The House by the Cemetery

The House by the Cemetery is a 1981 Italian horror film directed by the master of Italian horror himself, Lucio Fulci. It stars Catriona MacColl, Paolo Malco, Ania Pieroni, and introduces us to a world of gothic horror and deeply eerie suspense that is threaded through with Fulci's distinctive style of graphic horror.

The story revolves around a family who moves to a quaint New England town where they discover and attempt to inhabit an old, widely avoided mansion with a dark past. The main characters are Dr. Norman Boyle (Paolo Malco), his wife Lucy (Catriona MacColl) and their young son, Bob (Giovanni Frezza).

Dr. Boyle is a historian who recently accepted a research assignment previously carried out by his late colleague, Dr. Peterson. The project requires the Boyle family to relocate to Boston from their New York City home, so that Norman can continue Peterson's study on a certain Dr. Freudstein. Little do the family members know that their new home, infamous in the local community and ominously dubbed the 'Freudstein House', holds horrifying secrets in its basement.

Young Bob is the first to sense the eeriness and malevolence about the house, fueled by a mysterious young girl he meets called Mae (Silvia Collatina), who warns him about the house. However, his parents dismiss his fears as the regular anxieties of a child moving places. Ania Pieroni portrays the beautiful but enigmatic Ann, the family's nanny, who exhibits a strange knowledge about the town's disturbing history and the house itself.

As the Boyle family settles into their new home, a series of inexplicable and frightening events begin to unravel. Without giving away too much, these scare-filled occurrences revolve around the shocking secrets buried in the cellar of their new home, the inscrutable nanny, Ann, and the town's gory history. MacColl, in her role as the troubled mother, brings an emotionally-jolting performance that amplifies the movie's overall sense of terror.

A terrifying amalgam of the haunted house and slasher sub-genres, The House by the Cemetery stands as a testament to Fulci’s unrelenting ability to create suspense and dread, reserving its most shattering horror for the final act. Fulci cleverly uses the innocence and imagination of children to build tension and foreboding in the film, a signature trait found in many of his works.

At the same time, The House by the Cemetery explores themes such as the limitations of knowledge and understanding, the dread of what lies beneath the surface, and the chilling reminders of a brutal, buried history. It's also homage of sorts to the classical horror nested within gothic tradition with its endless corridors, dark cellars, and malevolent specters from the past.

In addition, the film is heightened by the chilling musical scoring of Walter Rizzati that complements the unfolding horror and mystery throughout its run. And it's also important to note Fulci's fondness for practical effects, as the film boasts intricately design sets, an alarming atmosphere, and a grisly, grotesque aesthetic that is both visceral and unsettling.

Despite the portrayal of extreme violence and gory scenes, this film far exceeds the bounds of a simple splatter horror flick. The end product is a terrifying and captivating horror masterpiece with rich undertones of psychological trauma and fear, rendered through excellent performances, atmospheric cinematography, and incredibly detailed set designs.

On the whole, The House by the Cemetery is an aesthetically refined entry into European horror, with a chilling and engrossing narrative that amplifies the age-old terror of haunted houses. Here, Fulci creates a synthesis of atmospheric horror and graphic violence to make an unsettling masterpiece that is a must-watch for lovers of the horror genre. While not a film for those with a faint heart, for fans of classic horror, this film is a highly recommended and rewarding experience.