Le notti del terrore (1981)

User Rating:

5.1/10   

Director:

Andrea Bianchi

Writer:

Piero Regnoli (writer)

Release Date:

23 January 1981 (West Germany)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

When the moon turns red, the dead shall rise!

Plot:

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...

Plot Keywords:

Professor | Crypt | Mansion | Party | Siege

Cast

Karin Well	...	Janet
Gianluigi Chirizzi	...	Mark (as Gian Luigi Chirizzi)
Simone Mattioli	...	James
Antonella Antinori	...	Leslie
Roberto Caporali	...	George
Peter Bark	...	Michael
Claudio Zucchet	...	Nicholas
Anna Valente	...	Kathleen
Raimondo Barbieri	...	Prof. Ayres (as Renato Barbieri)
Mariangela Giordano	...	Evelyn (as Maria Angela Giordano)

Also Known As:

Burial Ground (USA) (video title)
Burial Ground: The Nights of Terror (USA) (DVD title)
Nights of Terror (UK) (video title)
The Nights of Terror (UK) (complete title)
The Zombie Dead (UK) (DVD title)
Zombi horror (Italy)
Zombie 3 (Europe)

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Germany:(Banned) | New Zealand:R16 | Canada:16+ (Quebec) | USA:Unrated | West Germany:18 (cut) | Australia:R | UK:18 | Netherlands:16 | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Filming Locations:

Frascati, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company:

Esteban Cinematografica

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): At one point both groups of survivors gather in a long camera shot in front of the castle with three zombies visible. A woman is heard asking "where do we go now?" and the closest in frame zombie clearly raises his left hand and excitedly points in the direction and they all run that way.

Quotes:

James: You look just like a little whore, but I like that in a girl.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Shadow: Dead Riot (2006)

Apocolyptic Horror Vol. 1: The Profecy of the Black Spider

This is the one, this is the one that puts them all to shame, Fulci, Romero. No one has ever made living-dead cinema seem so dark, gritty, and down right apocalyptic as Andrea Bianchi. Obviously less expensive than anything from those guys, Burial Ground is no more complicated than anything else from the genre, three giddy couples and a depressed man-child are vacationing in an old mansion in Italy. They couldn't have picked a better location. Little Michael, the man-child is in love with his mother, and he seems a bit jealous of his step-father, I'm not exactly sure what they intended with this little sub-plot but all I know is that incest is hilarious, regardless of what genre it's thrown into, and being completely random makes it even better. I'm just glad little Michael is a character in a movie and not someone I have to deal with on a regular basis, he would give John Waters the creeps.

Enough about Man-children and incest, there's much more fun to be had. The first twenty minutes of this epic mostly involves the giddy couples spouting ridiculous dialogue, flitting with each other, and frolicking about with not a care in the world, until it happens, the dead are coming back to life, and unfortunately, for some reason, there are a dozen or so rotted corpses buried in the garden. As bad as the English voice-overs are, they do a great job at sounding terrified once the madness begins. Probably more powerful than it was meant to be, Burial Ground gives you the strong impression that these dozens of zombies, some of which resemble the Toxic Avenger, just might take over the world after they're done with these guys. Burial Ground is a prime example of grainy, bad film quality unintentionally enhancing the horror quality, some scenes, you cant even make out what's going on. Although the sci-fi-ish sound effects are out of place, it adds an apocalyptic feel that makes things seem even more hopeless and dismal. Some how, the unintentional humor doesn't overshadow any of this. Calling Burial Ground creepy would be an insult, nightmarish would be a good start.

The darkness of this masterpiece goes far beneath the dark, grainy quality of the film, even when they show a sunny day, all I see in this film is darkness, things just seemed doomed from the very beginning, and that, exploitation fans, is the makings for true horror. Burial Ground is best Italian gore has to offer, better than The Beyond, even better than Beyond the Darkness, Burial Ground has no equal. The only thing I can recommend more than this, is this on VHS, the film quality is even worse, the sky looks almost pink,.VHS really brings out "that look" that the DVD format has ruined. Plenty of Gore, nudity, incest-humor, Burial Ground is the measuring stick of any horror sub-genre it may represent. Aside from the profecy being mis-spelled, the ending leaves quite an impression. Don't talk to me about no damn Evil Dead, Burial Ground has them all beat, that one wasn't that great anyway. Whether its the horror genre, Italian gore, or zombies, Burial Ground is the measuring stick 10/10