The House by the Cemetery
is
the Third of the Fulci Trilogy
The House by the Cemetery is a
cult
classic of gothic zombie moviemaking. For most, Fulci must be
understood to be appreciated.
Written by The Zombie
Master Lee
Roberts July 8, 2007 Release: 1981 (U.S. 1984) Directed by: Lucio Fulci Written by: Elisa Briganti
Starring:
Paolo Malco as Dr. Norman Boyle Giovanni Frezza as Bob Boyle Catriona MacColl as Lucy Boyle Ania Pieroni as Ann
Although unintentionally, Lucio Fulci created a trilogy of
horror films starting in 1980 with City
of the Living Dead, followed by The
Beyond
in 1981 and finished in the same year with The House by the
Cemetery. These three films have become cult classics of
gothic zombie movie making.
The House by the Cemetery begins with Lucy Boyle
(Catriona MacColl) and her son Bob (Giovanni Frezza) packing suitcases
for a trip. Dr. Norman Boyle (Paolo Malco) is moving his family to the
Boston area to finish the research started by a fellow professor who
was involved with a murder-suicide that left both him and his mistress
dead. Bob however is having hallucinations of a young girl who is
warning him not to move. His parents do not take him seriously and they
proceed with the move despite the ominous warnings.
The Boyle
family is placed in the same house that Dr. Boyle’s colleague
lived in and things start to get freaky from the moment they move in.
In the cemetery by the house (great tie-in to the title) Bob plays with
Mae, the young female hallucination. Lucy discovers that there is a
grave in the house complete with marker in the floor and Norman
doesn’t see anything peculiar about it. The babysitter Ann
(Ania Pieroni) is just totally freaky. Dr. Boyle discovers that his
colleague was looking into things other than his research. Oh yeah,
lest I forget, there is a zombie of the former owner of the house, the
great Dr. Freudstein, living (that should be un-living) in the cellar.
The
House by the Cemetery just gets better from there with some
great over the top, outlandish gore thrown in that only Lucio Fulci
could expertly supply.
The House by the Cemetery finds the return of
Catriona MacColl, this time as Lucy Boyle. You should recognize her as
Mary Woodhouse in The City of the Living Dead and
as Liza Merril in The Beyond. Paolo Malco
will also
be seen again in the Fulci classic The
New York Ripper
as Dr. Paul Davis.
The
main problem with The House by the Cemetery is the
dubbing. Whoever did Bob’s dub over needs to be located and
tortured by having to listen to his own voice for a minimum of 72
hours. This, of course, was not Fulci’s fault but he could
have done something about the finished product.
Anyone
who knows me knows that I am a huge, huge fan of the work of Lucio
Fulci. Personally, I feel that Fulci is a director that has to be
understood to be appreciated. What do I mean by that? Lucio Fulci did
not care what the mainstream film industry wanted. To be completely
honest, he did not really care what the majority of viewers wanted.
Lucio Fulci wanted to make movies that Lucio Fulci wanted to make, and
that is exactly what he did. He is one of the best examples of what we
call today an “independent filmmaker” and his
directing styles and experiments should be required viewing for any
horror director. They already are for the advanced zombie master
courses. Questions
or comments about The House by the
Cemetery? Contact us!
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