The House by the Cemetery Blu-ray

Search DVDBeaver

S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

(aka "Quella villa accanto al cimitero" )

directed by Lucio Fulci
Italy 1981

Norman Boyle (Paolo Malco, THE SCORPION WITH TWO TAILS), along with his wife Lucy (Catriona MacColl, CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD) and son Bob (Giovanni Frezza, A BLADE IN THE DARK), leaves New York for the sleepy New England town of New Whitby to continue the research of a colleague who murdered his mistress and then hanged himself. They have rented the creaky Oaks Mansion, with its mysterious locked basement, a tombstone in he middle of the living room floor, and a slinky babysitter (Ania Pieroni, INFERNO) who job description also includes mopping up puddles of blood and making coffee. Norman discovers his late colleague's research took a tangential turn into the life of the house's previous resident, one Dr. Jacob Tess Freudstein who was expelled from the medical community for his experiments in cell regeneration. Hmm, could this have anything to do with the tendency of visitors to the house to mysterious disappear (and die gory onscreen deaths)? Lucy's hearing noises and little Bob has a seemingly imaginary friend Mae (Silvia Collatina, MURDER ROCK) who keeps warning him that he and his parents should leave the house. Dagmar Lassander (BLACK EMANUELLE 2) is the estate agent, and CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD's Carlo de Mejo and Daniela Doria (gorily mistreated as usual for her Fulci work) also pop up again. A few years later, fellow Italian horror director Umberto Lenzi and Joe D'Amato's Filmirage crew hoofed it to New England to shoot GHOSTHOUSE in the same striking haunted house location (and utilized more of the real interiors).

Eric Cotenas

Posters

Theatrical Release: 1 March 1984 (USA)

Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews

Comparison:

Anchor Bay Entertainment (The Lucio Fulci Collection) - Region 1 - NTSC vs. Blue Underground - Region FREE - Blu-ray

Big thanks to Eric Cotenas and Gary Tooze for the Screen Caps!

(Anchor Bay Entertainment (The Lucio Fulci Collection) - Region 1 - NTSC - LEFT vs. Blu Underground - Region FREE - Blu-ray - RIGHT)

DVD Box Covers
Distribution	Anchor Bay Entertainment Region 1 - NTSC	Blue Underground Region FREE - Blu-ray
Runtime	1:26:18	1:26:22.218
Video	2.38:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 5.69 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s	1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 47,159,029,171 bytes Feature: 24,130,725,888 bytes Codec: MPEG4 AVC Video Total Video Bitrate: 32.99 Mbps
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate: Anchor Bay Entertainment (The Lucio Fulci Collection)
Bitrate: Blue Underground Blu-ray
Audio	English Dolby Digital 2.0 surround	DTS-HD Master Audio English 2050 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 2050 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit) Dolby Digital Audio Italian 256 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 256 kbps / DN -4dBo
Subtitles	none	English SDH, French, Spanish, none
Features	Release Information: Studio: Anchor Bay Entertainment Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 2.38:1 Edition Details: • U.S. Theatrical Trailer (16:9; 1:47) • International Theatrical Trailer (16:9; 3:22) • TV spot (4:3; 0:31) • Still Gallery • Filmographies • Easter Egg: Deleted Scene (1:02) DVD Release Date: 22 May 2001 Amaray Chapters 25	Release Information: Studio: Blue Underground 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 47,159,029,171 bytes Feature: 24,130,725,888 bytes Codec: MPEG4 AVC Video Total Video Bitrate: 32.99 Mbps Edition Details: • Meet the Boyles - Interviews with Stars Catriona MacColl and Paolo Malco (14:11) • Children of the Night - Interviews with Stars Giovanni Frezza and Silvia Collatina (12:13) • Tales of Laura Gittleson - Interview with Star Dagmar Lassander (8:51) • My Time With Terror - Interview with Star Carlo De Mejo (9:16) • A Haunted House Story - Interviews with Co-Writers Dardano Sacchetti and Elisa Briganti (14:02) • To Build a Better Death Trap - Interviews with cinematographer Sergio Salvati, special make-up • effects artist Maurizio Trani, special effects artist Gino De Rossi, and actor Giovanni De Nava (21:32) • Deleted Scene: Bar Attack Aftermath (1:01) • International Trailer (3:24) • U.S. Theatrical Trailer (1:48) • TV Spot (:32) • Poster & Still Gallery Blu-ray Release Date: October 24th, 2011 Standard Blu-ray case Chapters 18

Comments

NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Blue Underground - Region FREE - Blu-ray - October 11': Significant improvement of Blue Underground 1080P transfer over the Anchor Bay DVD. It shows more information in the frame on all 4 edges, much more detail, tighter, brighter colors and a far more film-like appearance. Skin tones take a quantum leap to more accurate flesh tones, there is depth - it is really a world of difference - a totally fresh film experience. Bravo!

Blue Underground have given the English track a lossless 2.0 channel stereo treatment via a DTS- HD Master at a healthy 200 kbps. The DUB is a shade over-the-top at times but adds to the Giallo flavor. It sounds quite intense at times - capable depth and Walter Rizzati's score is heavy and impacting through the uncompressed mix. Blue Underground also include the Italian track (untested) - also stereo - in a standard Dolby rendering.

Extras are un-ending with a slew of passionate Blue Underground produced interview featurettes including Meet the Boyles - a chat with stars Catriona MacColl and, seperately, Paolo Malco for just shy of 15-minutes. There is also Children of the Night which is an interview with stars Giovanni Frezza and Silvia Collatina for about a dozen minutes, Tales of Laura Gittleson an interview with Star Dagmar Lassander for 9-minutes, My Time With Terror talking with Star Carlo De Mejo, A Haunted House Story -more interviews - this time with Co-Writers Dardano Sacchetti and Elisa Briganti for just short of 15-minuites and To Build a Better Death Trap rapping with cinematographer Sergio Salvati, special make-up effects artist Maurizio Trani, special effects artist Gino De Rossi, and actor Giovanni De Nava for more than 20-minutes. There is also a short deleted scene (Bar Attack Aftermath), trailers, a TV spot and a poster & still gallery.

Wow - quite the gore-fest - WOW! - but I see the appeal. I began to have a good time with House by the Cemetery despite my reservations on the child-usage. This stands out as a quintessential Giallo that I would certainly find it a valuable representative of the genre as far s I am concerned. I can't see horror, of this ilk, being much more impressively made. There is a lot to like here and Blue Underground have done it again with a dynamic and near-perfect package that we can very easily recommend!

- Gary W. Tooze

***

ON THE DVD: First released in the US in a painfully cropped VHS transfer by Vestron Video (the US prints featured an abbreviated opening title sequence and a different music cue over the sequence), HOUSE BY THE CEMETERY saw its first widescreen DVD release through the budget bin label Diamond Entertainment in a non-anamorphic transfer culled from the import EC Entertainment laserdisc (this transfer is still making the rounds on PD labels). Anchor Bay's 2001 progressive, single-layer DVD featured the first anamorphic transfer an an effective but not overdone Dolby 2.0 Surround track. Extras are limited to the film's international trailer, US trailer and TV spot (featuring narration by Brother Theodore), a stills gallery, and a deleted scene (without sound) extension of the bat attack. EC Entertainment released an Ultrabit transfer, but the boosted image compared poorly to the Anchor Bay transfer.

Blue Underground is also releasing a standard definition DVD (HERE) featuring the new HD mastered film and the new extras. Blue Underground's 2007 edition (HERE) is a direct port of the Anchor Bay transfer, menus and extras. In the UK, Arrow have released the film on SD DVD and are planning a Blu-Ray edition of their own with different extras, so Fulci fans may want to pick up both.

- Eric Cotenas

Menus

Anchor Bay Entertainment (The Lucio Fulci Collection) - Region 1 - NTSC