Customer Reviews

Horror Rises From the Grave - 4 Movies

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

OK, 4 movies for the price of one can't be bad, right? Well... Disc #1 features HORROR RISES FROM THE TOMB, a sadistically entertaining creeper about a satanic couple who come back to haunt the descendants of their executioners. Lots of blood. Tons of nudity. Paul Naschy plays a dual role as the chubby good guy and the chubby bad guy. Next up is ZOMBIE FLESH EATERS, a flat, dull, hideously acted pile of doggy-do. The zombies are not menacing or even remotely scary. They are shambling halloween skeletons from K Mart! Their "ghost ship" is a miniature boat, so horridly filmed, that I laughed out loud every time they showed it bobbing along! Disc #2 starts out with ZOMBIE HELL HOUSE (aka: House By The Cemetery by Fulci). This movie has it's high points as well as crashing lows. The gore is over-the-top, as is Fulci's way. The acting is mediocre. I did like Dr. Freudstein, the zombie in the basement. He's well done, but there's not nearly enough of him! And that kid was more annoying than an icepick to the forehead! Finally, we have NIGHT OF THE GHOUL. I like this flick! Lotsa murder and mayhem. Gore galore. Peter Cushing seems befuddled and in pain. John Hurt is good as the nutty guy in the shed. I got some genuine scares out of this one. Also, characters died that I figured would save the day. All in all, worth the cheap price...

This is my first purchase of a Brentwood Home Video release and it will be my last. Although you can't beat the price, you should know a few things before you plop down your money:

All four of the movies in this collection have been transferred from poor videotape sources that look no better than a consumer VHS purchased in the 1980s! The prints are often faded and the images are sometimes blurry. So what's on the DVDs? You may be surprised, because 3 of the 4 films have been retitled for no apparent reason, except perhaps to attach a 2002 copyright date to them.

First up, on Disc 1, is the 1973 Spanish thriller HORROR RISES FROM THE TOMB (oddly titled HORROR FROM THE TOMB on-screen, eliminating the word RISES). This full-screen, English-dubbed film (also known as "El Espanto Surge de la Tumba" and "Mark of the Devil 4") has nice moments of gore and surprising full frontal female nudity. Paul Naschy stars. While the script isn't the brightest bulb on the block, the movie can be quite entertaining.

Next is ZOMBIE FLESH EATER (the on-screen title) or ZOMBIE FLESH EATERS (plural, the title on the DVD box). Take your pick. Either way, the movie is really EL BUQUE MALDITO, a thriller shot in 1973 but unreleased until 1975, from Spanish director Armando Ossori, who made the infinitely superior "Tombs of the Blind Dead." In fact, one of the alternate titles for this film is "Blind Dead 3," not to mention "The Ghost Galleon," "Ghost Ships of the Blind Dead," "Horror of the Zombies" and "Ship of Zombies," most of which make better titles. While Ossori's fabulous slow-moving monk-like zombies reappear in this film, the script is so inane the movie plays like jaw-dropping camp more than a horror film. Gore is minimal, sex is threatened but never really seen. The full-screen, English-dubbed image is just dreadful, though the ghost ship on which the zombies 'live' is quite beautifully designed.

Disc 2 begins with a murky, unpleasant transfer of ZOMBIE HELL HOUSE, which, it turns out, is actually a re-titling of Lucio Fulci's 1981 thriller HOUSE BY THE CEMETARY. This is the only film of the four to be letterboxed, but it still looks bad. Because Anchor Bay has a much better version of this film available, I did not bother to watch Brentwood's version once I discovered what it really was.

The last title in this four-pack is called NIGHT OF THE GHOUL. Not to be confused with Ed Wood's film of a similar name, this is actually the 1965 British production THE GHOUL (aka "The Thing in the Attic") starring Peter Cushing and John Hurt. I found the film to be insufferably dull, despite Cushing's always masterful presence. Presented full-screen.

Hey, for "the money" what do you think you're getting, Citizen Kane??? And besides, these are zombie movies, like they're going to have excellent plots and superb character development. Get real. Grab some friends and watch a couple of "bad" movies and make fun of them.

Whoh boy. Firstly, I must say that in getting four movies for ten dollars, I'd didn't expect The Ring and the Sixth Sense. But not even I could have suspected the true horror. Oh dear God, someone help me.

#1. Horror Rises From the Tomb. In the tradition of great films like Burial Ground "The Night of Terror", Doctor Butcher M.D., Zombie Lake and Night of the Zombies, we have this instant classic. A bunch of decadent slouches decide to head to out their villa, and try to solve the case of the beheaded satanist ancestor. Maybe they would have had a chance if they had the rest of Scooby and the gang with them. They killed the prettiest girl in the movie, the maid, in like twenty minutes, and from there the movie really goes downhill. Thank God they had Thor's Hammers (a Tutonic icon) to protect them from Satan!

#2. Zombie Flesh Eater. Okay, firstly, your biggest star is Professor Brown from Pieces---who may or may not be the WORST ACTOR IN THE UNIVERSE. The movie is about a ghost ship, inhabited by the zombies. But they're not zombies! They are the same plastic skeletons with goatees from Tombs of the Blind Dead!!! The same exact ones. They are not zombies, and they do NOT eat flesh at any time in the movie.

#3. Zombie Hell House. Oh no, no, no. This is the clumsily-disguised House by the Cemetary, complete with "the Researcher", Bob and Ann, Ann and Bob, Bob and Ann. Gives you one more chance to see super-zombie Fruedstein staggering his way through one wacky misadventure after another. The fun never ends. There's alot of house, a little hell, but very little zombie.

#4. Night of the Ghoul. I know, this sounds like an Ed Wood movie, but it isn't. It's a touching journey that includes car races, lots and lots of fog, female captives and Peter Cushing. You only see "the ghoul" in the last few minutes of the movie, and it's a flabby bald blue guy in a skirt. Don't ask me. And I don't know where they got the whole "ghoul" thing, because pretty much all he does is stab people and then stagger back into his room.

The third movie in this collection (Zombi at Hell House) is a Lucio Fulci classic.....if purchased alone it would cost much more than all four of these together."renamed" (look it up.....The House By The Cemetery) With that included along with a Peter Cushing film, most of which impossible to find, who could complain? If you call yourself a true horror fan you should be ashamed for slighting Cushing or Fulci.

One of the films is part of a four part series of films. Zombie Flesh Eaters is actually one of the Blind Dead films by director AMANDO DE OSSORIO called The Ghost Galleon. Watch Tombs Of The Blind Dead first in the series to have a greater appreciation of this film.

This is an alright deal. If you've read the other reviews, you already know that Zombie Hell House is a Lucio Fulci movie. The other three are abominable, but good for having friends over to make fun of.

Horror Rises from The Tomb-- Simply hilarious. I wathced this and couldn't stop laughing because I thought the evil guy looked like Jack Black. There's some gore, but mostly it's nudity nudity nudity. I'm pretty sure that every woman in this movie ends up naked. Except for one, but the two evildoers do feel her up a whole bunch. Overall, a wacky movie, good for making fun of.

Zombie Flesh Eater-- OMG. I looked it up, and apparently this is just part of a series. I read some reviews of the other movies, most of them good. I don't see how anything in a series with this movie could be at all good. This one is another one that is great for making fun of. There's a scene with a woman getting dragged away by zombies. The look on her face is such terrible acting, and it looks like she's wrapping her lips around her teeth (you know like little kids do to pretend to be old people). Maybe the director thought this would look more realistic? Make it look like the zombies knocked her teeth out? Dunno. It's bad.

Zombie Hell House-- More like Lucio Fulci's House by the Cemetary. This is why I say this is a good deal. I get this, which I wouldn't pay more than $6 for, plus three other movies, even if I just make fun of the others. This won't matter to anyone who doesn't know or appreciate Fulci, though.

Night of the Ghoul-- Peter Cushing is good. This movie is not. That's all there is to it. I don't ever want to watch this movie again.

Overall, it's an alright deal if you like Fulci and get enough chance to make fun of movies. If you're just looking to maybe get some half-decent older horror with a good deal, look elsewhere. The "Horror Classics" series that they sell at Best Buy is pretty good.

first off FOR $10.00 WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE GOING TO GET',"GONE WITH THE WIND" OR SOMETHING!!!!!!

sure some of these movies draw mice they are so full of cheese but thats part of the fun. and i liked the four movies,between them they are all 2 to 3 star moviesso unclinch and enjoy the cheese!!!!

Even the low price tag on this one is an insult. Two of these films are terrible Itallion zombie films. One of them, House by the Cemetary, is a decent horror film, but buy the Anchorbay release, which is restored and in widescreen. I bought this package mainly because it had Night of the Ghoul (original title was The Ghoul). My old, hacked up vhs tape has an original ten minutes that this dvd has cut out. These appear to be badly release Public Domain versions of these films. Don't bother.

This box set is notable for being the ONLY option in the world for viewing "The Ghoul" (aka "Night Of The Ghoul") on DVD. Yes the quality is not great - it looks like it was copied straight from an old VHS tape. But its not completely terrible. The movie itself is quite good if you enjoy Hammer style horror movies. It stars Hammer veterans Peter Cushing and Veronica Carlson and is written and directed by Hammer stalwarts Anthony Hinds and Freddie Francis. It is missing about 10 minutes from the uncut version but none of the cut scenes involve any missing gore. All the other movies in this box set have been released in much better restored editions "HORROR RISES FROM THE TOMB"-a Paul Naschy Spanish horror classic has received much better deluxe DVD treatment, "ZOMBIE FLESH EATERS" is really "The Ghost Galleon" which has also been released in a box set "The Blind Dead Collection" and "ZOMBIE HELL HOUSE" which is a crappy copy of Fulci's "House By The Cemetery".

With the exception of the few gore scenes in the Fulci movie (which is House by the Cemetery as eveyone pointed out) this DVD is an atrocity to my DVD player. Bought this thing for $10 at Suncoast, one of my most regtful actions in my life. I'd have paid twice to not own this garbage. It's that bad! No, this is not bad in a good way. This is bad in a "mousetrap snapping at my crotch" bad. It was extremley painful to even sit still with any of these godforsaken movies playing. I felt like crying after the first five minutes of viewing the one lame lifeless movie about some plastic minature ship. How could I have made such a lousy purchase?! Trying to watch these movies is like trying to run on an oil spill without falling. It's impossible. There aren't even any zombies in this stupid thing. Whoever made this DVD should be sued for false advertisment. Where the hell did that zombie on the cover come from? I could probably find more zombies on Nickelodeon for godssakes. Just get House by the Cemetary if you want, although that's not even Fulci's best (I prefer The Beyond). Other than that, there are no redeeming qualities in any of these boring, "with pointless conversations that go on for an eternity", goreless movies whatsoever.