Review by Dan Taylor
I first saw this flick at Philly's Budco Midtown during my
college days.
It was one of my weekly "Calculus Sucks,
Let's Go See a Movie" escapades where
I acquired my appetite for goofy Italian
horror. What I remember best about this
particular offering was when — during
a pivotal moment in the flick — a fellow
audience member leapt to his feet and heaved
a full Coke at the screen while yelling,
"Get the fuck out!" Stuff like
that really leaves an impression on a young
person, and my love for Italy and the films
of Lucio Fulci grew from there...
Fulci, of course, is the master
Italian filmmaker who brought to these shores
such classics as ZOMBIE, GATES OF HELL,
CONQUEST, NY RIPPER and others. HOUSE BY
THE CEMETERY is one of my all-time favorites
simply because it rocks and rolls from the
word "go".
See, most directors will toy
with the viewer and hold back from giving
that first glimmer of insanity until characters
have been established and we have a slight
clue about what's going on. But not Lucio.
He's got that knife through the girl's head
within the first two minutes! And when he
jumps into the story it's done with both
feet forward and hip-waders strapped on!
But you know there's a problem when you
consider the director an out-of-control
psychopath five minutes after the credits!
HOUSE is a well-packed 90
minute adventure featuring a cursed house
(ala THE SHINING), decapitated heads, a
villain named Dr. Freudstein (!), an attack
by one enormous fucking bat, and dialogue
that sounds like it was written during "Free
Time" by residents of the New Lisbon
Home!
But this is one example of
Fulci having at least some sense of what
is going on (he only uses the rapid zoom
seven times) and while the totally confusing
ending had me scratching my head, it's one
flick where the gore quotient and the crazed
plot totally deserve one another. One of
Fulci's best works and a great example of
the type of movie that would never be attempted
by an American director.
