Cemeteries Movie Reviews

The House by the Cemetery:An unsuspecting family (Katherine Mac Coll, Paolo Malco & Giovanni Frezza), who move into a new house but something lurks under thier house from the basement holds a horrifoc secert that could destroy team.

The Beyond:In the early 1920's, a man-who is a Warlock (Antoine-Saint-John) has been tortued and murder by the Clan from the Townspeople of New Orleans. Then 60 years later-a woman (Katherine Mac Coll) recieve a Hotel from her deceased Uncle and then strange things starts to happen to the very depths of Hell Itself.

T.H.B.T.C.-Directed by Lucio Fulci (The Black Cat, Gates of Hell, Zombie) made a clever but uneven bizarre horror film, which is well directed. The Screenplay by Fulci, Giorgio Mariuzzo & Dardano Sacchetti, from a Story by Elisa Briganti. has some genuine suspense and thrills but it's hurted by a far-fecthed ending that makes the film a unsatisfying factory. DVD's has an clean anamorphic Widescreen (2.35:1) transfer and an fine Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround Sound. DVD Etxras are:Theatrical Trailers, T.V. Spot, Still Gallery & Talent Bios. It's definitely worth seeing (Lulci's fans will love this). Techniscope. Grade:B+.

T.B.-Directed by Lucio Fulci (Manhatten Baby, The Psychic, Lizard in a Woman's skin) made a clever, horrific, supernatural horror story with a Knockout Ending. Many Critics & Fans considered to be Fulci's Masterpiece. There's good performances by Mac Coll, David Warbeck and Cinzia Monreale. Excellent Make-Up Effects by Gianetto De Rossi, Creppy Score by Fabio Frizzi and Terrific Cinematography by Sergio Salvati highlights this flick. From a Screenplay by Fulci, Dardano Sacchetti & Giorgio Mariuzzo, from a Story by Sacchetti. DVD's has an good anamorphic Widescreen (2.35:1) transfer & an strong Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. DVD's extras are:An good entertaining and funny commentary track by Actors:Warbeck & Mac Coll, Trailers, Music Video and More. Do not miss this one. Not for the Squeamish. Techniscope. Grade:A-.

1981 was a terrific year for Lucio Fulci. In that year, between the releases of Argento's INFERNO in 1980 (the same year Fulci made CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD/THE GATES OF HELL) and TENEBRE in 1982 (the same year Fulci made THE NEW YORK RIPPER and MANHATTAN BABY), Fulci ruled Italian horror with back-to-back masterpieces. Of course, I'm talking about THE BEYOND and THE HOUSE BY THE CEMETERY, two of Fulci's most popular horror films that only get better with age!
THE BEYOND, in my humble opinion, is an extremely close second to SUSPIRIA as the greatest Italian horror movie of all time! In it, Catriona/Katherine MacColl renovates a Louisiana hotel she inherited only to discover that it rests on one of the seven gateways to Hell! Throughout the ensuing hour-and-a-half, pun intended, all Hell breaks loose, with the most gruesome imagery Fulci has ever committed to celluloid (e.g., crucifixion, acid bath, tarantulas, a head explosion, and Fulci's trademark eyeball violence), and it all looks totally realistic and awesome, right up there with any of Tom Savini's work! I really loved MacColl's prescence in THE BEYOND, as she's just so lovely to look at; John Saxon-lookalike David Warbeck is also really cool here as well (he was in Fulci's previous Edgar Allen Poe offshoot THE BLACK CAT, also in 1981), especially when dropping bullets through the barrel of his gun. I got the totally awesome soundtrack at my first horror convention a few months ago.
THE HOUSE BY THE CEMETERY also has MacColl, this time as a mother who, along with her doctor husband and son, move into the titular residence in Boston. The doctor is continuing the research conducted by a colleague who offed himself; the research is on one Dr. Freudstein, whose unorthodox methods involved killing people to keep himself alive. More Fulci mayhem such as a knife through the head (with the blade sticking out of the mouth), decapitation, and a neck-ripping. I got a HOUSE BY THE CEMETERY t-shirt featuring the 1984 poster artwork (on the Diamond release) at my first horror convention a few months ago, the safest representation of Fulci that you can get!
You must get this 2-pack if you want definitive Fulci. THE BEYOND has a terrific audio commentary by MacColl and Warbeck (a few weeks before Warbeck died) which is amusing and informative, among a slew of awesome extras. THE HOUSE BY THE CEMETERY has a photo and still gallery set to one of the creepy compositions in the score. This is a double-dose of Fulci mayhem at its greatest, most Argento-like; a definite must-watch!

When it comes to Fulci, it's very very hard to find a movie that's not 100% brutal horror mayhem. With this very excellent package, we get two of these very gnarly films. Both of which are a gorehound's best dream, or nightmare in this case.

The Beyond - This is probably one of the greatest examples of the horror genre. It embodies so many different elements of horror in one very twisted way. It's got loads of gore, eye gouges, exploding heads, zombies, hell, evil house, and a beautiful female hero. There's nothing to not like about this movie (double negative). This movie is probably one of the goriest movies ever made. From the first 3 minutes it grabs you and doesn't let go until the rather ambiguous ending. It's a great piece of splatter cinema that every self-respecting horror fan should see.

House By The Cemetery - Classic haunted house movie with a lot of gore. I wouldn't say it had as much gore as Zombi 2 or The Beyond, but it had more than the average haunted house story. I saw some similarities with Amityville Horror, but there aren't many. It's very original and the whole plot kind of confused me. I'm probably gonna try to watch it again soon. It's a very good movie, though.

The acting and the basic theme of the film -- how people handle further attachments after losing a spouse -- are good. There are a number of funny lines and poignant moments. The main romance is handled well and realistically on an emotional level. The final scene in the music store was unfortunately marred by Ben's phoney stuttering when he tries to get out the word marriage. The idea is fine, but the execution seemed really hokey. All in all, an enjoyable film that had a lot of nice touches, particularly the bedroom/hotel night scene.

This review is of the Diamond release of this film. The movie itself is a superb entry into Fulci's body of work and Italian horror movies in general. It has more taut suspense and more competent gore/effects than most other films in the genre. This particular DVD however is one of the most poorly authored comercial DVDs I've ever seen. First, the movie is broken into only 4 chapters, making finding a particular scene quite difficult and time consuming. Second, the picture quality is in the fair to poor range (think pre-viewed VHS). Third, the sound quality is that of a worn and warped record, with plenty of hiss and pops to compete with the mono soundtrack. And finally (and also the most egregious offense), if you watch through the credits, at some point the screen will go black for about two minutes, then there's some digital blocking, followed by ten or so seconds of something (I'm not sure what, perhaps a trailer for the movie), and finally the screen turns blue and reads: "Laser disc stop side-B"! Hmmm, I wonder what they transfered this DVD from. The only thing that makes this disc at all worth buying is the movie on it and its price. If you really need to save the money, buy this disc. But, if you want a good film in a good transfer on a good disc, buy the Anchor Bay edition. I sure wish I had bought that one first.

Typical Fulci fare about a young family who settles into a creepy, run down house that comes complete with cobwebs, killer bats and a BEAST IN THE CELLAR. The lovely Catriona MacColl returns and gives (as usual) a very good performance. The child actor in the film is quite adorable, looking very much like a male version of the POLTERGEIST child star Heather O Rourke. However the dubbing is where this film gets irritating. It sounds like adults were used to dub the child's voices and the end result is extremely annoying.

Before I begin analyzing the gore/violence, I do want to point out that the film's score is quite beautiful. Many scenes in the film are enhanced by the melodic yet eerie score which is rare in a FULCI film.

THE HOUSE BY THE CEMETERY is Fulci's slowest moving film. It opens with a couple of brutal slayings but you'll have to wait at least another 30 minutes before another life is extinguished. Fulci fans however don't view this as a problem because the film delivers the goods during those few key moments. It has a tremendous amount of Gore. There are head stabbings, throat rippings, and a very graphic be-heading. What disturbed me about this movie was how well done many of these scenes were. It had me questioning my morals as a human being. Why do I like seeing innocent people suffer? Why do I enjoy seeing innocent people being savagely carved up & slaughtered? I honestly can't answer these questions. But this film DID leave me with a very uncomfortable feeling after viewing it.

SO please keep this in mind, if you can stomach the repulsiveness of these films, you should find HOUSE BY THE CEMETERY interesting viewing and the THREE STAR RATING I gave the film is solely for those who like this sort of morbid unpleasantness. All OTHERS, please AVOID AT ALL COSTS. You will do yourself a dis-service by viewing these types of films.

I really enjoyed this film a lot. I'd only seen one other Fulci film. That movie was really good, though i vaguely remember that parts of it made no sense. Still, i can't wait to own it on dvd. House By The Cemetery is a really good haunted house movie. Don't bother over-analyzing this movie. Just watch it with all the lights off like i did. The first thing i noticed was how incredibly great and effective the music was. The music that accompanies the opening credits and the scene immediately following that where the boy is looking at the photograph of the house is very beautiful. That music reminded me of another memorable piece of music from the horror classic Phantasm. I love when horror movies use instrumental music instead of the current trend of using songs from current pop rock and heavy metal groups, which totally ruins things in my opinion. I love pop rock and heavy metal, but neither genre belongs in a horror movie because it just takes the scariness of the movie away totally. Horror movies should be about building atmosphere through music, not selling a current band's tunes. I give the opening and closing credits music a five star rating. Secondly, the cinematography is excellent, and the director builds tension and suspense with good camera work and also the effective use of sound effects. The gore is fairly decent, and very excessive in several scenes, as it is with most Italian and Euro horror movies. A lot of people talk about the annoying kid in the movie. I thought he did a good job for a kid his age. They should have picked someone who looked more like a boy. I'm pretty sure his voice was dubbed, and they should have picked a better-sounding voice. Maybe it's the kid's voice that everyone finds annoying. All in all i really liked this movie a lot. It has some really great elements to it and i found it very stylish and effective. I'd definitely watch it again.

This review is of the Diamond release of this film. The movie itself is a superb entry into Fulci's body of work and Italian horror movies in general. It has more taut suspense and more competent gore/effects than most other films in the genre. This particular DVD however is one of the most poorly authored comercial DVDs I've ever seen. First, the movie is broken into only 4 chapters, making finding a particular scene quite difficult and time consuming. Second, the picture quality is in the fair to poor range (think pre-viewed VHS). Third, the sound quality is that of a worn and warped record, with plenty of hiss and pops to compete with the mono soundtrack. And finally (and also the most egregious offense), if you watch through the credits, at some point the screen will go black for about two minutes, then there's some digital blocking, followed by ten or so seconds of something (I'm not sure what, perhaps a trailer for the movie), and finally the screen turns blue and reads: "Laser disc stop side-B"! Hmmm, I wonder what they transfered this DVD from. The only thing that makes this disc at all worth buying is the movie on it and its price. If you really need to save the money, buy this disc. But, if you want a good film in a good transfer on a good disc, buy the Anchor Bay edition. I sure wish I had bought that one first.

Typical Fulci fare about a young family who settles into a creepy, run down house that comes complete with cobwebs, killer bats and a BEAST IN THE CELLAR. The lovely Catriona MacColl returns and gives (as usual) a very good performance. The child actor in the film is quite adorable, looking very much like a male version of the POLTERGEIST child star Heather O Rourke. However the dubbing is where this film gets irritating. It sounds like adults were used to dub the child's voices and the end result is extremely annoying.

Before I begin analyzing the gore/violence, I do want to point out that the film's score is quite beautiful. Many scenes in the film are enhanced by the melodic yet eerie score which is rare in a FULCI film.

THE HOUSE BY THE CEMETERY is Fulci's slowest moving film. It opens with a couple of brutal slayings but you'll have to wait at least another 30 minutes before another life is extinguished. Fulci fans however don't view this as a problem because the film delivers the goods during those few key moments. It has a tremendous amount of Gore. There are head stabbings, throat rippings, and a very graphic be-heading. What disturbed me about this movie was how well done many of these scenes were. It had me questioning my morals as a human being. Why do I like seeing innocent people suffer? Why do I enjoy seeing innocent people being savagely carved up & slaughtered? I honestly can't answer these questions. But this film DID leave me with a very uncomfortable feeling after viewing it.

SO please keep this in mind, if you can stomach the repulsiveness of these films, you should find HOUSE BY THE CEMETERY interesting viewing and the THREE STAR RATING I gave the film is solely for those who like this sort of morbid unpleasantness. All OTHERS, please AVOID AT ALL COSTS. You will do yourself a dis-service by viewing these types of films.

I really enjoyed this film a lot. I'd only seen one other Fulci film. That movie was really good, though i vaguely remember that parts of it made no sense. Still, i can't wait to own it on dvd. House By The Cemetery is a really good haunted house movie. Don't bother over-analyzing this movie. Just watch it with all the lights off like i did. The first thing i noticed was how incredibly great and effective the music was. The music that accompanies the opening credits and the scene immediately following that where the boy is looking at the photograph of the house is very beautiful. That music reminded me of another memorable piece of music from the horror classic Phantasm. I love when horror movies use instrumental music instead of the current trend of using songs from current pop rock and heavy metal groups, which totally ruins things in my opinion. I love pop rock and heavy metal, but neither genre belongs in a horror movie because it just takes the scariness of the movie away totally. Horror movies should be about building atmosphere through music, not selling a current band's tunes. I give the opening and closing credits music a five star rating. Secondly, the cinematography is excellent, and the director builds tension and suspense with good camera work and also the effective use of sound effects. The gore is fairly decent, and very excessive in several scenes, as it is with most Italian and Euro horror movies. A lot of people talk about the annoying kid in the movie. I thought he did a good job for a kid his age. They should have picked someone who looked more like a boy. I'm pretty sure his voice was dubbed, and they should have picked a better-sounding voice. Maybe it's the kid's voice that everyone finds annoying. All in all i really liked this movie a lot. It has some really great elements to it and i found it very stylish and effective. I'd definitely watch it again.