Synopsis: A professor opens a crypt and reanimates rotten zombies. The zombies attack a jet-set-group which is celebrating a party in a villa nearby...

Now for the Zone's Eye View:

By Scott Maravilla

Director: Andrea Bianchi

Starring: Karin Well, Gian Luigi Chirizzi, Simone Mattioli, Antonella Antinori, Roberto Caporali, Claudio Zucchet, Peter Bark, Anna Valente, Renato Barbieri, Maria Angela Giordano

In order to adequately review this disc, I popped my Vestron Video VHS release into the VCR for a view. After an extended prologue, in contrast to that on the DVD, the words "BURIAL GROUND" in blood red letters came rushing from the distance onto my screen. A reminder how this late-1980s gem beckoned me to seek it out all those years ago. A lot of Italian gorefests managed to play briefly in Dallas at obscure art house theaters. I was too young to get in so I'd make a mental note of whatever caught my attention and pick it up on video off the rental racks. Starlight Video in Dallas still boasts a copy of the flick in its large collection.

I'd seen a number of artfully exploitive ads in the Dallas Morning News entertainment section for films like The Gates of Hell, The Lift, Demons and Revenge of the Dead. Among them, Burial Ground caught my eye mostly because they recycled the tag line from Lucio Fulci's The Gates of Hell, "when the moon turns red, the dead shall rise." To this day, the air pollution that gives the moon over Dallas a reddish hue still freaks me out. The cover art of the poster was that of a large zombie head with arms pushing forth out of the Earth. 

A few months later, Burial Ground made its appearance in the New Releases section of my local video store. I picked it up on a lark remembering the advertisement which wasn't hard as the poster was reproduced for the video's cover art. A brief description on the back related a tale of a bunch of eccentrics who are laid siege to in a stately country manor by the living dead after an archaeologist unwittingly stumbles upon an ancient curse.

I was then treated to a great Italian horror film filled with new spins on the genre while still basically lifting its plot from Night of the Living Dead as all of these films do. However, the video was cropped and its imagery so dark that at times I couldn't make out what was going on. Especially with some of the gore sequences like when a maid has her head cut off by a shear while hanging out of a second story window. This is why I re-watched the VHS in anticipation of this review. 

Media Blasters through their Shriek Show line of horror releases have finally done justice to this classic film with a crystal clear print that is like seeing it for the first time. The film is presented under its original title The Nights of Terror. Burial Ground is on the cover as a reminder that this is a new release of the earlier print. It has also been released overseas as Zombie 3 but there already is a Zombi 3 already in the market (please see my review). Fans of Burial ground will love this release on an Anamorphic widescreen transfer with Dolby Digital 2.0 sound. Those of you unfamiliar with the film should definitely seek it out.

The Nights of Terror tells the story of a group of hedonistic socialites out for a weekend in the country at a sprawling estate. Just before they arrive, a man sporting a ZZ Top beard known only as "the Professor," manages to raise the dead via an ancient curse. Talk about a party being dead. The guests frolic in their beds in scenes that were cut or drastically shortened from the prior release. It has always puzzled me why distributors proudly secure an unrated release and then proceed to edit the film. After dinner, they spread out and become bait for the zombies. In a scene where you can cut the tension with a knife, a woman is caught in a bear trap while her boyfriend tries to free her before the lumbering zombies are upon them. Once the zombies are out of their graves en masse, they lay siege to the house, and even use a battering ram to knock down the door. Zombies using tools is an obvious plot device, but until here otherwise not utilized. 

The film is best known for Mariangela Giordano's performance as a mother with a creepy looking son. Actually, actor Peter Bark who plays her son was just a small adult cast for the weirdness factor. The clarity of the Shriek Show print makes it obvious that he is an adult. Fans of the film will also be thrilled as the DVD is generously laden with extras. My favorite is the interview with Mariangela Giordano, the Sofia Loren of Italian B-movies. Starting out in sword and sandal epics, she made noteworthy appearances in the notorious Giallo A Venezia and Patrick Still Lives. In Venezia, she had her limbs cut off and is stuffed into a refrigerator. Her insights into the making of the film and the industry as a whole are a wonderful addition to the viewing experience. Shriek Show releases are as much an education about the film as they are entertainment. 

The Nights of Terror itself has earned its reputation as a cult classic alongside such luminaries as The Beyond and Zombie. The special effects are well done with some very good rotting zombie face masks. The film is gorey but with an emphasis on the claustrophobic atmosphere that evokes the pre-code EC horror comics. Oh, and keep an eye out for Ms. Giordano's breast getting eaten by a zombie at the end. A definite, well deserved 7.