The House by the Cemetary (DVD)

Norman and Lucy Boyle move, with their young son Bob, from New York to a house in a small town where Norman has been engaged to do some research. Almost immediately, they realise that there is something not quite right with the house - there are strange noises and things that go bump in the night - but think it must be their imagination. Then things begin to get out of control and the Boyles really begin to fear for their lives. Will they manage to escape from the house by the cemetery? And is there really something in the cellar that wants them dead? Having recently seen Black Cat, another eighties film directed by Lucio Fulci, I was interested in finding ...  Read the complete review

A review of just the film - there are plenty of different DVD releases available, but the one I have is from the cheaper end of the market, and isn't worth reviewing as a DVD. Another video nasty, an Italian frightener from 1981. The director, Lucio Fulci, directed three or four very good horrors in the early 80s. This ticks most of the boxes, having gore, a menacing atmosphere and some great scares - if it had only made me feel genuinely uneasy it would belong with the true greats of the genre. A professor of some kind goes to stay in a rural house with his wife and young son, to continue the work of a recently deceased colleague. The house soon ...  Read the complete review

Well, come on. If you decide to live in an old abandoned house by a mass cemetery surrounding the place then you’re bound to be asking for trouble. House by the Cemetery certainly adheres to that forgone conclusion to become another zombie flick from Lucio Fulci. This film is loosely linked to three other zombie flicks in the series, Zombie Flesh Eaters, The Beyond and City of the Living Dead and is no relation to House on the Edge of the Park. They don’t carry on in terms of story but all have the same basic elements lent to one another. Despite it being released theatrically in Britain it still got dubbed as a ‘video nasty’ and therefore got hold of some notoriety when ...  Read the complete review

There are few movies that have been affected quite as badly as a result of the UK's video nasty furore than The House By The Cemetery. In 1984 when certification kicked in and movies started to become banned when our government was trying to turn us into a nanny state House By The Cemetery was one of the first to go. Ironically in 1993 after nearly ten years in the wilderness it was one of the first of the former video nasties to get a release, then by the now defunct S. Gold & Sons sub label Vipco (S. Gold & Sons are also now defunct but were former pioneers in the home entertainment industry). While it secured its release there was a considerable amount of ...  Read the complete review

Euro gore-a-go-go ! Yes that's Fulci time again ! So we got the nonsense plot, the wacky camera work and, of course, the carnage. The plot, if you're interested: despite the warnings, a young professor and his family move into the house with the titular location. Sadly for them, the sinister estate agent failed to mention that the house's previous inhabitant, the illustrious yet infamous Dr. Freudstein, is still living in the basement. Well, not living as such, but he's still shuffling around as a decomposing zombie, killing and mutilating all those unfortunate to stumble across him. As the corpses pile up, the family realise with horror the ...  Read the complete review