HOUSE BY THE CEMETERY (1981) (Blue Underground 3-Disc Limited Edition Blu-ray Review/Comparison)

THE HOUSE BY THE CEMETERY (1981)  3-Disc Limited Edition 4K Restoration Label: Blue Underground Region Code: Region-FREE Rating: Unrated Duration: 86 Minutes Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1 Surround, English & Italian Mono 1.0 DTS-HD MA with Optional English Subtitles Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.40:1) Director: Lucio Fulci Cast: Catriona MacColl, Paolo Malco, Ania Pieroni, Carlo De Mejo, and Dagmar Lassander Read The Fine Print... You May Have Just Mortgaged Your Life! New Yorkers the Boyle family, Norman (Paolo Malco, The New York Ripper), his wife Lucy (Catriona MacColl, City of the Living Dead) and their young son Bob (Giovanni Frezza, Manhattan Baby) are about to move from NYC to rural New England so that Norman can continue the research of a colleague named Dr. Petereson. It turns out that Peterson killed himself in the very same mansion they're moving into, conveniently located right next to a Gothic cemetery. Even before moving into the eerie Victorian mansion the Boyle's son begins receiving supernatural warnings not to come to the house, not unlike little Danny Torrance from The Shining (1980). These warnings come from not a talking finger but from the freckle-faced child-spirit of Mae (Silvia Collatina), a young girl who even appears in some strange old pictures in a way that also mirrors that other film. The family begin to settle into the unsettled house and while doing some research Norman comes across the story of a local surgeon, the ridiculously named named Dr. Freudstein, a homicidal Victorian-era surgeon who lived in the same house, his crypt is built inside the the very same house, what could possibly go wrong!?! Fulci's House By The Cemetery (1981) is the third film in what is often refereed to as his Gates of Hell Trilogy, despite that fact that there is no portal to Hell anywhere to be found. There is however a creepy and grotesque looking undead mad-scientist in search of body parts that's silently creeping down in the basement, occasionally showing up to brutally murder visitors. The first kill in the film is a tasty one that starts the film off on a good note, a young woman (Daniela Doria, The New York Ripper) having just done the nasty with her boyfriend in the then uninhabited house finds her boyfriend brutally stabbed to death with a pair of scissors, before she can even scream a large kitchen knife thrust through the back of skull, the tip emerging from her mouth, a kill mirrored a few years later in the nutso-slasher Pieces (1983). The film may not be the graphic gore-fest that either of the previous Gates of Hell trilogy entries, but it has loads of creaky old dark house atmosphere with cobwebs galore and dusty interiors drenched in eerie shadows, it's got a wonderfully eerie haunted house vibe. That's not to say it not bloodless by any means, Fulci brings the sweet pain right from the get go with the young woman stabbed in the head, and continues it with some dazzling bloodletting, most notably an unfortunate real estate agent (Dagmar Lassander, Fulci's Black Cat) who is attacked with a fire-poker, unleashing a geyser of blood and tortured screams. Not all the special effects are fantastic though, even copious amounts of blood cannot disguise a hilariously awful bat-attack. More so than the atmosphere and visceral bloodletting I think this film is most notorious for the shrill English dubbing that has sort of made child actor Giovanni Frezza one of the most hated kids in all of horror cinema. The character was dubbed by a woman and the voice sounds like demon fingernails shredding a chalkboard, but that's not his fault, the kid does just fine, as does young Silvia Collatina (Murder Rock) as the spooky freckle-faced specter who befriends Bob. The main cast is strong, both Catriona MacColl and Paolo Malco were Fulci regulars and tun in solid performances, even if they both show suspect parental and decision making skills, deciding to stay in what s clearly a doom-house despite all the strange happenings leading up to the brutal finale.     Audio/Video: House By The Cemetery (1981) arrives on 3-disc Limited Edition 2xBlu-ray and CD from Blue Underground, presenting the film with a brand new 4K restoration sourced from the uncensored original camera negative. Again, we have Blue Underground absolutely killing it with their limited edition line-up, offering fans yet another definitive 3-disc edition of Fulci classic. The source for this looks pristine with a natural looking layer of velvety film grain, offering lush detail and texturing throughout, this is a vast improvement over what I've seen for this film previously. The gore scenes looks absolutely stunning, with blood appearing vibrant and unsettling, just the way we like it! Comparing this new color-grading with the previous 2011 Blue Underground Blu-ray reveals a warmer and broader color spectrum with more organic looking black levels, in addition to a bit of brightening. Something sure to catch the eye of those familiar with the film will be a strong teal slant, particularly in the opening few minutes, it's a bit startling at first glance, but with that said, the improvement in clarity, color spectrum, and texture eclipse the slight annoyance I have with the teal push. This is the most film-like looking presentation on home video that I've seen so far, check out the screenshot comparison of both the 2011 Blu-ray and this release at the bottom of the review.  Audio comes by way of English and Italian DTS-HD MA 1.0 Mono and a newly created English DTS-HD MA 5.1 Surround, with optional English subtitles. The mono tracks offer crisp reproduction, though there's only so much you can do with that infamously bad English-dub. The 5.1 offers a fuller-sounding mix that highlights the moody score from Walter Rizzati (1990: The Bronx Warriors) with some nice use of the surrounds. Blue Underground offer a wealth of extra material, both new and archival, beginning on the first disc with a new audio commentary from Troy Howarth, author of 'Splintered Visions: Lucio Fulci And His Films'. When it's come to Eurocult cinema Howarth always offers a studied and insightful audio-tour, giving his personal thoughts on the film alongside the facts and anecdotals. Here he digs into it deeply, commenting on the poetic atmosphere conjured by the film, highlights from Fulci's filmography, digging into the cast and crew, an f course touching on Fulci's misogynist reputation. The first disc wraps-up with both the International (4 min) and U.S. (2 min) theatrical trailers, a rough-looking TV spot, a brief 1-min deleted scene, and image galleries containing a tons of promotional material for the film from various territories. The second Blu-ray disc begins with over 88-min of archival extras from the previous 2011 release, interviews with stars Catriona MacColl, Paolo Malco, Giovanni Frezza, Silvia Collatina, Dagmar Lassander, Carlo De Mejo, and Giovanni De Nava, plus co-writers Dardano Sacchetti and Elisa Briganti, cinematographer Sergio Salvati, special make-up effects Artist Maurizio Trani and Gino De Rossi. These extras form a well-rounded examination of the film, it's themes and the sometimes difficult director, as well as the dubbing. New stuff begins with a 15-min interview with co-writer Giorgio Mariuzzo, and a 30-min Q&A with star Catriona MacColl from the 2014 Spaghetti Cinema Festival moderated by author Calum Waddell. The cherry on-top of this nightmare sundae is a 20-min discussion of the film from Stephen Thrower, Author of 'Beyond Terror: The Films of Lucio Fulci', who is always a delightful source of knowledge in all things Euro-cult, we even get a brief then and now location visit toward the end. This three-disc limited edition release comes housed in a clear over-sized Blu-ray keepcase with three trays housing the 2xBlu-ray and CD discs, plus a 20-page booklet containing a new essay, "Freudsteinian Slips", by Michael Gingold, complete with lobby cards and movie poster images, plus cast and crew info, chapter selections for the film and a track listing for the accompanying CD. This release comes with a reversible wrap featuring a pair of original movie posters. The keepcase is housed by a cool 3D lenticular slipcase. I am absolutely loving these three-disc limited edition sets from Blue Underground, they look fantastic and are loaded with extras and high-grade packaging with lots of shelf appeal. Special Features: Disc 1 (Blu-ray) Feature Film + Extras - NEW! Audio Commentary with Troy Howarth, Author of Splintered Visions: Lucio Fulci and His Films - Deleted Scene (1 min)HD - International Trailers (4 min) - U.S. Trailer (2 min)HD - TV Spot (1 min)HD - Poster & Still Galleries Disc 2 (Blu-ray) Extras: - Meet the Boyles: Interviews with Stars Catriona MacColl & Paolo Malco (15 min)HD - Children of the Night: Interviews with Stars Giovanni Frezza & Silvia Collatina (13 min) HD - Tales of Laura Gittleson: Interview with Star Dagmar Lassander (9 min) HD - My Time With Terror: Interview with Star Carlo De Mejo (10 min)HD - A Haunted House Story: Interviews with Co-Writers Dardano Sacchetti and Elisa Briganti (15 min) HD - A Haunted House Story: Interviews with Cinematographer Sergio Salvati, Special Make-Up Effects Artist Maurizio Trani, Special Effects Artist Gino De Rossi, and Actor Giovanni De Nava (22 min) HD - NEW!House Quake - Interview with Co-Writer Giorgio Mariuzzo (15 min) HD - NEW! 2014 Catriona MacColl Q&A (3010) - NEW!Calling Dr. Freudstein - Interview with Stephen Thrower, Author of Beyond Terror: The Films of Lucio Fulci (20 min) HD Disc 3 (CD): - The House By The Cemetery Original Motion Picture Soundtrack by Walter Rizzati (31 Tracks) - 20-Page Collectible Booklet with new essay by Michael Gingold House By The Cemetery (1981) might not have the visceral edge or the otherworldly WTF-ery of The Beyond (1981) or City of the Living Dead (1980) but I love the dark old house vibe intertwined with undead surgeon and the ghost of a child, it's a solidly entertaining slice of vintage Fulci. Blue Underground have given us yet another definitive Fulci platter following definitive releases of both The New York Ripper and Zombie (1979). This is already an early contender for one of the best re-releases of 2020,  great start to the new year! Top: Blue Underground Blu-ray (2011) VS.  Bottom: Blue Underground Blu-ray (2020)

THE NEW YORK RIPPER (1982) (Blue Underground 3-Disc Limited Edition Blu-ray Review)

THE NEW YORK RIPPER (1982) 

3-Disc Limited Edition 4K Remaster 

Label: Blue Underground 
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 93 Minutes
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.40:1)
Audio: English 7.1 DTS-HD MA, English 1.0 DTS-HD MA Mono, Italian 1.0 DTS-HD MA Mono, English Dolby Digital Mono, English 5.1 Dolby Digital, Surround EX, Spanish & French Dolby Digital Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Director: Lucio Fulci
Cast: Jack Hedley, Almanta Keller, Howard Ross, Andrea Occhipinti, Alexandra Delli Colli, Paolo Malco, Cinzia de Ponti, Cosimo Cinieri, Daniela Doria, Zora Kerova

In Lucio Fulci's notorious and controversial 80's slasher film  The New York Ripper (1982) we have a misogynist killer on the loose in NYC viciously slashing young women to death with a razor-knife. The killer has a strange vocal affectation, sounding a lot like a sadistic Daffy Duck, which comes off as a bit ridiculous, offering a sickly tinge of humor to contrast to the graphic killings of women throughout the film. The film opens with a man playing fetch with his dog under a bridge, a horrified look washes over his face when the dog returns from the nearby bushes with the decaying hand of a woman in it's mouth. 

Investigating the case is a conflicted NYPD Lieutenant Fred Williams (Jack Hedley, Witchcraft) whom the killer taunts via phone, which is taken to the next level later on in the film when the killer dedicates a murder to the detective, forced to overhear the murder of his prostitute lover Kitty (Daniela Doria, Black Cat) from a payphone. The cop teams-up with psychology professor Dr. Paul Davis (Paolo Malco, The House By The Cemetery) who helps him create a psychological profile of the sicko serial killer, but it seems to do little good as the bloodied corpses of women continue to pile up.

As the film plugs along the killer continues ripping women, including a bicyclist (Cinzia De Ponti, Manhattan Baby) who the killer corners while she's vandalizing a car on the Staten Island Ferry, and a sex-performer (Zora Kerova, Cannibal Ferox) gets a impromptu hysterectomy with the jagged edge of a broken wine bottle in her green-lit dressing room! Then there's a bored housewife type (Alexandra Delli Colli, Zombie Holocaust) who has an open marriage with her impotent doctor husband, ending up slashed in the hallway of an apartment building after a night of rough-sex with a three-fingered murder suspect, and that's after she's been seduced by a trio of men in a seedy bar, a seduction involving the use of a bulbous big-toe. This big-toe scene for me is far and away the most disturbing part of the film, even if she hadn't ended up slashed to ribbons she definitely would have been self-applying some gyne-lotrimin the next day to take care of what surely would have been a very painful yeast infection.

Fulci's 80's films were prone to offend, and I sort of love his punk rock nihilism, his apparent glee at pushing buttons and getting under viewer's skin with the profane, but I don't think that this sickie slasher is as misogynist as some would have argue. The killings are certainly vicious and prolonged with women meeting a violent and bloody end, but the women themselves are actually likable, independent and free-thinking. The killer on the other hand is the true misogynist, and when his motivation for the killings are revealed in the final frames it's a bit silly, even the duck-voice he employs is explained in the final few seconds of the film. 

The plot and storyline of The New York Ripper is not very deep, far from Fulci or screenwriter Sacchetti's best collaboration, but the film looks great and has a solid score, plus the kills are ferocious, making this a notorious entry from Lucio Fulci a must-own for fans.

Audio/Video: Fulci's The New York Ripper arrives on three-disc Blu-ray/DVD/CD from Blue Underground with a brand new 4K restoration sourced from the uncensored original camera negative, and it looks terrific. Grain appears organic throughout, the colors are vibrant and textures are lush and velvety, this really is an outstanding restoration. Black levels are deep and inky with some excellent fine detail coming through, this easily blows away the 2009 Blu-ray release from Blue Underground. 

Audio comes by way of English DTS-HD MA 7.1 and DTS-HA MA Mono 1.0, plus Italian DTS-HD MA Mon0 1.0 with optional English subtitles. The mono channels offers a clean and crisp sound reproduction, but the 7.1 has a richness that hard's to deny, spreading the Francesco De Masis (The Hanging Woman) score and atmospherics to the surrounds, but as usual I tend to prefer the mono presentation for these English-dubbed Italian productions. 

With the A/V nicely buttoned up Blue Underground go the extra mile with a set of extras that push this release over-the-top, beginning with a new audio commentary from author Troy Howarth, author of 'Splintered Visions: Lucio Fulci And His Films'. Howarth has been a favorite commentator of mine these past few years, offering studied insights into the film, the cast and director, along with his personal opinions about the film. Pretty much any new commentary from Howarth makes a genre release a day one pick-up for me, and in this case it's only the tip of the iceberg as extras go. 

Other new extras include a series of new interviews in conducted in Italian with English subtitles, beginning with a 30-min chat with screenwriter Darndano Sacchetti, 13-min with actor Howard Ross, 18-min with poster artists Enzo Sciotti, 12-min with actress Cinzia de Ponti, and 10-min with Zora Kerova. 

There's also an English-friendly 23-min appreciation by Stephen Thrower, author of 'Beyond Terror: The Films of Lucio Fulci', which is a definite highlight of the set for me, he being one of my favorite taking heads when it comes to Lucio Fulci and Jess Franco. Thrower offers plenty of anecdotes about the making of the film, and placing it in context of Fulci's career, addressing claims of Fulci's misogyny, the controversy around the film and the ensuing censorship. 

Also carried over from the previous release are a 10-min interview with Zora Kerova plus a 4-min then and now location featurette, both of these coming from the previous 2009 Blu-ray from Blue Underground. 

Extras are buttoned up with an extensive gallery of images including lobby cards, stills, movie posters and various home video releases. Also included is a 20-track CD soundtrack containing the score from Francesco De Masis, which is a great extras, plus the accompanying DVD features the same 4K restoration and duplicate extras in standard-definition. 

The three-disc release comes housed in a clear over-sized Blu-ray keepcase with three trays housing the Blu-ray, DVD and CD discs, plus a 20-page booklet containing a new essay, "Fulci Quacks Up: The Unrelenting Grimness of The New York Ripper", loaded with lobby cards and movie poster images, plus cast and crew info, a chapter selection for the film and a track listing for the CD. This release comes with a reversible wrap featuring the original movie poster and an alternate artwork by Enzo Sciotti. The  alternate artwork is also featured on the very cool 3D lenticular slipcase. I am absolutely loving these three-disc limited edition sets from Blue Underground, they look stunning and are packed with extras and high-grade packaging.

  
Special Features: 
- Audio Commentary with Troy Howarth, Author of Splintered Visions: Lucio Fulci and His Films
- The Art Of Killing - Interview with Co-Writer Dardano Sacchetti (30 min) HD
- Three Fingers Of Violence - Interview with Star Howard Ross (16 min) HD
- The Second Victim - Interview with Co-Star Cinzia de Ponti (13 min) HD 
- The Broken Bottle Murder - Interview with Co-Star Zora Kerova (10 min) HD 
 – I'm An Actress - 2009 Interview with Co-Star Zora Kerova (10 min) HD
- The Beauty Killer - Interview with Stephen Thrower, Author of Beyond Terror: The Films of Lucio Fulci (23 min) 
- Paint Me Blood Red - Interview with Poster Artist Enzo Sciotti (18 min) HD 
- NYC Locations Then and Now (5 min) HD 
 -Theatrical Trailer (3 min) HD 
- Poster & Still Gallery (69 Images) HD
- THE NEW YORK RIPPER Original Motion Picture Soundtrack CD by Francesco De Masi (29 Tracks) 
- 20-Page Collect able Booklet with new essay by Travis Crawford Travis,

Fulci's mean-spirited slasher has never looked better on home video, the nipple-slicing bit of sleaze gets a definitive 4K restoration from Blue Underground, absolutely on par with their excellent restorations of Lucio Fulci's Zombie (1979) and William Lustig's Maniac (1980). This definitely has me looking forward to their upcoming 4K restoration of Gary Sherman's underrated slice of the macabre, Dead & Buried (1981).