Review - The House by the Cemetery

Note to self - never rent The House by the Cemetery . . .

. . . seems like common sense right?! Well apparently not to Dr. Norman Boyle (Paolo Malco) and family. The good doctor’s son Bob (Giovanni Frezza) should have listened to the little girl (Silvia Collatina) in the old photograph and should not have gone into that house. She did try to warn him . . .

What Norman tries to pass off as a vacation in the country seems more like a giant bore to his wife Lucy (Catriona MacColl). She seems to like their life just fine in New York though this project means an extra $5000.00 a year for Norman (my how times have changed - doesn’t seem like quite as much money as they made it out to be in the film, certainly not enough to furnish a whole apartment these days). He is charged with finishing the work of a colleague who killed himself while doing some sort of historical research.

The trouble starts even before the Boyles arrive at the Freudstein place, which is now pleasantly renamed Oak Mansion. We see a fabulous kill scene of a vivacious young blonde (Daniela Dora) as Freudstein (Giovanni De Nava) puts a butcher knife right through her head and drags her into the basement. It’s no wonder that the basement door was nailed shut when the Boyles arrived. But thanks to Ann (Ania Pieroni) the babysitter the door is soon opened and Freudstein’s reign of terror is unleashed.

As in most Fulci films, The House by the Cemetery leaves a lot unexplained. Like the fact that I couldn’t really get a grasp for who Mae really was - was she a live person who saw visions or a ghost? Although I have to admit I really enjoyed her little flashes of the future mayhem. And what about Mary Freudstein - wasn’t that her headstone in the cemetery? Is she alive or perhaps one of Dr. Freudstein’s little projects? And what about Norman’s miraculous although unprompted explanation of what was happening in the Freudstein place- er I mean Oak Mansion. Where the heck did that come from?

Even though a lot does go unexplained in the film it still does not take anything away from its horrific and gruesome appeal. And certainly it wasn’t quite as gory as Zombi 2 but it did still have its fair share of blood and guts and maggots (oh my). A firm recommend for any and all Italian horror film fans.

. . . and just as an aside, I did have a friend who rented a house by the cemetery once - lucky for her there wasn't a zombified doctor living in her basement who needed human cells to stay "alive" . . .

Directed by
Lucio Fulci

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Elisa Briganti story (as Elisa Livia Briganti)
Lucio Fulci screenplay
H.P. Lovecraft story
Giorgio Mariuzzo screenplay
Dardano Sacchetti screenplay

Cast (in credits order)
Catriona MacColl .... Lucy Boyle (as Katherine MacColl)
Paolo Malco .... Dr. Norman Boyle
Ania Pieroni .... Ann, the babysitter
Giovanni Frezza .... Bob Boyle
Silvia Collatina .... Mae Freudstein
Dagmar Lassander .... Laura Gittleson
Giovanni De Nava .... Dr. Jacob A. Freudstein
Daniela Doria .... First female victim
Gianpaolo Saccarola .... Daniel Douglas, the librarian
Carlo De Mejo .... Mr. Wheatley
Kenneth A. Olsen .... Harold (as John Olson)
Elmer Johnsson .... Cemetary Caretaker
Ranieri Ferrara .... Steven, a victim
Teresa Rossi Passante .... Mary Freudstein

rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Lucio Fulci .... Professor Muller (uncredited)