Story has a few problems, but good atmosphere and plenty of gore

The House by the Cemetery (1981)

Supernatural slasher directed by Lucio Fulci, and starring Catriona MacColl, Paolo Malco, Ania Pieroni, and Dagmar Lassander. Norman and Lucy Boyle and their young son, Bob, move into a house in New Whitby, Massachusetts, where the previous occupant - a former colleague of Norman - murdered his mistress before committing suicide. Locals shun the house, referring to it as 'the Freudstein place' - although the real estate office have named it 'Oak Mansion' to make the property sound more attractive. The Boyles find the house in poor repair, with the cellar door locked and nailed shut. There's also a concealed tombstone embedded in the middle of the living room floor, and a local girl that only Bob can see. From their first night the family are disturbed by strange noises which leads Norman to unseal the cellar, and after a few more unsettling incidents he starts to dig into the background of the house and its former occupants. As he's conducting his investigation, people at the house start meeting grisly ends.

It starts off with a great double-kill that reminded me of the opening of Friday the 13th just the year before. The score gives some great atmosphere, and the house with the cemetery right next to it are visually very impressive (all exteriors were shot in New York and Massachusetts). The cast are very good. Story-wise though it's a bit 'first draft'. For example, a big thing is made of locals claiming that Norman and 'his daughter' have visited the house previously - something Norman strenuously denies, adding that he has no daughter, just a son; but this goes nowhere and is never mentioned again. And if I walked in on my babysitter mopping up a ridiculous amount of blood from the kitchen floor, and I asked 'What are you doing?', I'd want a bit more of a response than 'I made coffee'. Likewise, if I caught said babysitter trying to unseal my cellar with a crowbar in the middle of the night, I wouldn't just look at her and go back to bed without saying anything. There are others. But what you can't fault is the gore. Stabbings, slashings, rippings, tearings, hanging on hooks, blood and body parts strewn around... it's all here. 6.5/10.