The House by the Cemetery

The exceptionally well-played aspects, both in terms of storytelling and form, unfortunately get stuck during the second half in both respects. In comparison to The Beyond, Fulci significantly restrains the detailed portrayal of human body destruction. However, the halt in the narrative flow becomes a significant issue, and the dead twenty-minute segment leaves a bitter taste in an otherwise well-executed film. Its ultimate quality can be attributed to the phenomenal ending, in addition to the aforementioned introduction. For those who wondered about the absence of gore, Fulci opens their mouths wide with a strong concentration of mutilated bodies in a single scene, pleasantly unsettling the stomach while maintaining a juicy punch of dark atmosphere. With a bit of good will, one could even call it fear, as the chilling sensation down the spine from what we see can be described as such. Perhaps only a few blatantly idiotic lines from the mouth of the little blond and extremely unsympathetic boy, as well as the characters' implausible behavior throughout most of the film, create unpleasant flaws. However, these can be overlooked if we approach the overall experience more emotionally than logically. In such a case, four stars would indeed be a more than fitting rating for a good film. (29/12/2005)

It’s confirmed, Italian horror classics are not for me. The House by the Cemetery is already the fifth famous film from that country to disappoint me. Not only do the characters behave very illogically, but there are also a lot of incomplete motifs that are never explained, and everything feels awfully fake and shallow. Formally speaking, it’s not bad; the gore isn’t shabby, either – actually, it’s great, but that’s something you can expect from Fulci – so I can’t give it a low rating, but I can’t grant more than 3* either, the story was too irritatingly contrived for me. The last 10 minutes in the “cellar” are great, if the entire film had that atmosphere, I wouldn’t have been disappointed. (03/06/2008)

The last, most conventional and cohesive film of Fulci's Gates of Hell trilogy. The plot this time makes sense, but Fulci's flair for odd moments and bizarre stylistic excesses, such as disorienting camera swoops, jumbled refocusing and incomprehensible editing, are still evident. This time, though, there are slightly fewer gore effects. The most impressive moments mostly revolve around a mysteriously ajar or slammed cellar door, which plays a suspenseful role in key scenes. An insectoid zombie in a surgical gown, named Freudstein (apparently a fusion of the names Freud and Frankenstein), is a wonderfully bizarre villain. This time, a child character becomes the center of the supernatural events, and she goes through some surprisingly big scares (I wouldn't be surprised if her child actor took some trauma from the filming). Avoid the English dubbing, where this character is dubbed by an adult actor who tries to imitate the voice of a child, making the film an unintentional comedy. (15/08/2023)

The House by the Cemetery is a nice surprise, at least by Fulci’s standards and by the standards of Italian gore trash in general. The filmmaker stays true to the gratuitous nature of the gory scenes, but this time they are part of the story, which actually begins and ends somewhere, has realistic characters and abounds with a secretive and mysterious atmosphere. Don’t you love it when children are placed in horror movies? The film’s protagonist is barely eight years old and goes through a hell that even adults don’t usually go through in films. It’s just a shame that the monster, which finally shows itself in all its glory in the final scene, is a bad joke. At any rate, this is probably the best and most “normal” of Fulci’s well-known horror movies. (18/05/2002)

"The House by the Cemetery" definitely won't belong to my favorite Fulci films, although I think that others could learn from it when it comes to how to shoot an atmospheric film. One thing he struggles with is keeping the viewer's attention in terms of the plot. I think that this can sometimes be so strange that it discourages the viewer, and they won't even enjoy the fantastic atmosphere that is otherwise present here. That film could use a few adjustments in the script." (17/05/2014)