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Written by Larry Clow
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Wednesday, 11 April 2007 |
Fulvia Film, 1981
starring: Katherine MacColl, Paolo Malco, Ania Pieroni and Giovanni Frezza
written and directed by: Lucio Fulci
the plot: Dr. Norman Boyle (Malco), an up-and-coming professor at a local university, moves his family out of Boston and into a secluded old house in the country. He’s eager to continue a deceased colleague’s research into the mysterious Dr. Freudstein, a turn-of-the-century physician who was rumored to have conducted twisted medical experiments on his patients. The move doesn’t sit well with Norman’s wife, Lucy (MacColl), or his son, Bob (Frezza). Almost immediately, Bob starts hanging out with a strange little girl who lives nearby. During their playdates, she warns Bob that certain doom awaits him in the house. Meanwhile, Lucy is plagued by terrifying visions and hears grunts, groans and screams emanating from the basement. By the time an off-kilter babysitter (Pieroni) shows up, Lucy is ready to abandon the new home. But Norman is making progress with his work, and he soon discovers that Dr. Freudstein and his wife may be buried in the cemetery next door. What Norman doesn’t realize, though, is that Dr. Freudstein is closer than anyone thought—he’s living in the basement of the house, patiently waiting for the family to let their guard down so he can continue his grotesque medical endeavors.
why it’s good: As far as giallos and monster movies go, you couldn’t do much better than “House by the Cemetery.” Lucio Fulci (who also directed “Zombie”) packs in a fair amount of effective suspense alongside the beheadings, stabbings and fountains of arterial spray, but it’s the excessive bloodletting that makes “House” so enjoyable. The plot’s a bit of a mess—is Dr. Freudstein some sort of mind-controlling demon, a la “The Evil Dead”? And why does he need to kill people to stay alive? And most importantly, why does he have maggots for blood? And what’s up with Bob, a whiny little moppet who gets progressively dumber as the film goes on? All those questions are put to rest once the blood starts flowing, and Fulci provides plenty of loving close-ups of goopy neck stumps and misplaced fireplace pokers. In one hilarious sequence, an irate bat attacks Norman and Lucy for a full 10 minutes, biting and squealing even after Norman stabs it a half-dozen times with a kitchen knife. As for the good doctor, he’s appropriately weird and creepy—in fact, Dr. Freudstein made such an impression on Rob Zombie that he based the character of Dr. Satan in “House of 1,000 Corpses” on Freudstein.
why you should own it: Fans of Italian horror will definitely enjoy “House.” Anchor Bay’s DVD features a smattering of extras, but what more do you need from a film with crazy rabid bats and severed heads?
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