Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!: The House by the Cemetery/Quella Villa accanto al Cimitero (1981)

1/29/2022

The House by the Cemetery/Quella Villa accanto al Cimitero (1981) - Underwhelming Fulci horror

♥♥

Darkness and bestiality looms on this grim-looking poster for Lucio Fulci's The House by the Cemetery

A New York couple move to a former scientist's house in Boston, where the man is to finish up some research and make an extra buck. But a strange curse rests over the house and their babysitter!

The House by the Cemetery is written by Dardano Sacchetti (Demons/Dèmoni (1985)), Giorgio Mariuzzo (Doppio Misto (1985, TV movie)) and co-writer/director Lucio Fulci (I Ladri (1959)), with Elisa Briganti (Manhattan Baby (1982)) contributing story elements.

Aside from incredibly bloody effects, this horror hit is something of a bomb in Fulci's body of work. It is technically bad, with a confusing twist about 'children as monsters' (underscored by a Henry James quote in the end), but it falls flat due to lousy child performances. The House by the Cemetery isn't all you'd hope it would be.

Related posts:

Lucio Fulci: The Beyond (1981) - Fulci's ultimate vision of surreal horror

City of the Living Dead/Paura Nella Città Dei Morti Viventi/The Gates of Hell (1980) - New England town turns to a gory hell in Fulci's slow shocker favorite

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 600 mil. lire

Box office: 1.4 Bil. lire (Italy alone)

= Uncertain - but almost certainly at least a box office success (returned 2.33 times its cost in Italy alone)

[The House by the Cemetery was released 14 August (Italy) and runs 86 minutes. Shooting took place from March - May 1981 in Massachusetts, including in Boston, New York and in Rome. The film was released almost uncut in Italy, where it reportedly was Fulci's most successful horror of the 1980s. In the UK the film was released with 2 minutes cut out, a release that was put on the 'video nasties' list in 1984. It was video released again in 1988 with 4 minutes now missing, and was not released uncut in the UK until 2009. There are regrettably no available information about the film's box office performances in its several other markets. Fulci returned with The New York Ripper/Lo Squartatore di New York (1982). Catriona MacColl (Saint Ange (2004)) returned in Les Amours des Années Grises (1981, TV-series)) and theatrically in Les Diplômés du dernier Rang (1982); Paolo Malco (Turbo (2001, TV-series)) in The New York Ripper. The House by the Cemetery is rotten at 45 % with a 4.50/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The House by the Cemetery?

No comments:

William Friedkin has died

Born in Chicago, Friedkin accrued TV credits prior to his advance to the big screen as the director of Good TImes (1967), The Birthday Party (1968), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and The Boys in the Band (1970) before his major breakthrough, The French Connection (1971), for which he won his only Oscar. He followed it up with the even bigger smash, The Exorcist (1973), arguably the best horror film of all time, for which he was Oscar-nominated. Later credits include Sorcerer (1977), Cruising (1980), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Rampage (1987), Rules of Engagement (2000), Killer Joe (2011) and The Devil and Father Amorth (2017, documentary). Friedkin passed away at age 87. R.I.P.

Louise Fletcher has passed away

Born in Alabama to deaf parents, Fletcher got her first credits in late-1950s TV-series.She took a 10 year-long sabbatical to devote her time to motherhood after the release of A Gathering of Eagles, but then came back and soon saw her career's most important part, as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), for which she won her sole Oscar. Later credits include Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Lucky Star (1980), Brainstorm (1983), Two Moon Junction (1988), Cruel Intentions (1999), A Perfect Man (2013) and many more. Fletcher passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Jean-Luc Godard has passed away

Born in Paris, France, Godard lived much of his life in Switzerland. He wrote for French film criticism magazine Cahiers du Cinema and became foundational for the New French Wave that inspired new waves in scores of other countries across the world with his Breathless (1960). Later credits include A Woman Is A Woman (1961), Vivre Sa Vie (1962), Le Petit Soldat (1962), Contempt (1963), Alphaville (1965), Pierrot le Fou (1965), 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967), Weekend (1967), Every Man for Himself (1980), King Lear (1987), Century of Cinema (1995, documentary), Goodbye to Language (2014) and many more. Godard died of assisted suicide at age 91. R.I.P.

Wolfgang Petersen has died

James Caan has died

Caan was born the son of Jewish immigrants from Germany in New York. He got his start on TV in the early 1960s. His credits include El Dorado (1966), The Rain People (1969), Brian's Song (1971, TV movie), The Godfather (1972), - for which he earned his only Oscar nomination, - Slither (1973), The Gambler (1974), Funny Lady (1975), Rollerball (1975), Silent Movie (1976), Hide in Plain Sight (1980), - the only film he also directed, - Thief (1981), Misery (1990), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Bottle Rocket (1996), Eraser (1996), Dogville (2003), Elf (2003), Las Vegas (2003-07), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) and many more. Caan passed away at age 82. R.I.P.

Jean-Louis Trintignant has died

Born in Vaucluse, France, Trintignant's theatrical debut as an actor was in If All the Guys in the World... (1955). Later credits include ...And God Created Woman (1956), The Seven Deadly Sins (1961), Inferno (1964), A Man and A Woman (1966), My Love, My Love (1967), A Man to Kill (1967), The Great Silence (1968), Z (1969), The Assassination (1972), Three Colors: Red (1994), Amour (2012), Happy End (2017) and many more. He also wrote and directed two films in the 1970s. Trintignant passed away at age 91. R.I.P.

Ray Liotta has died

Adopted from an orphenage at a young age, Liotta got hooked on acting in high school. He had various TV credits in the late 1970s and early 80s, with his film debut in The Lonely Lady (1983). Later credits include Something Wild (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Goodfellas (1990), Cop Land (1997), Hannibal (2001), Blow (2001), Narc (2002), John Q (2002), Identity (2003), Observe and Report (2009), Youth in Revolt (2009), The Details (2011), Killing THem Softly (2012), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Shades of Blue (2016-18), The Simpsons (2018, TV-series), Marriage Story (2019), The Many Saints of Newark (2021), Black Bird (2022, TV-series) and many more. Liotta passed away at age 67 in his sleep while on production in the Dominican Republic. R.I.P.

Philip Baker Hall has died

Born in Ohio, Hall didn't start acting until he was 30. His long list of credits include Zabriskie Point (1970), Miami Vice (1987, TV-series), Midnight Run (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Cheers (1993, TV-series), Hard Eight (1996), The Rock (1996), Air Force One (1997), Boogie Nights (1997), Seinfeld (1991-98), Rush Hour (1998), The Insider (1999), Magnolia (1999), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Bruce Almighty (2003), Dogville (2003), The Zodiac (2005), Zodiac (2007), Curb Your Enthusiasm (2004-09), Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), Modern Family (2011-12) and many more. Hall passed away at age 90. R.I.P.

William Hurt has passed away

Born in Washington D.C., Hurt's first film role was the lead in Altered States (1980). Later credits include Body Heat (1981), The Big Chill (1983), Gorky Park (1983), Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985), for which he earned his only Oscar as Best Actor; Chilrdren of a Lesser God (1986), for which he was also Oscar-nominated; Broadcast News (1987), for which he was again Oscar-nominated; Smoke (1995), A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001), A History of Violence (2005), for which he was again Oscar-nominated; The Good Shepherd (2006), Into the Wild (2007), Robin Hood (2010) and many more. Hurt passed away at age 71. R.I.P.

Ivan Reitman has passed away

Born in Chechoslovakia, now Slovakia, Reitman's family fled the Soviet regime to Austria, then Toronto, when he was 4 years old. Reitman broke into movies as a director with Foxy Lady (1971). Later credits include Cannibal Girls (1973), Meatballs (1979), Stripes (1981), Ghostbusters (1984), Twins (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Kindergarten Cop (1990), Junior (1994), Father's Day (1997), Evolution (1998), No Strings Attached (2011), Draft Day (2014) and more. Reitman's son Jason Reitman is also a great filmmaker. Reitman passed away at age 75. R.I.P.

Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!

Eagerly anticipating this week ... (6-24)

1/29/2022

The House by the Cemetery/Quella Villa accanto al Cimitero (1981) - Underwhelming Fulci horror

No comments:

Post a Comment

Eagerly anticipating this week ... (5-24)

My Blog List