Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		4.0
Overall		3.5

Burial Ground: The Nights of Terror Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov December 27, 2016

Andrea Bianchi's "Burial Ground" a.k.a. "Le notti del terrore" (1981) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Severin Films. The supplemental features on the disc include an original trailer for the film; new featurette with Italian film historian Fabio Melelli; archival filmed Q&A session with actor Peter Bark; new video interview with actor Simone Mattioli; archival featurette with producer Gabriele Crisanti and actress Mariangela Giordano; and extended and deleted scenes. In English or Italian, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

The zombies

The plot is very simple. In the short prologue a scientist (Renato Barbieri) discovers some sort of a message that unlocks a giant tomb. However, almost immediately he is killed by a group of incredibly ugly zombies.

Soon after, three couples arrive in a secluded Italian villa. This is one of those places that you can typically see in a Luchino Visconti’s films -- massive and incredibly elegant. They unpack their bags, have dinner and then some of them proceed to have some good ol’ fashioned adult fun. For a while it seems like the guests will have a wonderful time in the villa, but the ugly zombies reappear and then all hell breaks loose.

There are a couple of things that I want to say about Andrea Bianchi’s Burial Ground. Let me start with a small warning for those of you that are going to see the film for the first time on Blu-ray: If you do not have a strong stomach, make sure that you see it before you have lunch or dinner. It is not the most graphic zombie film ever made, but there are quite a few segments with some pretty nasty close-ups of rotten faces and dismembered body parts. If you know for sure that you can control your stomach, then ignore my warning and grab your popcorn.

So how good is this film? I would not rank it in the same group as some of Lucio Fulci’s classic zombie films, but in terms of excess and atmosphere it actually competes very well. The bulk of the action, for instance, is shot with the crucial understanding that the ‘foreplay’ before the graphic footage is incredibly important. As a result, there are a number of segments with very effective build-ups. The overall atmosphere is also good. Obviously, this is still a pretty intense film that isn’t even remotely interested in paying homage to the classic Gothic masterpieces, but it certainly feels very comfortable manipulating light and shadows in a variety of different ways.

Most of Bianchi’s films -- including his non-horror films -- have some colorful or downright wacky moments that tend to inspire interesting discussions. In Burial Ground there are a few such moments with Pietro Barzocchini, who plays the spoiled son of one of the main characters. This actor has an absolutely incredible face and when he looks straight into the camera it literally feels like he is about to step out of the film and do something truly horrible. I am not exaggerating. His face, his eyes, even the manner in which he moves his tiny body can be genuinely creepy.

I also have to mention Berto Pisano and Elsio Mancuso’s incredible ambient soundtrack. It mixes clean synthesizer solos with different sound effects that add a distinctive surreal vibe to the film. I also think that the music actually makes the entire film look a lot more coherent and in some areas even more ambitious than it is.

The film is based on a script by Piero Regnoli, whose writing credits also include Bianchi’s cult thriller Cry of a Prostitute and Malabimba - The Malicious Whore, Sergio Corbucci’s Navajo Joe, Marcello Andrei’s Season for Assassins, and Umberto Lenzi’s Nightmare City, amongst others.

Burial Ground: The Nights of Terror Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.66:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Andrea Bianchi's Burial Ground arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Severin Films.

I assume that Severin Films used the same recent master that British label 88 Films accessed when they prepared their release of Burial Ground earlier this year. I did some direct comparisons between the two releases and the basic technical characteristics that we typically scrutinize in our reviews appear practically identical.

This release is very clearly superior to the one that Shriek Show produced back in 2011 (see our review of the first release here). Delineation and in certain cases depth are certainly superior and color balance is a lot more convincing. I would also like to mention that the new release is better encoded, and this is likely the most obvious gap in quality that viewers with larger screens and projectors will notice. This being said, the film again has that powdery appearance that impacts fluidity (which is also present on the British release). The natural grain tends to struggle with it, though there are fairly large sections that still look quite good. Image stability is very good. Large debris, cuts, damage marks, stains, and other strictly age-related imperfections have carefully removed. All in all, Severin Films' release very clearly represents a strong upgrade in quality over the previous release from Shriek Show, but ideally the film should have a more convincing organic appearance. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your player or PS3 regardless of your geographical location).

Burial Ground: The Nights of Terror Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. and English Dolby Digital 2.0. Optional yellow English subtitles are provided for the main feature.

I again viewed the film with the English lossless track. (The British release from 88 Films also has a lossless Italian track for the dub, but I would not recommend viewing the film with it). Its quality is excellent and I actually think that it is the best reason to consider an upgrade. The film has a shockingly good ambient score that benefits greatly from the lossless treatment and the entire film actually becomes a lot more effective because of the great use of music. There are also a few sequences where the zombies attack that make an impression, but it is the music that truly gives the film its genre flavor. There are no audio dropouts, hiss, or distracting background hiss to report.

Burial Ground: The Nights of Terror Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - original trailer for Burial Ground. In Italian with original English titles. (4 min).

• Villa Parisi - in this new featurette, Italian film historian Fabio Melelli visits the famous Villa Parisi where numerous Italian genre films from the 1960s to early 1980s were shot, including Mario Bava's A Bay of Blood, Paul Morrissey's Blood For Dracula, and Andrea Bianchi's Burial Ground. Fabio Melelli also discusses Andrea Bianchi's 'trashy' image and the production history of Burial Ground. In Italian, with optional English titles. (16 min).

• Peter Still Lives: Festival Q&A with Actor Peter Bark - presented here is an archival filmed Q&A session with actor Pietro Barzocchini/Peter Bark who recalls what it was like to play the creepy kid in Burial Ground. The session was recorded in Rome in 2013. In Italian, with optional English subtitles. (8 min).

• Just for the Money: Interview with Simone Mattioli - in this new video interview, actor Simone Mattioli (James) recalls how he became involved with Burial Ground, the shooting of various sequences (including the 'embarrassing' lovemaking sequence), and his interactions with director Andrea Bianchi. In Italian, with optional English subtitles. (9 min).

• The Smell of Death: Interview with Producer Gabriele Crisanti and Actress Mariangela Giordano - in this featurette, producer Gabriele Crisanti and actress Mariangela Giordano (Evelyn) discuss the shooting of Burial Ground (with some very interesting comments about the sequence at the end where one of the zombies is set on fire, which apparently went terribly wrong and the actor that was wearing the costume started burning in front of the camera), the winning formula for these types of low-budget films (sex plus horror), the negative impact the digital technology boom had on genre films, Peter Bark's performance and Italian film industry laws during the 1980s, etc. In Italian, with optional English subtitles. (10 min).

• Deleted/Extended Scenes/Shots - some are only a few extra frames which were edited by the producers on the negative for creative purposes, but are included here for the sake of completists. Presented with music because the original audio does not exist. (11 min).

• Reversible Cover Art/Slip Cover - please see the screenshots provided with our review.

Burial Ground: The Nights of Terror Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Severin Films' Blu-ray release of Andrea Bianchi's Burial Ground is sourced from the same recent 2K master that British label 88 Films used for their release of the film earlier this year, but this release has a bigger and better selection of supplemental features. The featurette with Italian film historian Fabio Melelli and the archival pieces with producer Gabriele Crisanti and actress Mariangela Giordano, in particular, are very good. This is the release of Burial Ground to own. RECOMMENDED.