Ripped from Eighties styled Italian Zombie uprisings and torn from the same throat grabbing tour de mange , ( that’s French NC 17 rated contrived lingo just for the tourist readership ) , that Director Umberto Lenzi unleashed upon the genre with his ‘City Of The Walking Dead’ from 1980. Waking from a nightmare revisited with ‘Cemetery Of Terror’ is instantly recognised star Hugo Stiglitz , a glutton for un-dead punishment even when here garnished with a home made Mexican sauce. As Doctor Cardan he is troubled by dreams of a recent spate of vicious murders by a psychotic killer , briefly played out in a scene showing a woman stalked down the hallway of the town hospital to a bloody demise. The killer is shot by the police and his dead body laid to rest in the hospital mortuary , all this and it just so happens to be the eve of Halloween !.

A group of youths full of teen spirit begin their vacation with all the rebel raising mischievousness of a lake side reunion on a Friday The Thirteenth. You just know these kids were daubed with the dumb gene upon arriving at an abandoned old mansion , as they all plow out of the four door vehicle on the drivers side !. Upon discovering an old book within the stately home , and reading from it whilst delivering a chosen passage that ends with the word Diablo , that dumb gene is confirmed as hereditary.

Horror fans will twitch with an excited hair raising upon the back of the neck reflex in anticipation of a prospective Mexican splice of ‘The Evil Dead’ and ‘The Beyond’. Indeed it is time to pull up your own front row seat for this beach blanket a go go , as even without the benefit of either an English dubbed sound track or subtitles you’ll have fun making up your own crazy dialogue. Unless Spanish is a second language the exchange of verbal interaction is minimal anyway , and fans of Mystery Science Theatre 3000 will have a ball.

Hell it’s Halloween night so after the grandma what big teeth you have story telling session what better fun can the wannabe Scooby Gang do than break into the hospital and steal a body from the county morgue. It won’t take even Edgar Allan Poe’s Black Cat long to work out that the stolen stiff is that of the recently deceased psycho killer , and armed with the book of the dead the stupid kid corp mess with some mean Voodoo.

The hospital alarm brings the police along with a troubled Doctor Cardan , and soon Hugo Stiglitz is in pursuit. Armed only with his retro beach attire and matching combo of bushy beard plus Seventies moustache he charges off under the luminous ray of a full moon.

The cemetery setting for the raising of the dead body is very effective as cheesy old Universal Studios reminiscent sets are also brought back to life amidst a torrential downpour of night rain. The sheltering deed doers are soon regretting their Halloween prank as the psycho killer rises up in fabulous fashion , looking not unlike the lead Zombie from Jorge Grau’s amazing 1974 classic ‘The Living Dead At The Manchester Morgue’. It’s Fun time Mexican Horror translated to ‘La Nachos Del Manchestero Morgue’ , just be sure to bring your own chips and dips. The unsuspecting teens are partying back at their very own House by the Cemetery blissfully unaware of the success brought about by the ancient book , and their sexual canoodling soon turns into an experience of Corpses Interruptus !. Resurrection brings its host the gift of gore as throats are torn , faces bloodily clawed and entrails strewn about as this Fulci esque Dr. Freudstein renaissance gets underway.

Despite the near total setting of a night shoot the amount of bloody carnage and dismemberment on display is evident , with more than enough sticky scarlet to dip your tachos into. The moment where an axe is niftily notched into a hapless youths head is priceless , especially when aided by some other worldly invisible hand !. Don’t you just love it when that happens !?.

Meanwhile Hugo Stiglitz , still dressed in his back from the dry cleaners one spin cycle too many post shrunk gear , is speeding around in a borrowed police car with siren on and doing his best Mexican Vice Don Johnson impersonation. With Halloween in full swing some innocent kids are drawn into the proceedings as they too pass through the cemetery. The reanimated killer Zombie , imbued with the book of the dead , gives his own incantation to resurrect the towns deceased and pretty soon it all looks like a dress rehearsal for Michael Jackson’s Thriller. The appearance of a young boy wearing a leather jacket modelled on his pop singing idol adds credence to the similarity with tongue in cheek cheekiness. With Stiglitz finally arriving at the scene its time to notch up the Fun Fear Factor as the movie kicks into enjoyably daft overload , which makes for a great end sequence play out. The dead rise up from their graves by the dozens in fine fashion and close in on the terrified kids as Hugo Stiglitz does his best to fight them off. This is indeed Thriller night at the movies as coffins spew forth the rotting corpses to once again walk the earth , all lead on by the maniacal malice of the self proclaimed King Zombie. The Book Of The Dead holds the secret to the final chapter with more than a nod and a wink to the Italian masters of Horror. Be sure to try and dig up ‘Cemetery Of Terror’ for yourselves , as it would be a grave mistake indeed not to try and unearth this highly enjoyable Mexican made jaunt down Italian Zom‘B’ movie boulevard.

Presentation : Fullscreen 4:3
Release : Grey Market
Coding : NTSC
Sound : Mono Original Language Only