, and the dubbed voice of Bob is annoying (though I hardly noticed it anymore). The characters do some dumb stuff, and the idea of a man keeping himself alive in the basement of an old house by surviving on the blood of the living is absurd. My thoughts on all those things are…so? Most horror movies are absurd, but here's the difference between this one, and some others, it's fucking scary! I'm truly glad that I did not see this when I was a child because it would have scared the shit out of me. Now keep in mind when I say it's scary, I don't mean it personally scared me as an adult, that last time a movie frightened me, I was probably 9 years old. What I mean is, the plot of the movie is scary, and in the hands of Fulci, it becomes a nightmare brought to life. Just put your self in the shoes of the victims, and tell me you wouldn't be scared.

Just like THE BEYOND and CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD; HOUSE BY THE CEMETERY comes across as a horrible nightmare--a child's nightmare. Our imaginations as children can really conjure up some scary nightmares. As adults, we know there's no boogey man in the closet, but a child doesn't know that...for sure. Did you ever have a dream of being chased? Usually you'd wake up right before the 'thing' stalking you finally catches you. Then there's the dreams falling? You'd usually wake up before the splat, right? Not this nightmare--the boogey man here is real, he's after you, and he's gonna' gets you! The ending of HOUSE BY THE CEMETERY is one of the scariest moments in horror movie history. The nanny gets it, the dad gets it, the mom gets it, all in front of the eyes of their child, and then, yes--even the little boy gets it (not shown, but implied). Fulci straight up didn't give a fuck about the rules of horror, and that's why he is so fucking awesome!

Walter Rizzati provides the score for this one, not Fabio Frizzi, though for some reason I thought he did, probably because it's so great. Sergio Salviti is behind the camera again, and gives the film that great atmosphere expected from a Fulci film. The actors all do there typical thing, nothing to brag about. Givanni Frezzi, who plays Bob, gets most of the jeers from horror fans, just because he's overly angelic to the point of being ugly. If Hitler had won the war, we'd all look like Bob--and that would be a scary thing indeed. I mentioned the horrid dubbing, and lil' Bob gets the worst of it. The funny thing is, he's also in Fulci's MANHATTAN BABY, with a different and less annoying voice—seems they got it right that time.

Fulci's favorite victim, Daniela Doria shows up in the opening scene to be killed off with a knife through the back of the head, and out through the mouth, another one of my favorite Fulci death scenes. The gore throughout is great, in fact, the lady that gets it with a fire poker, and the nanny's decapitation are two other standouts. Though it's not gory; the scene where Lucy is being pulled down the stairs, and her face bumps every step is pretty well done as well. The bat scene is the only piece of gruesomeness that film probably could have done without.

Then there's the Freudstein character itself. What a great boogey man. He's evil, ugly, strong, and scary--everything a slasher villain should be. It's probably good that HOUSE BY THE CEMETERY wasn't very successful, or there would probably have spawned a sequel, and we'd have ten HOUSE BY THE CEMETERY movies by now. Freudstein could have been Fucli's Jason or Freddy or Michael Myers, and thankfully that didn't happen. HOUSE BY THE CEMETERY was a one shot thing that didn't get raped over time by shitty sequels. We probably would have had a Rob Zombie 're-envisioning' of it 20 years later, as Trailer Park by the Cemetery.

Fulci brings nightmares to life through his films, and HOUSE BY THE CEMETERY is no different. It's gruesome fun, and a horror classic in this reviewers humble opinion.

HOUSE BY THE CEMETERY trailer