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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r |
(aka "The Nights of Terror" or "Burial Ground: The Nights of Terror" or "Le notti del terrore" or "Zombie 3" or "The Zombie Dead" )
directed by Andrea Bianchi
Italy 1981
For his only foray into the zombie genre, psychosexual sleaze maestro Andrea Bianchi (Malabimba: the Malicious Whore, Strip Nude for Your Killer) unleashed the barrage of flesh-ripping, gut-chomping and depraved oedipal mayhem that set insane new standards in Italian horror, now in UHD for the first time in North America: Mariangela Giordano (of Satan's Baby Doll, The Sect and Patrick Still Lives fame) stars in the '80s splatter classic about a cursed country estate besieged by horny houseguests, undead Etruscans and the unusual relationship between a mother (Giordano) and her mega-creepy young son (disturbingly portrayed by adult actor Peter Bark) that will trigger some of the most jaw-dropping scenes in grindhouse history. Severin Films is improbably proud to present the definitive version of this gorehound / sex-fiend favorite, now featuring an all-new 4K scan and 4 hours of special features. *** Mounted in the wake of the international success of Lucio Fulci's Zombie, Burial Ground is a gory and enjoyably trashy bargain basement spin-off that is of its era (when Italian genre output was beginning to wind down) and simultaneously a throwback to the cheaper flipside of the sixties Italian gothics. While Bava, Freda, and Margheriti had Barbara Steele shrieking and running through the halls of old villas in period garb, Burial Ground scripter Piero Regnoli (Nightmare City) filled the same corridors with stranded burlesque dancers and stalking vampires (The Playgirls and the Vampire) and the modern-day equivalent of The Horrible Dr. Hitchcock in Franco Nero's playboy necrophile in The Third Eye. When an archaeologist (Raimondo Barbieri) breaks the seal on an Etruscan tomb, he fulfills the "Profecy of the Black Spider" (sic) and unleashes "nights of terror" (sic) on a group of jet-setters weekending near the Burial Ground. Wealthy George (Roberto Caporali, And the Ship Sails On) brings along mistress Evelyn (Mariangela Giordano, Gore In Venice her sullen and clingy son Michael (Peter Bark), and two other couples - Mark (Gianluigi Chirizzi, Terror Express) & Janet (Karin Well, Convent of Sinners) and James (Simone Mattioli, The Other Hell) & Leslie (Antonella Antinori, Play Motel) - for a weekend of debauchery at his remote Lazio villa ("You look just like a little whore, but I like that in a girl!"). A placid summer day takes a turn for terror when ancient rotting corpses pop out of the nearby tombs, flower beds, and random spots in the garden lawn in search of human flesh. The survivors barricade themselves inside the villa, but these zombies can climb, use tools, possess quite the dead aim, and are masters of disguise. The coming dawn offers no comfort (remember, the original/export title is Nights of Terror, plural). |
Posters
Theatrical Release: January 23rd, 1981
Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews
Review: Severin Films - Region FREE - 4K UHD
Box Cover |
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CLICK to order from: 88 Films (UK) have a 4K UHD of Burial Ground: Bonus Captures: |
Distribution | Severin Films - Region FREE - 4K UHD | |
Runtime | 1:25:13.983 | |
Video |
1.66:1 Disc Size: 43,389,963,092 bytes Feature Size: 27,711,246,336 bytes Total Bitrate: 37.00 MbpsDual-layered Blu-ray MPEG4 - AVC |
1.66:1 2160P 4K Ultra HD Disc Size: 65,762,817,366 bytesFeature: 64,006,520,832 bytesVideo Bitrate: 91.28 MbpsCodec: HEVC Video |
NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes. |
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Bitrate Severin Films (2024) - Blu-ray: |
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Bitrate 4K Ultra HD: |
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Audio |
DUB: DTS-HD Master
Audio English 1852 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1852 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 /
48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit) Dolby Digital Audio English 256 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 256 kbps / DN -31dB |
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Subtitles | English, None | |
Features |
Release Information: Studio: Severin Films
Edition Details: 4K Ultra HD disc
• Audio Commentary With Critics Nathaniel Thompson, Troy
Howarth And Eugenio Ercolani
Severin Films - Region FREE - Blu-ray
• Audio Commentary With Critics Nathaniel Thompson, Troy Howarth And
Eugenio Ercolani
Black 4K Ultra HD Case Chapters 12 |
Comments: |
NOTE:
The below
Blu-ray
and
4K UHD
captures were taken directly from the respective
discs.
It is likely that the monitor
you are seeing this review is not an
HDR-compatible
display (High Dynamic Range) or Dolby Vision, where each pixel can be assigned with a wider
and notably granular range of color and light. Our
capture software if simulating the HDR (in a uniform manner) for standard
monitors. This should make it easier for us to review more
4K UHD titles in the
future and give you a decent idea of its attributes on your system. So our
captures may not support the exact same colors (coolness of
skin tones, brighter or darker hues etc.) as the
4K system at your home. But the
framing, detail, grain texture support etc. are, generally, not effected by
this simulation representation.
NOTE:
50
We have reviewed the following 4K
UHD packages to date:
Dark Water
(software uniformly simulated HDR),
Fear and Desire
(software uniformly simulated HDR),
Dr. Jekyll and the Werewolf
(no HDR),
Paths of Glory
(software uniformly simulated HDR),
Southern Comfort
(software uniformly simulated HDR),
Gunfight at the O.K. Corral
(software uniformly simulated HDR,)
The Wages of Fear
(software uniformly simulated HDR),
The Roaring Twenties
(software uniformly simulated HDR),
Universal Classic Monsters Limited Edition Collection
(software uniformly simulated HDR),
Scarlet Street
(software uniformly simulated HDR),
eXistenZ
(software uniformly simulated HDR),
The Horrible Dr. Hichcock
(software uniformly simulated HDR),
Conan the Barbarian
(software uniformly simulated HDR),
Django
(no HDR),
Lone Star
(software uniformly simulated HDR),
Suspect Zero
(software uniformly simulated HDR),
Count Dracula
(software uniformly simulated HDR),
Full Circle - The Haunting of Julia
(software uniformly simulated HDR),
The Warriors
(software uniformly simulated HDR),
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio
(software uniformly simulated HDR),
Blackhat
(software uniformly simulated HDR),
Mark of the Devil
(software uniformly simulated HDR),
Barbarella
(software uniformly simulated HDR),
The Last Picture Show
(software uniformly simulated HDR),
The Man Who Knew Too Much
(software uniformly simulated HDR),
Rope
(software uniformly simulated HDR),
Frenzy
(software uniformly simulated HDR),
American Graffiti
(software uniformly simulated HDR),
East End Hustle (software uniformly simulated HDR),
Three Days of the Condor
(software uniformly simulated HDR), Witness
(software uniformly simulated HDR),
Fascination
(software uniformly simulated HDR),
Lips of Blood
(software uniformly simulated HDR),
The Others
(no HDR),
It Came From Outer Space
(software uniformly simulated HDR).
On their
4K UHD, and second disc
Blu-ray,
Severin Films offer DTS-HD Master dual-mono tracks (24-bit) in Italian
or the (default) English language DUB. This is an improvement over their
own 16-bit English and lossy Italian audio of their own 2016
Blu-ray.
"Burial Ground" is filled with various types of
'Zombie' violence, a few gunshots and piercing screams. They can
punctuate scenes but remain authentically flat. The
score is by Elsio Mancuso (Django
the Bastard)
and
Berto Pisano (Death
Smiles on a Murderer,
Giallo in Venice)
that remains awkward at times but that suits the film experience.
Both
discs offer optional English subtitles - and is, like all
4K UHD, region FREE,
playable worldwide.
There are two commentaries (and
a trailer) on the
4K UHD disc. The
first is by Nathaniel Thompson (FrightFest
Guide to Vampire Movies), Troy Howarth (author of
So Deadly, So Perverse: 50
Years of Italian Giallo Films) and Eugenio Ercolani (Darkening
the Italian Screen II: Interviews with Genre and Exploitation Directors Who
Debuted in the 1970s.) They describe it as a classic of the Italian
Zombie film genre, discuss it being the most notable film by
Andrea Bianchi, the director's penchant for seediness, discuss producer
Gabriele Crisanti - his purported relationship with Mariangela Giordano
(Evelyn in Burial Ground,) where the film was shot at the the Villa
Parisi in Frascati, the
notorious casting of Pietro Barzocchini (Peter Bark,) the English DUB, and
significantly more. The second was from the 2016, 88 Films,
Blu-ray
and has Italian cinema experts Calum Waddell (Minds
of Fear: 30 Cult Classics of the Modern Horror Film) and John Martin
(author of Seduction of
the Gullible: The Truth Behind the Video Nasty Scandal.) They talk
about the film's controversial release history, media disapproval of the sex
and gore, the curious history of the British Video Nasty influence, masks /
special makeup effects artist Rosario Prestopino, other crew, cast and other
production details. It is also very informative. There is also a 3.5-minute
trailer on this
4K UHD disc in 1080P.
The second disc
Blu-ray,
has the feature in 1080P and the two commentaries. Mostly, the other
supplements duplicate their own 2016
Blu-ray.
Described as "...home-grown,
extras - some in Italian with English subtitles. Villa Parisi - Legacy of Terror is a
16-minute featurette on the historic house location. We
get a 7.5-minute Peter Still Lives: Festival Q&A
with actor Peter Bark and a 9-minute interview with
actor Simone Mattioli entitled Just for the Money.
The Smell Of Death spends almost 10-minites with
Producer Gabriele Crisanti and actress Mariangela
Giordano and there are a fully 10.5-minutes of deleted /
extended scenes plus a theatrical trailer.
Included is the 1/4 hour Return to the Burial Ground - another
interview with actor Peter Bark at Villa Parisi. There are no liner notes
and the
4K UHD
package is housed in a slipcase
with alternate artwork (see below.)
Andrea Bianchi's "Burial Ground" has a large cult following
becoming part of the lore of the genre - described as
an 'Italian grindhouse zombie' movie. Indeed.
It was shot in four weeks just outside of Rome. "Burial Ground" moves
at a bonkers pace with frequent zombie attacks - all coming secondary to the
plot. It was shot on a low budget and there are some creative Giallo touches
(see the J&B scotch) as well as expressing a gothic feel - the monastery
(rife with hooded zombified monks,) a glorious old mansion / villa, the
scullery maid etc. as well as squeezing in some perversity with Peter Bark
and the disturbingly sleazy breast-feeding scene and hints at possible
incest. All the action, and gore, have a strange rhythm that evoke, one of
my favorites,
Nightmare
City. There is
no disputing that "Burial Ground" is vacuous and trashy... but it
feeds off that indefensible impression. It's hard to deny that it works on a
few gut-response levels.
Severin's
4K UHD
release is a massive step forward in the HD presentation, and adds two
commentaries which embolden appreciation. Certainly not for everyone but
those keen will adore this package. To that select cult - this is
recommended! |
Menus / Extras
Severin Films - Region FREE - Blu-ray
Severin Films - Region FREE - 4K UHD
CLICK EACH BLU-RAY and 4K UHD CAPTURE TO SEE IN FULL RESOLUTION
Subtitle Samples
1) Severin Films (2024 for Italian) - Region FREE - Blu-ray - LEFT2) Severin Films (2024 - SDH) - Region FREE - Blu-ray RIGHT
|
1) 88 Films (2016) - Region 'B' - Blu-ray - TOP2) Severin Films - Region FREE - 4K UHD BOTTOM
|
1) 88 Films (Grindhouse version) - Region 'B' - Blu-ray - TOP2) Severin Films (2024) - Region FREE - Blu-ray MIDDLE 3) Severin Films - Region FREE - 4K UHD BOTTOM
|
1) Shriek Show - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP2) 88 Films (Grindhouse version) - Region 'B' - Blu-ray MIDDLE 3) Severin Films - Region FREE - 4K UHD BOTTOM
|
1) Severin Films (2016) - Region FREE - Blu-ray - TOP2) Severin Films - Region FREE - 4K UHD BOTTOM
|
1) 88 Films (2016) - Region 'B' - Blu-ray - TOP2) Severin Films - Region FREE - 4K UHD BOTTOM
|
More full resolution (3840 X 2160) 4K Ultra HD Captures for Patreon Supporters HERE
Box Cover |
|
CLICK to order from: 88 Films (UK) have a 4K UHD of Burial Ground: Bonus Captures: |
Distribution | Severin Films - Region FREE - 4K UHD |
Search DVDBeaver |
S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r |