Italian Gothic Horror Films (1980-1989)

by Roberto Curti

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. 7693 (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 (99). 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