MovieChat Forums > Quella villa accanto al cimitero (1984) Discussion > Anyone else bored by this and frustrated...

Anyone else bored by this and frustrated by the ridiculous plot holes?.

posted 16 years ago by jockledoodledoo
15 replies | jump to latest

Gave this a second chance recently during a Fulci Fest. While I can rewatch the New York Ripper, City of the Living Dead,Zombie 2 or Don't Torture a Duckling over and over...but this was just so boring. I do not understand why it seems to be one of Fulci's most popular films.

I'm not wildly into "The Beyond" either, but that at least has somekind of pace an suspense. This film seemed sluggish and thoroughly predictable, with several plot holes... what happened to the general gory mess left by the Freudstein monster? One scene shows the odd au pair "Anne" cleaning up a pool of blood - implying that she has somekind of involvement (this is bolstered by the constant use of close up on her eyes, an interest in the cellar, and a general implication that she is odd).

Then, why on earth does the Dad burn a tape he finds containing important evidence of a scientist recalling the murder of his wife and children? Surely someone so rational would never do such a thing?

Then, that awful child. He's been slaughtered in other posts, but I have to agree the kid ruins the film, or perhaps it's the dubbing.

[–] 16 years ago

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[–] jockledoodledoo 16 years ago

I agree with your feelings about this film (obviously), but come on - how can you make such a sweeping generalisation? You seriously have a problem with most "foreign" movies?

Have you seen any of Lucio Fulci's earlier 70's works? I think you'd be surprised - something like "Seven Notes in Black" or "Don't Torture a Duckling" make "House by the Cemetary" look even more pathetic - and he directed them!

[–] 16 years ago

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[–] 16 years ago

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[–] psdhart 15 years ago

I agree loads of plot holes

[–] s_jester 15 years ago

I thought Ann was a protector of Freudstein, which was why she was cleaning up the blood. Apparently not. And why didn't the mother say something about it too? They could have at least had her say something like "I didn't know the bat left behind so much blood".

Otherwise, it was OK...not as bad as I was expecting for an Italian horror movie made only for the gore.

[–] JrnlofEddieDeezenStudies 15 years ago

My feelings exactly. The whole "Gates of Hell" trilogy is like that, and a fair portion of Italian (and Asian, etc.) horror in general. It's important to watch these films more like you're experiencing a nightmare and less like one is doing logical analysis and seeing if the script is following conventional "rules" of storytelling.

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[–] Captain_ganga 15 years ago

Saw it last night on film 4 and must agree with the view that it has more plot holes than plot. I was expecting an eighties horror classic and felt rather let down by the whole thing. It may have been better in the original Italian, but as many people have pointed out it would have still had Bob in it. Bob is one of the most unfortunate looking children I've ever seen, he looks as though his mother wanted a girl and getting Bob she decided to make him up to look like a girl - a pretty damn ugly looking one at that. Most of the budget must have been spent on his lipstick! Time has not been kind to this film.
"I smell wee, it's this one here." Father Ted

[–] Perkins_the_Uncanny 15 years ago

There are two major problems with Italian explitation cinema of the time.

The first is that most Italian directors believe in style over substance; who CARES if it makes no sense, it LOOKS good!

The second is that usually most of the cast speak different languages and the script is translated on the fly, or a cast member doesn't even speak English and delivers the lines phonetically (Dario Argento is lying on the ground behind the bench Udo Kier is sitting on in 'Suspiria' telling him his lines as Udo spoke NO English at the time).

When a script is translated into several different languages and the director doesn't care...THAT'S when you get plot holes and things don't make sense.

Perkins...the Uncanny

"Zombies, man. Creep me out..."

[–] WarpedRecord 14 years ago

Great post, Perkins. I always set my expectations low when I watch gialli, but even this was disappointing -- but, of course, it looked great.

[–] cyberbaboon 14 years ago

criticising these films for their lack of logic is like criticising salvador dali for not being realistic enough. the point was to do away with logic to make something purely cinematic. i only wish more films would do this.
seriously who watches fantasy and dream logic films whilst looking for plot holes?

[–] 14 years ago

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[–] TheEnigmaticRonin 9 years ago

The actor, the character, and the dubbing sucks... The kid ruins the whole show.

" Look, there's two women fuc*ing a polar bear "

[–] jjk50 9 years ago

Mario Bava's movies were style over substance, but his great cinematography and use of color made you forget the plot holes. Fulci wasn't good enough to pull that off. His "plots" were just an excuse to go from one gory scene to another.

[–] dude_guy99 9 years ago

You must not have seen his pre-Zombie films if you think that.

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