Burial Ground/ Nights of Terror — Burial Ground/ Nights of Terror ( UHD/Blu Ray)

Andrea Bianchi’s cheapo 1981 Zombie Flesheaters rip-off has no right to be called a classic. It's badly made, the acting is abysmal, and the dialogue is woeful, however, it has become one of the most beloved of all zombie movies. It’s a seriously creepy affair reminiscent of the Spanish Blind Dead movies, that utilizes a fantastic score from Berto Pisano (Death Smiled on a Murderer, Patrick Still Lives and Giallo A Venezia ) and Elsio Mancuso (Malabimba, La Collegiale, and Moglie Nuda e Siciliano) and a host of zombies that are pretty much decaying before your eyes. On top of that, it’s bonkers (in a good way), there are so many warped ideas floating around in this movie that you simply can’t ever find it dull. More on that later!.

Professor Ayres (Benito Barbieri, Madam Kitty, The Third Solution, Le Braghe Del Padrone and A Season of Giants ) has been trying to unravel the secrets of an ancient Etruscan grave site, however, when he opens the crypt, he inadvertently manages to revive the corpses of those buried there, who brutally murder him. A group of people have been invited to join Professor Ayres at the mansion house, so that he can share his findings, these include 3 oversexed couples and a seriously weird kid, Michael (played to perfection by Peter Bark, who is seriously creepy in his own right) whilst Mariangela Giordano (The Sect, Giallo A Venezia and Vengeance) stars as Evelyn, Michael’s Mother with whom he has a decidedly twisted relationship. After the couples arrive at the mansion they each begin settling in, which includes a lot of sex, including a scene where Michael walks in on his mother writhing between the sheets with her lover. Soon the couples all start to run into the zombies that are starting to run wild and free around the estate, they take refuge in the house in an attempt to escape the walking corpses. 

Burial Ground as already mentioned is kind of nuts, the plot is so basic that the entire film is held together by the elements of sleaze, the rampant sex and fairly gruesome gore that pops up everywhere. There are a number of inventive death sequences that keep the viewer glued to the screen, whilst the combination of the zombie makeup, sinister music and cinematography all combine perfectly to create a seriously creepy atmosphere akin to that experience in Tombs of the Blind Dead. On top of all this is the film’s most memorable scene, after Michael and his mother escape from their first run-in with the zombies, he attempts to suckle from her breast in a truly twisted attempt at some sort of oedipal sexual relations. His mother refuses, but later on, once he has been turned into a zombie, she offers up her breast to him and he begins to suckle, before biting off his mother’s nipple. This remains one of the most bizarre and twisted moments in cinema history, and has endured as Bark’s most talked about scene, although the moment when he says “Mother, this cloth smells of death” remains a classic among fans.

This new UHD and Blu-ray set from Severin features a gorgeous print of the movie, taken from a brand new 4k scan and it looks great. The colours are natural and the print is crystal clear with next to no print damage and no overuse of HDR. The sound is good across the board and audio is always clear. The discs feature loads of nice bonus materials including a couple of excellent audio commentaries, one from Nathaniel Thompson, Troy Howarth and Eugenio Ercoli and another from Callum Waddell and John Martin as well as a location featurette, an interview with Peter Bark and a festival Q&A also with Bark as well as interviews with Simone Mattioli, Gabriel Crisanti and Mariangela Giordano. Things are rounded off with some deleted scenes and a theatrical trailer.

Overall, this is a glorious release for one of my favourite zombie movies. If you enjoy dark, sleazy, twisted horror movies in the same vein as Zombie Holocaust and Tombs of the Blind Dead then there should be more than enough here to keep you entertained for a few hours. If you’re already a fan, then this should be an essential purchase for you as this film has never looked and sounded better than it does here, and the bonus materials are comprehensive and excellent. This is a glorious release from Severin who continues to excel as the finest purveyor of cult classics on Blu-ray and UHD. Essential!