House by the Cemetery Blu-ray DVD Movie Review
House by the Cemetery Blu-ray DVD Movie Review
Directed by Lucio Fulci, starring Catriona MacColl and Paolo Malco.
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It's a buyer's market in the Fulci Blu-ray department this week — perhaps the most anticipated one is the double-edition disc of Zombie, but for me, 'SOLD!' is the newly restored version of House by the Cemetery. I saw it for the first time last year at a revival screening and the print was stressed to the max, but I still enjoyed the bad dubbing, atrocious acting and hilariously dumb characters. Seeing it on Blu-ray brings everything even more sharply into focus (excuse me for a moment, while I remove my specs for dramatic effect)… and it is quite a sight to behold.
Meet the Boyle family, they're new in the neighborhood. They obviously didn't read the fine print when purchasing their roomy, tomb-y house by the cemetery — it's already occupied… by zombies! Or are they ghosts? Or demons? Eh, who cares? It's a Fulci flick and reason and logic (even as applicable to the supernatural) are summarily thrown out the bay window from the git-go.
Dr. Norman Boyle (Paolo Malco), a professorial type complete with eyeglasses and elbow patches, and his beautiful, braless wife Lucy (Catriona MacColl) move into the spacious manor with their cherubic young son, Bob (Giovanni Frezza). Bob is blonde, blue-eyed and has the voice of an angel… a Hell's Angel on helium, that is. Not only is his vocal dubbing particularly grating, but his dialogue is to die for. Good times.
Shortly after the trio unpacks and makes themselves at home-sweet-home, the next door neighbors from the cemetery swing by to welcome them, borrow cups of sugar, and try to tear them limb from limb. Lucy is pulled into a tomb, Norman is lured into the basement by a berserk bat, and little Bob (a hilariously incongruous name for such a pretty little boy) is being sexlessly seduced by the girlie ghost of Mae Fruedstein (Silvia Collatina). It's all quite simple, plot-wise, but the presentation is sheer Fulci style-trumps-substance.
In the Zombie Blu-ray DVD extras intro by Guillermo del Toro, he says that film has some of the most beautiful imagery… but I find House by the Cemetery far more picturesque! Sergio Salvati's cinematography shines here, taking advantage of every crooked angle, every steep stairway, and every haunted alcove. I'm not sure if the house was practical or a set, but whichever — it's stupendous. The restoration does it many favors, bringing out the blacks in the shadowy corners, caressing the colors in the art-deco stained glass windows, and making that silly attack-bat look even more fake than it already did. Love, love it.
I mean, really: What's not to love about a classic Italian horror film which incorporates a haunted house, a mad scientist, a local library which holds all the secret research, a tombstoned cemetery, flesh-eating cellar-dwelling zombies, an evil imaginary friend with a devilish doll collection, a clueless cavalcade of victims, gore galore, AND an over-the-top vampire bat-bite…? Right?
Speaking of the extras, there are several brand-new, shot in HD interviews with the cast and crew of House by the Cemetery, the best of which (IMO) are the kids, all grown up. For whatever reason, it's called "Children of the Night" (however, Dr. Lois Lee is nowhere to be found). One of the first things Giovanni Frezza (Bob Boyle) brings up is the deplorable dubbing (BTW, there is an Italian language track available as well, for purists) and is quick to recall the ribbing he's gotten all his life. Silvia Collatina (Mae Freudstein) has some interesting stories to tell about being cast, and getting to go from home-base in Italy to shoot in the U.S.
There are also interviews with several of the crew members, including screenwriter Dardano Sacchetti and his co-writer Elisa Briganti, cinematographer Sergio Salvati, makeup and effects artists Giannetto De Rossi and Maurizio Trani, and actor Givanni De Nava. The interviews run for about an hour, plus there's a 1-minute deleted scene (very, very funny after reading the crawl in the beginning about the "exhaustive search" to locate it), plus two trailers, a TV spot, and posters and stills.
Extras:
· Meet the Boyles – Interviews with Stars Catriona MacColl and Paolo Malco
· Children of the Night – Interviews with Stars Giovanni Frezza and Silvia Collatina
· Tales of Laura Gittleson – Interview with Star Dagmar Lassander
· My Time With Terror – Interview with Star Carlo De Mejo
· A Haunted House Story – Interviews with Co-Writers Dardano Sacchetti and Elisa Briganti
· To Build a Better Death Trap – Interviews with Cinematographer Sergio Salvati, Special Make-Up Effects Artists Giannetto De Rossi & Maurizio Trani, Special Effects Artist Gino De Rossi, and Actor Giovanni De Nava
· Deleted Scene
· Theatrical Trailers
· TV Spot
· Poster & Still Gallery
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Reviewed by Staci Layne Wilson