Burial Ground — Burial Ground(Blu ray)
Burial Ground: The Nights of Terror(Le notti del terrore) appeared in 1981- it was directed by Andrea Bianch, who between 1972 & 1995 directed a host of different exploration genre films- taking in sleazy Giallo, slasher, brutal & misogynist Euro-crime, pirate adventure, incest based melodrama, soft-core lined comedies, etc.
With Burial Ground he very much sticks to the Italian zombie movie traits, but stirs in some extra sleazy & a nice gothic setting/ vibe. The film tells of a somewhat bumbling & bearded professor who opens a crypt, and brings back to life the dead- these make their way to a nearby mansion, and start attacking a selection of couples who have come away for sexual shenanigans. One of the couples has a meant to be teenage son, who is actual played by an undeveloped & bulbous-eyed adult…and this adds another layer of weirdness to proceedings.
Gore wise we get various gut munching scenes, zombies head pounded in by rocks, some random gory deaths. And most infamous the breast eating scene; which sees the man-boy chowing- down of his mothers asserts. On the whole, it’s an enjoyable 80’s horror romp, that’s more fun than shocking or scary.
As mentioned early the stand-out thing about this Blu-ray is the truly great & crisp 2K transfer that Severin has done. Firstly the colors, and in particular the reds are so vibrant. Next is the general definition of the picture it’s self- so you can clearly make out things such as shadow detail, sweat on skin…though it does make some of the bad special effects look a little more glaring.
Otherwise extras wise we get a selection of four featurettes- these last between ten & fifteen minutes a piece. And take in interviews with cast members & producers- which are interesting enough. But the most appealing extra to me was the tour of Villa Parisi-the house where the film was shot. This building has a long history of being used in other horror & exploitation cinema, and the man doing the tour also discusses these other films which included the likes Of Blood for Dracula.
Topping things off package wise- we get a nice slip sleeve, featuring great newly created artwork. You also get a reversible sleeve taking in two different poster artworks, from its original release.
All-in- all this a very nice presentation of this slice of sleazy Italian zombie movie from the 1980’s. Even if you already have this in another form- this new Severin is very worth pick-up, as the transfer is simply great, and you get a good selection of new extras too.