The House by the Cemetery, Listed by Lucio Fulci

Whether by the cemetery or by the mall, if Lucio Fulci is making a movie about a house...don't go in. Though largely shot in Massachusetts, this horror yarn is Italian in it's cast and mood. This 1981 film came out three years after Fulci's classic "Zombie." (To see that review click on this link ZOMBIE ). However, as far as drive-in theaters went, this Fulci film was usually matched up with either "The Last House on the Left" or "The House that Vanished." (For that review, click on this link VANISHED ). Either way, we have a Fulci film...filled with ominous gore.

After Dr. Peterson's murder suicide, Dr. Norman Boyle (Paolo Malco) is tapped to take over his research. To do this, he takes his wife Lucy (Catriona MacColl) and son Bob (Giovanni Frezzo) to a house by the cemetery near Boston where he can have some seclusion while he researches.  A couple of uh-ohs here: First, Bob has visions of a ghostly girl telling him not to come, Second, this is the same house that Peterson murdered his mistress (Daniela Doria) before his suicide.  Oh yes, how can I forget, the tomb of Dr. Freudstein (Giovanni De Nava) is planted in the front hallway of this mansion.

As the ghostly girl (Silvia Collatina) adopts Bob as a playmate, the beautiful Lucy hires the sultry Ann (Ania Pieroni) as his babysitter.  Wouldn't you know it, Bob had a vision of Ann's decapitated body earlier in the film.  It might be a beautiful head, but yes, Ann will be separated from it soon. Oh! The cellar is locked and when Norman unlocks it he is feasted on by a vampire bat in an elongated and bloody scene.  He survives, but wouldn't you know it, the dimwit won't leave the house. As something in the basement starts killing people and dragging their bodies in the cellar, Norman begins to find out the history of the house and Dr. Freudstein.  Now he is convinced they need to leave, but is it too late?

Lurid and heavy, "The House by the Cemetery" is a neat horror film.  The themes may be classic but the over-the-top gore makes this a genuine Fulci film. Two years previous, the underwhelming "The Amityville Horror" was released to disappointed audiences who yawned instead of winced. However this film would have given those same audiences some neat nightmares.  Available on YouTube, enjoy "The House by the Cemetery."