Malco (Dr. Norman Boyle), Ania Pieroni (Ann),
(976)—released in 977 as Quel motel vicino alla
Giovanni Frezza (Bob Boyle), Silvia Collatina
palude (That Motel Near the Swamp)—and did
(Mae Freudstein), Dagmar Lassander (Laura Git-
a wonderful job at summarizing the story’s
tleson), Giovanni De Nava (Dr. Freudstein),
Gothic and pulp elements. Shooting lasted eight
Daniela Doria [Daniela Cormio] (First Female
weeks, from March 6 to May 98, on a budget
Victim), Giampaolo Saccarola (Daniel Douglas),
of about 600 million lire and with two weeks’
Carlo De Mejo (Mr. Wheatley), John Olson
exteriors on location in Concord (near Boston)
[Kenneth A. Olsen] (Harold), Elmer Johnsson
and New York before the crew moved back to
(Cemetery Caretaker), Ranieri Ferrara (Victim),
Rome for the interior shoots at the De Paolis
Teresa Rossi Passante (Mary Freudstein); un-
studios.
credited: Lucio Fulci (Prof. Muller). PROD: Fab-
Compared with the director’s previous hor-
rizio De Angelis for Fulvia Film (Rome); UM:
ror films, the story had a more traditional
Paolo Gargano, Fabrizio De Martino; PSe:
Gothic feel. Fulci claimed that once again he had
Guglielmo Smeraldi; ADM: Otello Tomassini.
paid homage to Lovecraft, adding that “after
Country: Italy. Filmed on location in New York,
L’aldilà and Black Cat, I wanted to make a film
Boston and Concord, Mass. And at De Paolis
In.Ci.R. Studios (Rome). Running time: 86 min-
utes (m. 2362). Visa n. 7693 (8.4.98); Rating:
V.M.8. Release dates: 8.4.98 (Italy), .3.982
(Spain), 3.24.982 (France), 8.23.982 (Den-
mark), 0..982 (UK), .26.982 (West Ger-
many), .6.983 (Netherlands), 3..984 (USA;
New York); Distribution: Medusa (Italy); Almi
Pictures; Levy Films (USA). Domestic gross:
,407,98,297 lire. Also known as: La maison près
du cimetière (France), Aquella casa al lado del
cementerio (Spain); Slagtehuset ved kirkegården
(Denmark), Das Haus an der Friedhofsmauer
(West Germany).
Professor Norman Boyle, a New York histo-
rian, is entrusted with the work of a dead col-
league, Prof. Eric Petersen, who has murdered his
fiancée and hanged himself. Boyle leaves with his
wife Lucy and his little son Bob for the small New
England town of New Whitby, where Petersen was
conducting his research. Bob is warned of an up-
coming danger by a strange girl, Mae, whom only
he can see. In New Whitby, the Boyles settle in
Oak Mansion, the gloomy house where Petersen
lived. Soon they experience strange phenomena,
and an unknown presence lurks in the basement.
The real estate agent is horribly murdered, and
so is Ann, a local girl hired as babysitter. Through
Petersen’s recorded diary, Boyle finds out that in
the 18th century Oak Mansion was inhabited by
a Dr. Freudstein, a mad doctor who conducted
gruesome experiments centered on regenerating
the Italian poster for Quella villa accanto al
his own flesh. But the undead Freudstein is still
cimitero (art by enzo sciotti). the menacing,
hiding in Oak Mansion, thirsty for new victims.
knife-wielding figure turned up again in other
Boyle’s family is in grave danger…
posters by sciotti, namely Assassinio al cimitero
During post- production for L’aldilà, Fulci
etrusco (1982, sergio Martino).
86 1981: Quella that would embrace all the ravings of the Prov-tries to break through the door with an axe,
idence writer, without necessarily being based
which replays one of The Shining’s most famous
on one of his stories.”2 Scriptwriter Dardano Sac-
moments while also reprising the “premature
chetti claimed that the inspiration came from
burial” scene in Paura nella città dei morti
Henry James’ 898 ghost novella The Turn of the
viventi, with a savior who could actually harm
Screw, from which the film reprises the central
the defenseless person he is trying to rescue.
role of two kids and the setting in a villa which
For all its derivativeness, Quella villa ac-
retains a malevolent presence. But Sacchetti
canto al cimitero is surprisingly effective, and
spiced the tale with some autobiographical ele-
full of intriguing themes and nuances. In James’
ments:
novella the story is told by an unnamed female
narrator, a governess who takes care of two
The theme of the claustrophobic house in Quella villa
children, Flora and Miles, and who begins to
accanto al cimitero is linked to my childhood. I was
suspect that her predecessor Miss Jessel and an-
born in a big country house, with a huge dark base-
other employee named Peter Quint had an affair.
ment, full of ambushes… . There was no running
Both Jessel and Quint are dead, but the governess
water, no electricity, no toilets. It was the other side
becomes convinced that their ghosts have a bad
of life, a true adventure… . At the age of 9, in that tiny
village in Molise, I had to prove my courage by cross-
influence on the children. However, in the end
ing the cemetery at night … much of what I have
the governess turns out to be an unreliable and
written comes from these experiences, but indirectly.3
possibly crazed narrator, and most likely she
causes Miles’ death. That the reader is never sure
In his 992 biography L’occhio del testimone the di-
whether the ghosts are real or a product of a
rector was harsh toward Sacchetti (see entry for
woman’s imagination, is a testament to James’ ex-
L’aldilà), and when discussing Quella villa accanto
traordinary book. Fulci’s film apparently does
al cimitero he claimed that the script was “spiced
away with such ambiguity right from the opening
in this case as well with sequences stolen from
sequence, in which a couple of young lovers are
other films, particularly La residencia by Juan [Au-
slaughtered by the evil inhabitant of the “house
thor’s note: the name is actually Narciso] Ibáñez
by the cemetery,” but then it reintroduces several
Serrador.”4 The nods to Serrador’s 970 film—
ambiguous elements which baffle the viewer and
known also as The House That Screamed and The
give the story a disturbing nightmarish quality.
Finishing School, and starring Lilli Palmer and
For instance, who is really Ann (Ania
John Moulder Brown—are basically those regard-
Pieroni), the elusive green- eyed babysitter who
ing Dr. Freudstein’s habit of collecting the body
says she was hired by the local real estate agency
parts of his victim to regenerate his own body,
to
care for Bob? She appears to be a menacing
whereas in La residencia, Brown’s character kills
character, especially for the family’s unity: see
and mutilates the girls at the finishing school led
the game of looks she and Norman exchange,
by his overprotective mother (Palmer), in order
hinting at a possible affair, in a scene which re-
to build an “ideal woman” with assorted body
calls the one between Joe the plumber and
parts.
Martha in L’aldilà. But, in fact, she is doomed to
But the main sources of inspiration were
death, as Bob (and we) have already seen a de-
recent American horror films, namely The Ami-
capitated mannequin with her features in a shop
tyville Horror and, once again, The Shining. The
window, in a scene where Fulci plays with the
references to Kubrick’s adaptation of Stephen
dichotomy between animate and inanimate that
King’s novel are multiple: Norman Boyle trav-
was at the core of Bava’s vision of the fantastique.
eling by car with his wife and kid to the place of
And what about Norman Boyle, whom other
his new job; Bob’s “invisible friend” warning him
characters keep saying has already been there at
not to go; the looming shadow of Boyle’s pred-
Oak Mansion, even though he claims the con-
ecessor who committed a massacre; Boyle be-
trary? Is he a liar, a man with a double life which
coming increasingly detached from his family
he keeps concealed to his family, or is he expe-
and obsessed with his colleague’s death; the
riencing something that has already happened
image of a pool of blood emerging from Freud-
in the past? In a way, like Jack Torrance, who
stein’s gravestone; Bob playing with his toy car
has always been the caretaker at the Overlook
around the house; and, last but not least, the se-
Hotel, Boyle has always been at Oak Mansion,
quence where Freudstein pushes Bob against the
and therefore he is destined to die again and
basement door while on the other side his father
again, like his predecessors.
1981: Quella 87
Then, there is Mae, the little girl who be-
Freudstein keeps himself “alive” (as a
comes friends with Bob. We first see her behind
maggot- infested body driven by a ruthless sur-
a window which turns out to be part of an en-
vival instinct) by regenerating his own self with
larged picture of Oak Mansion: like a Bava char-
the bodies of the living, and especially children.
acter (or like Bob and Liza in L’aldilà) she is for-
In this sense he is a literal, putrefied version of
ever trapped in another dimension, which here
such ogres as the predatory preacher Harry
takes the form of a photograph (echoes of Blow-
Powell in The Night of the Hunter (9, Charles
up) that seemingly changes from time to time,
Laughton) and as such it embodies all kinds of
a modern- day version of the paintings in Gothic
symbolic references. The name itself, Freudstein,
tradition, and possibly a nod to a renowned
is a blatant crasis of two modern Prometheuses,
M.R. James story, The Mezzotint (as well as to
a real- life and a literary one: Sigmund Freud and
the celebrated ending of Kubrick’s masterpiece).
Victor Frankenstein. The former explored the
But Freudstein himself is an elusive presence
dark corners of the mind and the latter tested
whose very nature is ambiguous. His voice is
the limits of the body. Both saw themselves as
that of a newborn baby who keeps crying all the
creators, even Gods; here, they are the monster.
time—a chilling contrast with his monstrous ap-
As Sacchetti explained, the name was invented
pearance, and in the scenes where we only see
by Fulci “on the basis of some assonance which
his arms and hands, the right one is rotting but
at the moment I don’t recall, but which back
the left one is obviously a woman’s (actually, a
then was supposed to bring good luck, because
girl’s: Silvia Collatina explained that she was the
it recalled something good.”8 It elicited irony on
stand- in for Freudstein in the murder scenes as
the part of the reviewers of the period, whereas
well as in the door/axe scene).
Fulci scholars tend to overestimate its signifi-
The multiple Gothic elements of Quella
cance, without taking into account the director’s
villa accanto al cimitero concur to form an orig-
irony and disdain toward psychoanalysis in gen-
inal and faceted take on the genre. As with Paura
eral, and Freud in particular. However, through
nella città dei morti viventi and L’aldilà, Fulci
a psychoanalytic reading, Quella villa accanto al
draws from elements of American folklore. The
cimitero can also be seen as a horrific depiction
setting is an imaginary New England town
of the disintegration of a family, and of human
called New Whitby, and Oak Mansion is a
relations as a whole.
typical New England abode, aesthetically and
Is Freudstein—Fulci’s most explicit version
architecturally integrated with the American
of the boogeyman so far—just an embodiment
tradition. To quote Robin Wood’s famous defi-
of a much earthlier monster, the product of a
nition, it can well be labeled as a “terrible house,”
young boy’s fantasy as a way of turning real hor-
that is, “one of the most important and enduring
ror into something more acceptable to his
schemata of American culture, whose line of de-
mind—a dark fairytale where the rules and the
scent can be traced from Poe (The Fall of the
roles of good and evil are always to be followed?
House of Usher) to Hooper (The Texas Chainsaw
Freudstein is a baby in a decrepit man’s body:
Massacre).”6 The “terrible house,” even more
his is a baby’s voice, as the monster retains the
than the haunted houses in the classical English
characters of the victims that have become part
Gothic novels, represents “an extension or ob-
of him, and even Freudstein’s own procedure of
jectification of the personalities of the inhabi-
sawing together body parts of the ones he has
tants” and signifies “the dead weight of the past
killed is more akin to a child putting together
crushing the life of the younger generation.”7 A
parts of his favorite toys like a puzzle, rather
disturbing concept in American culture, where
than to Frankenstein’s dream of creating life
it goes against the celebration of the past (the
through death.
Founding Fathers, the revolution against the
The utter monstrosity of Oak Mansion and
British, the manifest destiny and the frontier<
br />
its evil inhabitant is juxtaposed with the ordi-
myth), in the hands of an Italian filmmaker it
nary, grey humanity that populates the film. Just
acquires unexpected nuances. Moreover, Freud-
as in L’aldilà we were treated to the banal chatter
stein’s appearance, wearing a costume that looks
of Bob and Liza at the bar, here most dialogue
very much like a Confederate uniform, hints at
scenes revolve around superficial topics, and
a dark historical past which is literally locked
characters appear disinterested, elusive, almost
and forgotten underneath the surface, where it
worried to end the conversation as soon as pos-
lurks and awaits.
sible in order to return to their train of thoughts.
88 1981: Quella See, for instance, the opening dialogue between
world and another dimension, in the scenes
Boyle and Prof. Muller (an uncredited Fulci,
where he sees or plays with Mae, who cannot be
with his inseparable pipe), with the latter trying
seen by any other person. At the end he com-
to cut the discussion short and take a taxi; or the
pletes the transition, emerging from Freudstein’s
scenes between the Boyle family and Laura’s as-
gravestone into another dimension, where he
sistant at the real estate agency, and between
and his little friend will remain forever, in a per-
Norman and the clumsy library assistant (Gi-
petual but—judging from the stern look of the
ampaolo Saccarola). It’s a world of uninteresting,
woman who will look after them—unhappy
superficial, insecure people (such as the fragile
childhood. The ending, as in L’aldilà, is a clever
and neurotic Lucy Boyle) who seem to be vege-
coup de thêatre which Robert Schlockoff, while
tating while waiting for their hour to come. As
interviewing the director in L’Écran fantastique,
Kazanian said in Inferno, “The only true mystery
suggested being a reference to the ending of
is that our very lives are governed by dead peo-
Hitchcock’s North by Northwest (99). Fulci
ple,” and the tombstone in the living room in
amiably conceded it, just as in the same interview
Oak Mansion (Fulci’s version of the “elephant
he had claimed to have met Antonin Artaud
in the room,” that is, death) is a memento of that.
(“He looked at me with those crazy eyes, 30
Not by chance, in the film’s third act the char-
years ago”). The epilogue plays with the limits
Italian Gothic Horror Films (1980-1989) Page 26