House By the Cemetery
Review by Peter Syslo

House by the Cemetery (1981) is a film by Italian horror icon Lucio Fulci. I am actually new to Fulci, therefore this is my first-ever viewing of any of his films. I’ll say, it definitely has the look and feel of Italian horror – you know, there is that distinct “flavor” that only Italian horror has (like that distinct “flavor” of Asian horror); it’s tough to describe, but it has that certain quality that makes it “Italian”.

House… is, mainly, the story of an old mansion/house that seems to hold some very disturbing secrets and it is unclear, at first, if it is haunted or inhabited by living entities. The movie follows the Boyle family, as they prepare to move into the house; Mr. Boyle is picking up research where his professor/mentor left off (the professor/mentor murdered his mistress and committed suicide). Meanwhile, the Boyle son is seeing visions of a ghostly girl and her mother, who play a larger role later in the film. As the Boyles move into the house, there are many strange occurrences and they stumble upon information about a Dr. Freudstein who, incidentally, was buried in the house. Several people are killed in the house, including a strange “babysitter” who resembles a mannequin (what is it with mannequins this week? - I definitely h ave my themes.). All of the trouble in the house seems to be concentrated in the cellar, and Mr. Boyle discovers that long-thought-dead Dr. Freudstein is alive down there. Freudstein is killing people to restore his bodily tissue (he is sort of a mummified zombie) and he is now preying upon the Boyles. The Boyles fight against Freudstein and at the very end of the movie, there is one lone survivor who is helped by the ghostly mother/daughter (who are actually Mrs. and little girl Freudstein).

First off, the movie does have really vivid visuals; while some of the kills were brutally violent and gory, there was also a kind of beauty to them (like the visuals of Argento’s Suspiria). For example, a woman (real-estate agent) is stabbed on the floor above Freudstein’s tomb marker and the blood spurts and gushes in a really surreal, but beautiful way – the style is really amazing because you could see individual droplets of blood almost “floating” upward. The effects were all really innovative (opening scene of a girl stabbed through the back of the head) and for the most part, were very realistic-looking. The atmosphere and the mood of this film are just incredible and are almost akin to classic/gothic horror, in the vein of Frankenstein or Dracula. Also, the actors were all very con vincing and actually a little bit creepy themselves – from the blue-eyed kid (who seemed to be older than he was – that’s the only way I can describe it) to the green-eyed, mannequin-like babysitter. I’ll mention the main actors, because they do deserve a nod: Catriona MacColl, Paolo Malco, Anja Pieroni, and Dagmar Lassander. Before I finish, I also have to mention the music because it was really a perfect pairing for the movie (music by Walter Rizzati) – it was that right combination of the bizarre minimalist/rock/electronic music that was so characteristic of movies in this time period (it kind of reminded me of the soundtrack to movies like Dawn of the Dead or Phantasm).

In short, I did enjoy the movie, but I have to view it again in order to “wrap” my mind around it and to sort out some story details (I am still a little unclear on some things). Like I said before, the movie is visually beautiful and it does have that classic feel to it; that is what I am most attracted to about this picture. As in my Tourist Trap review, House…also seemed to have that David Lynch quality to it, where you aren’t exactly sure of all of the details but you are sort of hypnotized by the visuals. Well, I’m definitely going to give this another viewing, along with Zombi (another Fulci classic) because Jeff’s review got me interested in that, as well. It’s funny, we have an Italian festival up here in Northeast PA, on Labor Day weekend – (it’s only about Italian fo od) maybe I’ll do my version of the festival, complete with food, wine, and film. Ciao!