Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		3.5

Burial Ground 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman March 24, 2024

It probably goes without saying that you can't keep a good zombie down for long, and therefore it should come as no great surprise that the marauding "not quite dead yet" monsters from Burial Ground are back (and/or baaack, as the case may be). Severin released Burial Ground: The Nights of Terror on 1080 Blu-ray several years ago, several months after 88 Films released their own 1080 Blu-ray for the Region B market, with both of those releases actually coming out around five years after the first release of Burial Ground: The Nights of Terror on 1080 Blu-ray by Shriek Show way back in 2011. Adding to the potential sales allure of this release is not just a 4K UHD presentation, but some new supplements as well.

As mentioned above, Burial Ground has had several prior releases on Blu-ray, and for those wanting a plot summary Brian Orndorf's Burial Ground: The Nights of Terror Blu-ray review of the Shriek Show edition and/or Svet Atanasov's Burial Ground: The Nights of Terror Blu-ray review of Severin's 1080 release (which repeats some verbiage from Svet's review of the 88 Films release) should suffice quite handily. All of those linked reviews should also provide good opportunities for those who like to compare screenshots and see how supplements between the releases stack up. As I am probably notorious for saying, "different reviewers means different opinions" and so those who keep track of scores will see Brian's and Svet's reactions are fairly widely variant to the film in general (I kind of fall in a "middle ground" between my two colleagues).

Burial Ground 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Note: Screenshots are sourced from the 1080 disc in this package.

Burial Ground is presented in 4K UHD courtesy of Severin Films with an HEVC / H.265 encoded 2160p transfer in 1.66:1. The back cover of this release touts "an all new 4K scan". I haven't owned other versions of this release, but judging solely from screenshots, both the 1080 and 2160 presentations in this release from Severin show some different color temperatures than in Severin's older 1080 release, which looks a bit skewed toward yellow to me in some of the screenshots from Svet's review. Both the 1080 and 2160 discs in this package offer an at least somewhat warmer look, though interestingly in that regard, I found Dolby Vision / HDR to actually offer a less florid presentation of what are almost shocking reds in the 1080 release, but which in 4K UHD are a bit more on the crimson side. There are both pluses and minuses to the non-palette sides of things when comparing the 4K and 1080 versions offered here. On the plus side, there's noticeable improvement in fine detail in elements like the burlap costumes the zombies wear. On the minus side, the already very pronounced yellow, splotchy grain field of the 1080 version is only increased here, and not necessarily related to things like the optically printed credits sequence (where this kind of roughness is especially noticeable against the top of the frame where the sky is supposed to be). I think fans of this film will certainly be pleased by the overall improvements offered by Severin here, but this is another case where some may actually prefer the 1080 presentation to the 4K UHD.

Burial Ground 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Burial Ground features DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono in either English or Italian, and there are some noticeable differences in mixes between the two languages. Listen, for example, right at the outset of the film and the kind of goofy synth music is much louder and more forward in the English language version than in the Italian version, and multiple differences like that can be heard throughout the track if you decide to ping pong between them. Both tracks show unavoidable evidence of the Italian tradition of post looping everything, and so sync can be "loose", as they say. I found the balance of the English track to be a bit preferable, and it also offers a bit more "oomph" in the midrange in particular. The high end on both languages can be a bit shrill at times. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

Burial Ground 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Disc One (4K UHD)

• Audio Commentary with Critics Nathaniel Thompson, Troy Howarth and Eugenio Ercolani


• Audio Commentary with Italian Cinema Experts Calum Waddell and John Martin


• Theatrical Trailer (HD; 3:44)

Disc Two (1080)

• Audio Commentary with Critics Nathaniel Thompson, Troy Howarth and Eugenio Ercolani


• Audio Commentary with Italian Cinema Experts Calum Waddell and John Martin


• Villa Parisi: Legacy of Terror (HD; 15:47) is a fun location featurette.


• Return to the Burial Ground (HD; 13:50) is an interview with actor Peter Bark (at Villa Parisi). Subtitled in English.


• Peter Still Lives (HD; 7:56) is a festival Q & A with Peter Bark. Subtitled in English.


• Just for the Money (HD; 8:59) is an interview with actor Simone Mattioli. Subtitled in English.


• The Smell of Death (HD; 9:22) features interviews with producer Gabriele Crisanti and actress Mariangela Giordano.


• Deleted / Extended Material (HD: 10:24)


• Theatrical Trailer (HD; 3:44)

Additionally, packaging features a slipcover.

Burial Ground 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Burial Ground is indeed "lunatic" as a pull quote on the back cover of this release states, but the cult curators at Severin have done this bizarre film's fan a service by revisiting things and offering generally solid technical merits and some very appealing supplements. I don't think Severin would be revisiting this film if there weren't a ready public eager to potentially purchase this release, and my hunch is that particular demographic will be pleased.