House by the Cemetery (1981)

Do you like keyboards? Drawn out scenes? Maggots? I hope so, because The House by the Cemetery knows how to use them.

Directed and screenplay by Lucio Fucli, the Italian director known for his flare for gore once again delivers in House by the Cemetery (1981) though the lag time in between blood soaked scenes can get a bit long. Fucio also directed the classic Zombie 2 (1979) which arguably makes for a better overall movie.

In HbtC, Dr. Norman Boyle (Paolo Malco) moves from New York to Boston for a new research position. Along with the new job Dr. Boyle moves his family into his predecessor’s house that has a bad legacy. After the predecessor went insane he murdered his family and then committed suicide. One of the main characters is Dr. Boyle’s son, Bob (Giovanni Frezza.) Bob is a blue eyed blonde haired ten-year-old who you can not help but hate. When Bob receives psychic warnings not to go to their new house his parents understandably take them as more proof their child is mentally handicapped. Bad acting matched with cheesy dialogue attempt to make Bob cute but fail laughably.

The family practices a level of denial that would make the Bush Administration proud. Be it gravestones in the kitchen, rabid bats, or the creepy nanny moping up blood; the Boyle family remains in their quaint New England house until the bitter end. The plot may be lacking and it is not the director’s best work, but The House by the Cemetery still has its place. There is plenty of gratuitous gore that is paced with long scenes of vacant staring and while there is a plot, you should not look too hard for it. Why is that a good thing? Well you can get another beer and make jokes with no fear you will miss anything. And you just might find yourself cheering the ‘monster’ on!

…but will you get what you wish for? Will Bob and his family escape the evil lurking in the basement?

Come Monday night and find out! -MH

Playing this week at Alberta St. Pub; March 31st, 9PM FREE!

1036 NE Alberta St
Portland, OR 97211

The House by the Cemetery (1981)
84 min.
Rated: R

I Eat Your Skin (1964)

Playing Monday; March 24, 9PM

Written and directed by Del Tenney I Eat Your Skin was released four years before George Ramero’s Night of the Living Dead and like other pre-Ramero zombie flicks indulges in Voodoo origins. You know; witch doctors, blood letting, and human sacrifices? That kind of Voodoo.

The opening scene features Haitian natives sacrificing a Betty Davis look alike and a goat. Meanwhile, in peaceful Miami writer Tom Harris (William Joyce), known as a “playboy writer” and “sophisticated swinger,” is finding that his lecherous ways are catching up to him. Luckily his agent Dan Stapleton (Duncan Fairchild) has arranged for their immediate departure to “Voodoo Island” to do research for an upcoming novel.

The original title of the movie, Zombies might have been more appropriate as there is not much skin eating though the zombies do seem to suffer from bad skin and pickled eyeballs. Overall I Eat Your Skin is full of great one liners, cornball machismo, and weird dance numbers making it worth the watch.

But it makes for a better viewing when you've got a beer and friends you can laugh with. So come on out!

-MH

Playing at Alberta St. Pub; March 24, 9PM FREE!

1036 NE Alberta St
Portland, OR 97211

I Eat Your Ski (1964)

82 min.

Unrated