LET’S GET PHYSICAL: THE HOUSE BY THE CEMETERY (1981) ***

FORMAT:  4K UHD (REWATCH)

ORIGINAL REVIEW:

(As posted on July 17th, 2007)

This is one of Lucio Fulci’s most atmospheric films. It doesn’t have his trademark balls-out gory set pieces and moves at a deliberate pace, but stay with it, because it has an electrifying final reel.

A family moves into the titular house that was once owned by the wonderfully named Dr. Freudstein. Little do they know that Freudstein is a maggot faced zombie who is dwelling in their basement and needs to kill people to stay alive. The ghost of Freudstein’s daughter befriends the little towheaded Bob (A Blade in the Dark’s Giovanni Frezza) and tries to warn him that her daddy is a nutjob. Bob tries to tell his parents about Freudstein, but since Bob is whiny and badly dubbed, nobody listens.

There’s a knife through the mouth, a bat attack, a sword in the neck, a decapitation, and some throat ripping for the gorehounds; and some brief nudity for the pervs. Co-starring Catriona (The Gates of Hell) MacColl and Dagmar (Werewolf Woman) Lassander.

Memo to prospective homeowners: If the house you are looking at has the tombstone of its former tenant in the middle of the hallway, DON’T BUY THE FUCKING HOUSE!

QUICK THOUGHTS:

The House by the Cemetery remains a solid second tier Lucio Fulci flick.  Like The Gates of Hell, it suffers from some lulls in between the good stuff, but when Fulci cooks, he whips up a smorgasbord.  But the thing that makes the film so memorable is BOB!  Try to keep track of how many times someone says “Bob”.  Warning:  Don’t make a drinking game of it.  I can’t have your death from alcohol poisoning on my conscience. 

4K UHD NOTES:

It’s important to mention that Blue Underground’s edition is mastered in Dolby Vision.  My 4K player and TV can only support HDR+, and it still looked phenomenal to me.  The blacks (especially in the basement scenes) are spectacular, and the picture looks sharp throughout.  It looks particularly great whenever the camera is in motion, as it often feels like you’re in the thick of the action.  Oh, and you get BOB in 4K!   What more can you ask for?