Cathardincu Surprisingly incoherent and boring

SanEat A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

Gary The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

Kimball Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Predrag "The House by the Cemetery" is directed by famed splatter master Lucio Fulci, and it pretty much reverts to Lucio's type. Which of course is often enough for fan's of Fulci's work. Plot is irrelevant, but basically a family moves into a creepy house in New England and discover a flesh eating ghoul is in residence down in the basement. The ghoul needs to continue its bizarre medical habits to remain, well, a ghoul! Cue screams, serious bloody gore, bad dubbing and incoherent narrative. Visually, as you would expect from Fulci and cinematographer Sergio Salvati, it has inspired moments, the whole irreverence of it draped in Grand Guignol textures. The ghouls lair is a place of nightmares, while the appearance of a scary bat and doll further add to the weirdness. Yet it undoubtedly is a hack job by Fulci, where he clutches from some famous American horror movies and just inserts a bloody killing at regular intervals. The whole film serves only to shed some blood for the gore hounds delight, regardless of if it actually matters to what was left on the writing table.The film tries to weave a web of unease and mystery around the secret in the cellar, and for a while it really works. The camera work and the general look of the locations is pretty good, with a sense of brooding Gothic mystery hanging over the poor family. The house itself looks particularly impressive in most of the external shots. However the story rapidly unravels as the film proceeds to throw countless red herrings into the mix and then either completely abandons them (people claiming to have seen Norman at the house in the past, the things that Bob's mysterious playmate Mae tells him about the house's former occupants), or blatantly contradicts itself (most notably the Boyles babysitter, Ann, who's behavior suddenly swings from one style to the total opposites with no explanation). But if you can put the irregularities of the script to one side, you should enjoy the ride on a purely shallow level. Lots of scenes are drenched in great atmosphere, such as those involving the enigmatic Mae, and especially the last portion of the film when we get to see exactly what has been going on in the depths of the cellar. If you like cheesy and quite gory/violent horror films then you will like this.Overall rating: 6 out of 10.

jacksflicks It's pretty discouraging to see so many idiots in one place, giving this thing 10 stars and calling it a masterpiece. There is NOTHING redeeming about it. Someone asked if it's a slasher film or a zombie film. It's a garbage film. It reminds me of the little stunt they did for the Halloween party in third grade, playing a recorded horror story in a darkened room while passing around raw chicken parts. The storyline is inane, the editing is crummy, of course the voices are dubbed. The gore is gore for its own sake unconnected to whatever it's emerging from.The candidate for worst movie ever made is Manos, the Hands of Fate. This one is just as bad, but without the unintended humor. The continuous and gratuitous gore makes this mess impossible to watch except to those like the infants at the Halloween party, a kind of cult following for spaghetti slasher movies. Getting off on stuff like this isn't so sick as it is mediocre.

Paul Mayhem One thing that jumps out at me when watching movies like this one, Italian Horror films have the best music. Haunting melodies that engross the viewer and pull you into the film. House By The Cemetery is no exception. This story of the Haunted Freudstein House is made all the more memorable and creepy thanks to the music. Some of the acting is a bit stilted here, possibly due to the horrible dubbing of the children. Little Bob may be voiced by the worst dubbing actor in cinema history. It actually hurts the film. I suggest watching the original Italian language version if possible. A bunch of standout gore scenes and a thick atmosphere really help to make this one a classic, and the story is pretty good, keeping interest until the end. The ending itself is a bit of a head scratcher, but I am sure there is some deep, metaphysical meaning that I just don't get. Overall, a good film, and a great addition to any Horror collection.

Spikeopath The House by the Cemetery is directed by famed splatter meister Lucio Fulci, and it pretty much reverts to Lucio's type. Which of course is often enough for fan's of Fulci's work. Plot is irrelevant, but basically a family moves into a creepy house in New England and discover a flesh eating ghoul is in residence down in the basement. The ghoul needs to continue its bizarre medical habits to remain, well, a ghoul! Cue screams, serious bloody gore, bad dubbing and incoherent narrative.Visually, as you would expect from Fulci and cinematographer Sergio Salvati, it has inspired moments, the whole irreverence of it draped in Grand Guignol textures. The ghouls lair is a place of nightmares, while the appearance of a scary bat and doll further add to the weirdness. Yet it undoubtedly is a hack job by Fulci, where he clutches from some famous American horror movies and just inserts a bloody killing at regular intervals. The whole film serves only to shed some blood for the gore hounds delight, regardless of if it actually matters to what was left on the writing table.Its reputation, certainly in Britain in the 1980s when it was ridiculously banned during the even more ridiculous Video Nasty craze, is that of a blood thirsty cult movie unfairly held from interested eyes. The banner proudly proclaiming that the work of an Italian horror visionary was being stymied, that's unfair for anyone looking at it now because it's more funny than scary. Had I saw it as a early teenager back then? I'm sure I would have felt disturbed to my guts, though I do believe that even then I could spot a messy hack job when I saw one! This has some skills, but it's not great and really only for Fulci and pulp splatter completists only. 5/10