Burial Ground (1985)

I've often said that I prefer Zombi 2 to Dawn of the Dead - at least if I am looking for a more fun movie - because it skips the political allegory and gets right to what the zombie splatter that I really want to see.Burial Ground (also known as Le Notti del terrore, Nights of Terror, Zombi Horror, The Zombie Dead and most confusingly, Zombi 3) raises you that lack of Romero's restraint and storytelling, doubles down by ripping off Fulci's work which is in itself a ripoff (but a masterful one) and piles on the sleaze. No, really. This is a film that is ready to outright offend everyone.The film starts with a professor accidentally unleashing an evil curse that reanimates the dead. He's instantly killed. Meanwhile, three "jet-set couples" (I've heard them referred to this way several times and it always makes me laugh) and a creepy man child named Michael (who was played by Pietro Barzocchini, who was 25-years-old at the time...more on that soon) arrive at a nearby mansion, invited by the professor. We catch Evelyn (Mariangela Giordano, The Sect) stealing lingerie that she found in the mansion, to which her boyfriend James replies, "You look just like a little whore, but I like that in a girl." At that point, that creepy manchild of hers, Michael, comes in and freaks out while his mom absentmindedly just stands there, nude.It doesn't take long before the dead attack. A maid is decapitated with a scythe because these living dead can use tools. Why are they more evolved than Romero or Fulci zombies? We never learn.The zombies break into the mansion and attack everyone. This leads to that young creep, Michael, becoming totally shell-shocked. Evelyn, his mother, attempts to confront him, so he becomes to fondle her breasts. As he kisses her, he tries to get his hand between her legs. She slaps him as he runs away, shouting "What's wrong? I'm your son!" He runs right into one of the party guests, Leslie, who is now a zombie. Like a Fulci librarian, he stares at her as she makes her way toward him.At this point, everyone reasons that they should just let the zombies into the house, because they are slow and it will allow them to escape. Sure. That always works. Evelyn goes to find her son, who has been killed by Leslie. She flips out and smashes Leslie's head against a tub, screaming as loudly as possible all the while.Everyone runs toward a monastery, where the film decides to become a Blind Dead film. The zombie monks chase everyone to a workshop where they kill Mark with power tools. Creepy Michael has now become an even creepier zombie. Evelyn has lost her mind and thinks it's a miracle, so she bares her breasts for her son to suck on. He replies by eating her breast off in graphic detail.Finally, Janet is menaced by multiple zombie hands as the film ends with the Profecy of the Black Spider. Yes, that's how they spell prophecy. "The earth shall tremble, graves shall open, they shall come among the living as messengers of death and there shall be the nigths of terror." And yes, they also spelled nights incorrectly.Director Andrea Bianchi isn't one for subtlety, which films like Strip Nude for Your Killer and Confessions of a Frustrated Housewife on his IMDB credits. If you're looking for unrepentant gore (Fulci's through the door eyegouge is repeated her with a window), bad special effects (the latex zombie heads are near Troll 2 in their quality), playing with guts and gore ala Blood Feast and a total lack of storyline or sense, then I'd advise you watch this one.Of course, Severin Films is the place to grab it. They claim they are "improbably proud to present the definitive version of this gorehound/sex-fiend favorite." They've even completely restored a print of the film that they found beneath the floorboards of a Trastevere church rectory. You'll get a ton of extras, including a Q and A with creepy little Pietro Barzocchini! Plus, they made "Smells of Death" shotglasses and shirts. And the artwork - which accompanies this article - is amazing. Keep in mind, this isn't an ad. I just love that Severin is spending more time and energy restoring and packaging these films than their creators did making them.This is the kind of film you can say, "But yeah, did you see Burial Ground? That one is totally insane." And I love Berto Pisano's atonal goofy soundtrack that blares any time the zombies show up. But if you're looking for a movie with any class, well, don't say I didn't warn you.

What can you say about this little known gem? It has everything you would want in a horror movie, and then some! Directed by Andrea Bianchi, this gore-fest has a lot going for it. First off, this film features the most unlikeable cast of characters I've ever seen in a zombie flick. They make the zombies look like the protagonists of the film! But that is part of its charm. You find yourself rooting for the undead. You CAN'T wait for the hapless victims to die! On a more positive note, the film has some of the best zombie makeup I have ever seen. It also boasts an atmosphere of complete dread and hopelessness. This flick has some of the goriest and inventive murder scenes imaginable. It's as if the zombies watched episodes of "This Old House" and picked up some hand tool tips from Bob Vila. And how can you not mention Peter Bark, the man-child actor involved in the incest angle of the film EEEEEWWWW! All said and done, Burial Ground is one of the best Italian made zombie movies, right up there with the works of Lucio Fulci. I highly recommend you buy this film for your collection, it's a must have!

Similar to but in my opinion more fun than the Fulci zombi films. There's no real logic at all. The story simply throws three couples into a grand old vacation property where, for the film's first twenty minutes, they portray sex scenes and nudity. Then the unexplained, unrelenting zombi attacks begin. There's plenty of gore, suspenseful chase sequences, and scenes of terror.Though the story and the character behaviour made little sense I found much of the film pretty tense. The audience feels little or no empathy with the dim witted characters on screen (the jet setters are still ordering the servants around after the zombi attack has begun: 'Maid, go off alone and investigate, will you?!'). Yet despite this the many scenes where they are being pursued by the horrific looking zombies can be quite chilling, even though in the end you are glad when the silly victims finally do get eaten. The sumptuous mansion and grounds made a much more atmospheric location than the simple huts and palms of the Fulci films set on tropical islands.Actor Peter Bark is a very short 25 year old man made-up to resemble a teenager. His character has an incestuous love of his beautiful mother. They used an adult for this part because Italian child labour laws forbade use of an actual child in a film of this sort. The female cast members are all very beautiful and glamorous and provide the expected nudity nice and early in the film. They all get to appear in extended love scenes with their unattractive male partners.

This is one of the many Italian zombie movies that were released on the back of the success of Dawn of the Dead. Andrea Bianchi's movie, however, is a much more straightforward feature than George Romero's template. In this one the set-up is covered in about five minutes – a professor revives the dead in some ancient catacombs, a group of upper class twits arrive at a remote villa and the zombies descend on this house and start killing everyone. It's practically plot less and, to be honest, the lack of any explanations is most welcome. This approach just allows us to get on down to it with a minimum of fuss. The pace is therefore very fast and this could hardly be described as a boring movie. The zombies have decent make up and they tear their victims apart with excessive violence. They also seem to be adept with tools and weaponry which isn't really playing by the rules of convention but who really cares? The point is that this is stupid fun from start to finish.Of course, it would be insane to not mention the film's defining feature, the one and only Peter Bark. This strange dwarf plays a ten year old boy irrespective of the fact that he appears to be about thirty. He might even be older than his 'mother'; but whatever the case he is a deeply creepy character with a medieval bowl-shaped haircut. His oedipal relationship with his mother is simply a further bizarre detail in an already very strange set-up. And as for when he returns to his mother as a zombie, well that sure is a scene to remember that much I can say. The characters, in general, are all incredibly stupid of course, at one point they decide to let the zombies in the villa on the basis that they are quite slow so therefore can easily be avoided! Well, that decision ends in tears as you can probably guess. All the characters act like complete cretins throughout. This is a typical feature of splatter movies though, it means we just want to see them picked off and ripped apart.Burial Ground is a very trashy horror movie, there's no doubt about it. But like many of its contemporaries from Italy at this time it has a relentless energy and no-holds-barred approach to the blood and guts. It should be avoided if characterisation is very important to you. However, if you like them fast, furious and deranged then this might fit the bill.