Customer Reviews

The Lucio Fulci Collection Volume 1 (The House By the Cemetery/The Beyond)

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

 

 

1981 was a terrific year for Lucio Fulci. In that year, between the releases of Argento's INFERNO in 1980 (the same year Fulci made CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD/THE GATES OF HELL) and TENEBRE in 1982 (the same year Fulci made THE NEW YORK RIPPER and MANHATTAN BABY), Fulci ruled Italian horror with back-to-back masterpieces. Of course, I'm talking about THE BEYOND and THE HOUSE BY THE CEMETERY, two of Fulci's most popular horror films that only get better with age!
THE BEYOND, in my humble opinion, is an extremely close second to SUSPIRIA as the greatest Italian horror movie of all time! In it, Catriona/Katherine MacColl renovates a Louisiana hotel she inherited only to discover that it rests on one of the seven gateways to Hell! Throughout the ensuing hour-and-a-half, pun intended, all Hell breaks loose, with the most gruesome imagery Fulci has ever committed to celluloid (e.g., crucifixion, acid bath, tarantulas, a head explosion, and Fulci's trademark eyeball violence), and it all looks totally realistic and awesome, right up there with any of Tom Savini's work! I really loved MacColl's prescence in THE BEYOND, as she's just so lovely to look at; John Saxon-lookalike David Warbeck is also really cool here as well (he was in Fulci's previous Edgar Allen Poe offshoot THE BLACK CAT, also in 1981), especially when dropping bullets through the barrel of his gun. I got the totally awesome soundtrack at my first horror convention a few months ago.
THE HOUSE BY THE CEMETERY also has MacColl, this time as a mother who, along with her doctor husband and son, move into the titular residence in Boston. The doctor is continuing the research conducted by a colleague who offed himself; the research is on one Dr. Freudstein, whose unorthodox methods involved killing people to keep himself alive. More Fulci mayhem such as a knife through the head (with the blade sticking out of the mouth), decapitation, and a neck-ripping. I got a HOUSE BY THE CEMETERY t-shirt featuring the 1984 poster artwork (on the Diamond release) at my first horror convention a few months ago, the safest representation of Fulci that you can get!
You must get this 2-pack if you want definitive Fulci. THE BEYOND has a terrific audio commentary by MacColl and Warbeck (a few weeks before Warbeck died) which is amusing and informative, among a slew of awesome extras. THE HOUSE BY THE CEMETERY has a photo and still gallery set to one of the creepy compositions in the score. This is a double-dose of Fulci mayhem at its greatest, most Argento-like; a definite must-watch!

Normally I don't review things early, but the features on this release and the features on the newest releases of The Beyond and House By the Cemetery are identical. I was pleasantly surprised by both of these, because both the picture quality and the widescreen is to my liking, plus I like having the interviews and the video for And You Will Live In Terror. Considering I bought them separately because they were both uncut + widescreened, I would have to call this packaging a really good deal. To the movies:
The Beyond -
Debatably Lucio's finest film, this story focuses around a New Orleans hotel where an atrocity is committed and an ensuing curse helps it become one of the accursed seven doors to hell. After a long stint of inactivity, an inheritance is passed and the hotel once again plans to reopen, gate to hell and all.
While I wouldn't say that The Beyond is a frightener, I do have to give it credit for its ability to mood set. The entire movie has a very Fulci feel, keeping you waiting for what horrible trouble will plague the characters next. In its uncut version, the plot is a bit more fluid and loses some of its former Seven Gates inconsistency, plus many of the effects are now restored to their awe-inspiring graphicness. As far these gore effects go, this movie has a bit of everything. There are scenes ranging from tarantulas having their way with someone's face and someone being lovingly pummeled with chains to the walking dead and the headwounds that they often succumb to. Combine this with a superbly bleak ending and you have something very enjoyable.
House By The Cemetery -
This is one of the films I use to introduce people to Italian Horror because its a good film, the plot is convoluted enough to be amusing and still viable at the same time, and there's parts ranging from silly (an attack by what looks to be a rubber bat) to more gruesome aspects (unnamed for fear of spoiling) effects. The story revolves around a family from New York that moves to New England because of a recently "vacated" job post. As with any good horror film, though, nothing goes according to plans. From the beginning signs point to "dismal" as we see their new house, one literally located by the Cemetery, then hear strange noises in the night, and learn more and more about one of the previous owners, Dr. Freudstein. As the bodies begin to fall, the real mystery for the family has to be what exactly is that noise coming from the cellar.

If you've yet to pick up these movies, you really should give them a test drive. All the once seemingly innocent things going bump in the night will love you for it.

The importance and influence of italian filmakers in contemporary horror cinema is undeniable. Their low budget productions of the early 70's were standards and a school for classic talented filmakers as John Carpenter or Wes Craven. Just to mention a couple of outstanding examples, we have Mario Bava shocking the world back in 1960 with the horror milestone, the gothic and supernatural "Black Sunday", inventing the slasher sub-genre back in 1971 with his groundbreaking masterpiece of cheesy gore and incredible tension "Bay of Blood", a movie that marked the path for such a classic like "Halloween" with the use of the infamous first person camera for the view of the killer, and designed the 80's style of fine examples like "Friday the 13th". Dario Argento re-invented the concept of gruesome and fear with his classics "Suspiria", "Deep red" and "Tenebre", mandatory revisions for any horror fan and movies that changed the vision, style and aesthetics for the horror filmic industry in America forever.

But Lucio Fulci was the living, evil and maquiavellic combination of the different styles and influences of his colegues, the most extreme and adventurous visionary in madness and macabre, and a filmaker with absolutely no sense of humor, dedicating the largest amount of time and resources to portray the physical and emotional aspects of despair and terror. His style in describing with cheesy but nauseously sickening low budget special effects, and the most inhumane and bearly tolerable creepy atmospheres with an effectiveness in horrific story development that digs under the skin and frights every sense, are perfectly portrayed in his two most aclaimed masterpieces in unavoidable nervous fear and atrocious degenerate horror displays ever filmed in the genre.

THE BEYOND, a true lecture of satanism and supernatural terror, a story of a haunted motel inherited by Liza, who haves no clue about the abominable past of the building, that's actually one of the seven gateways to hell. The gore imagery includes a face devoured by tarantulas, a woman's head melted by acid, and dozens of cannibalistic zombies hungry for human flesh. Special effects by Gianetto de Rossi are remarquable for the budget, but Fuci's screenplay remains as one of the most disturbing stories and the final work also remains as a true surrealistic masterpiece in horror. There's nowere to run or hyde from this stylised nightmare.

THE HOUSE BY THE CEMETARY, with a title like this you can expect horror, but what lies behind it surpases the limits of imagination, one of the most harsh, tense and ominous horror movies, a derranged and menacing, creepy and macabre story with extreme moments of sickness that will haunt the viewers nightmares. When the Boyle family moves to a gothic extravagant house, they start to feel and then experience the encounters with Dr Freudstein, who was haunting the house and living in the basement since 1879, murdering the previous inhabitants to use their flesh to keep his rotten body going. Some scenes of exagerated tension are difficult to bear, and the amounts of gore can make most of die-hard fans sick to their stomach. A haunted house movie you will never forget.

These are the most remarkable achievements of a great talented horror filmaker in the person of Lucio Fulci, who exhales the best of Bava's gore and Argento's surrealism. If you don't know his work, this double feature DVD set will open the gates of hell in the most disturbing, macabre and relentless way. Fulci capitalizes the creep-factor in a dream-like and shocking display of raw terror. A must have for educated horror fans, and spectacular achievements among the best B-horror movies ever made.

You might ask your self if any of these films are good and I would tell you offcourse they are, the house by the cemetery and the beyond are two magnificant horror films that were done when Lucio Fulci was still good. What I like about Lucio Fulci's films especialy these two is that he adds a lot of atmosphere and a sense of darkness that the characters cannot seem to escape from he also manages to add some really creepy music which helps and he also adds a lot of gore which made the horror fans name him the godfather of gore or something like that. Anyway if you are interested in watching any of his films then this is a good place to start, Anchor bay has done a great job with restoring these films the picture quality is very high and they have added a lot of special features and comentary tracks for both films, here is a short summary of both films:-

The beyond, when a young woman moves into an old hotel which she has inhereted, she thinks everything is going well. She plans to make a new life for herself but doesn't realise that the hotel has been the gateway to hell in years past and some potentially terrible things are about to happen. Alot of confusing scenes happen in this film but it is fun to watch, with a lot of wierd characters like the house keeper and that little girl. What I got when I watched this film was alot of gore and blood and a bad story line so I hated it but when I watched it a second time I liked it more as the death scenes were pretty cool like the acid melting face and a gory dog attack scene and eye gougings and a lot of zombies that appeare at random although there were scenes that were unconvincing like the spiders that start eating a guys face. David Warbeck also stars in this film what his character does not realise is that he continues to shoot the zombies in the stomach when it was clear that they die with one shot to the head!....

The house by the cemetery, when a family take up residence in an eerie house by a cemetery some bizare events begin to occur as there seems to be an evil being that lives in the basement. while watching this film I expected the usual dark atmosphere and gory death scenes and I was not dissapointed but one thing that has bothered me alot was that annoying young blonde kid, where did they get this brat otherwise it was a pretty good film but not as good as the beyond infact I will give this film 4 stars. The evil Dr.freudstien who is like a frankenstien monster I think I'm not quite sure what he is gets to kill some people that enter his house so you get alot of sick and twisted death scenes like the one involving the lady that gets punctured and stabbed by a fire place poker and an awsome decapatation scene. As you can tell unlike other italian horror films these two films were creepy as hell and I deffinently recomend this to all horror fans and stop watching crap like gothika or house of wax the remake god dammit!.

At least some of the discs containing The Beyond are defective. I have returned one set and recieved another and it also has its problems. It doesnt like to load or read once loaded. If you monkey with it enough it will play. As for the movies themselves i cannot seem to get enough of them. The music as well as visual is very captivating. Hopefully Anchor Bay will do a recall on the defective product. Perhaps buying the movies seperatly would be a better option.

Any fan of the italian horror/gore genre MUST pick up this package. Both films are arguably two of Fulci's finest works and even as a hardened and synical gore film buff myself, I was startled at the ingenuity of several sequences in both films (which were originally cut from the first american video R rated releases).
The collection is an amazing buy considering they were selling for upwards of ... bucks a piece previously.
If you love such splatter classics as Dawn of the Dead, Dead Alive, or Re-Animator, you owe it to yourself to see the incredible effects work done on these films. Not only does Fulci create some of the most amazing horror atmospheres and gore, but his camera work is just as impressive.

I like "The Beyond " better than "house by the Cemtary". But both are good films . My main point of this reveiw is to let you people know that "the Beyond" can be found in best buy for $9.99 and "house by the cemetary" can be found really anywhere for $6.99. So im just trying to save you money instead of spendingjust over $20 for the 2 you can spend about 14 or 15 $.

Farming the zombie genre is a daunting task. There are just too many bad films out there made by folks who think zombies equate to reddish liquid splashed liberally on bodies and the surfaces of walls. Not so! Suspense and atmosphere are the very foundation of eerie, something only the true auteur can accomplish.

Lucio Fulci manages to squeak through with these well above average offerings. The Beyond truly deserves a spot as one of the best zombie movies of all time spot, falling closely behind the Living Dead trilogy. Its bold attempt at portraying hell and the realization of an apocalyptic zombie holocaust is this movie's real worth. While Fulci is popular for his gore, one seeking to find realism ought to look elsewhere. Evil Dead (pt. 1) is often more realistic. Lastly, The Beyond, like most horror movies, suffers from little (not no) plot. My advice is to go with it. There's enough visual appeal to make the unexplained forgiveable. Grade: B+

The House By The Cemetery suffers from an obnoxious little boy and a secret plot. I say secret because either something was lost in the translation (was this dubbed?), or Fulci just didn't want to share. The basic message I got was that children were evil. Granted. As for the zombie himself (yes, only one) the question of "why" is never answered. Again I say, accept it all or don't bother with the film. As for the obnoxious little boy (spoiler alert), his voice is so grating you actually wish he was the only character that died. We, the viewer, are not so lucky. I had to fast forward a lot of this film because it failed to keep me interested. Regardless, a hardcore fan would still like this one. Grade: C+

If you're only interested in getting good zombie films, go with the Beyond. If you're interested in getting a complete zombie collection, save some cash and buy this set.

While watching the Lucio Fulci Collection on DVD, there are no happy endings in either "House by the Cemetery" or "The Beyond". In fact I found the end of HBTC to be quite baffling. Why was the film not prolonged, as to see what actually happened to Freudstein? Bob "the little boy" escapes Freudstein's clutches, while both his parents are killed. He's then met by the evil Dr Freudstien's spirit wife and child, whom both are kind. They then walk off, hand in hand into the sunset. The end.

As much as I expected some justice to be done towards Freudstein, it never did happen. It just makes you wonder why? And, there was no House by the Cemetery 2 to my knowledge? The ends justify the means certainly don't pertain to the ending of this film. Very strange.

I'm hoping to insert some balance into the reviews on this page, although I must confess, firstly, that I've only watched The Beyond. Given the qualities of that movie, I can't imagine House By The Cemetary being any better (apparently The Beyond is considered Fulci's best). But unwary horror fans need to be warned: Buyer, beware! This is schlock at its worst.

It's not all bad, though. The opening sequence of spooky goings-on (shot in mock sepia-tone) is quite effective, and suggests a much better film than what actually follows. The cinematography is very attractive. And some of the ideas had potential. But that's really the problem - these ideas suggest a film much better than the one they appear in, which is like a Twilight Zone episode directed by a 12-year old. Let's check off the problems, shall we?

Really bad, flat, unbelievable acting, particularly from the lead actress? Check.
All voices obviously dubbed? Check.
Ridiculous dialog, obviously written by someone with only a poor grasp of English? Check.
Moronic script with a lot of EC Comics cliches done badly? Check.
Cheesy, unscary score, blunty inserted at odd moments? Check.
Laughable disregard for credibility? Check.

*SPOILER ALERT*
For instance, imagine a scene where a woman goes to see her husband's body at the hospital. She takes her little daughter with her (as you do), and parks her on a seat outside the morgue. She walks right in, off a main corridor - nobody stops her and there's no-one in attendance. Cut back a little while later, and her dead husband is now dressed in a nice suit. I imagine getting a corpse dressed is quite a chore to do by yourself! Then she finally notices the rotten remains lying right next to her husband, and starts screaming. Cut to a glass jug of water. Cut back to screaming. The jug seems to be slowly tipping over. Cut back and forth a few more times. The little girl comes in to see her mother lying asleep on the morgue floor. The jug finally tips over, apparently in just the position to pour onto the woman's face. But it's not water, it's acid! The pouring manages to go on through a couple of minutes of further intercutting. Finally a bloody foam spreads towards the little girl's feet. Eventually she retreats and tries several doors at random (but not the one she came in through). One of these doors seems to conceal a vertical storage closet for bodies, and one of them (obviously just some guy) looms towards her. End scene. But don't worry, the girl is fine. She reappears to feature in what for me was the film's highlight, when most of her head is blown off by a pistol.

As an Ed Wood-type viewing experience, this would be fun. Also, I imagine it might give enjoyment if watched stoned (I suspect many of this films proponents have done this). But if you are an adult, looking for a serious horror movie experience, you'd do well to put Fulci's magnum opus rather low down on your list.