An occult horror with lots of gore and gruesome deaths and an incoherent story aimed at a surreal atmosphere of dread.
- Entertainment factor: ★★★☆☆
- Gore factor: ★★★★★
- Occult factor: ★★★★★
- Surreal factor: ★★★★★
Cemetery of the Dead also know as The Gates of Hell is the first film of the Gates of Hell trilogy by Lucio Fulci. The second film is The Beyond (1981) and the third The House by the Cemetery (1981). While not a direct narrative trilogy it is more a thematic trilogy where all films have an occult surreal vibe. While the first two films revolve around the opening of the gate of hell and the dead starting to rise and kill, the first and third film have a cemetery in common. The main star in all these films is Catriona MacColl.
Plot
Mary is a medium who is having a seance in New York. She gets into a trance and sees a priest hanging himself at a cemetery in Dunwich. This act will open the gates of hell. But before she can tell anyone she is scared to death and dies. Peter a journalist is investigating her death and is at the cemetery where her coffin has just put into the ground but not covered with dirt yet. Mary suddenly wakes up and he hears her cries so he frees her from her predicament. She tells him all about her vision and they decide to find Dunwich and prevent the apocalypse from happening.
In Dunwich the dead are coming back to life. Father Thomas, the priest who killed himself is now a demonic zombie-like entity who starts killing people. Years ago Bob, the town’s pervert was suspected of kidnapping a young girl and killing her. Now he has become a target now that more people are gone missing or found dead.
Meanwhile Sandra and her psychologist Gerry find a dead woman in her house and the dead are roaming Dunwich causing a killing spree. When Mary and Peter arrive in Dunwich they accidentally stumble unto Gerry and with Sandra they try to stop the dead and the apocalypse.
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Short Review
Although it is officially a 1980’s movie, it feels more like a 1970’s movie. It has an incoherent storyline with mostly atmospheric images creating an disturbing vibe. The narrative is illogical and the imagery is more important than a cohesive story that is fully explained. Also the huge focus on the eyes, the big zoom-ins on the eyes are very seventies. This results in a surreal atmosphere that heralds an occult apocalypse with the dead coming to life.
It’s these dead who cause some true damage and mayhem and do make it feel also like an eighties film. The use of practical effects, brain tissue, maggots, intestines, eyes that bleed blood and so on, is very gross and disgusting. It’s also excessive and over the top as a counterpart to the surreal illogical narrative. This mix creates a film that is all about the vibe, the experience of dread and disgust and prefers style and imagery over substance (apart from brain matter that is, because there’s plenty of that), creating an overall uncomfortable feeling.
It’s a film that follows multiple people. Mary a medium in New York and Peter a journalist investigating her death and resurrection go the town of Dunwich to stop the apocalypse from happening. In Dunwich we follow Sandra who’s a patient of psychologist Gerry who is seeing Emily. At the same time in Dunwich several people are missing or found dead, scared to death and we follow some men in a bar and Bob who’s the town pervert and gets blamed for the missing people. It’s a narrative where in the end most people come together to save the day and getting killed in the process.
Another remnant of the seventies is the female paranoia. When Sandra hears something strange in her house and sees a dead woman lying in her house who has been dead for a couple of days, Gerry immediately calls her anxiety and scares a pet neurosis which of course 80% of the women suffer from and Sandra is quick to agree. It’s quite sexist. Just as the other “typical male and female actions and behavior”.
Cemetery of the Living Dead is an occult horror with cosmic vibes that relate to the stories of Lovecraft. Dunwich is a place from the Lovecraft universe. But other than that it is foremost a horror of dread and aimed at discomfort, with lots of gore and a surreal atmosphere.
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you can buy my designs on apparel or stationary, mugs and more. You can learn more about it on my art & design shop page or go directly to one of my shops.