Necrophagus

The English translation of the title on the DVD version of this film is "Graveyard of Horrors," but I think that must be an error. It should have been called "Graveyard of Horribles." Horrible acting, horrible editing, horrible story, and horrible music all make this a horrible film best left in a horrible graveyard.

Horrible.

This extremely cheap and low-keyed Spanish horror, courtesy of Miguel "Killer of the Dolls" Madrid, definitely gets extra points for the moody atmosphere and eerie set-pieces. Now, if only the script was slightly better, this might even had been a hidden gem of early 70s euro-horror! The handsome Michael Sherrington wants to find out more about the circumstances in which his wife Elizabeth died, whilst giving birth to their stillborn baby. The estate is full of unhelpful people, including Michael's cranky mother-in-law and all of Elisabeth's yummy sisters, and even at the treating doctor's house and the graveyard he doesn't receive any answers. Michael doesn't see another option but to break into the tomb at night and exhume his wife. What Madrid really does well is generating an ominous atmosphere, via characters that genuinely look audacious (like Mr. Fowles, the cemetery caretaker) and wintery landscapes that make the film feel tangibly cold & raw. The pacing, on the other hand, is a problem. "Graveyard of Horror" contains far too many dull moments, as well as lapses in continuity and horrendous dubbing. And this may be very personal, but I also had many difficulties to distinguish the characters from one another. I kept confusing the daughters with the scientist's wife/assistant, for example. The film features a handful of creepy images, like hands squirming out of the muddy ground or smoke floating out human skulls, but there is a shortage of real action. Worth seeking out, but only if you have a reasonably high tolerance for cheapness and poor picture quality.

It's really strange and hard to find a movie like that: The plot is interesting, but the acting, the editing and camara are, at best, amateur.

Everything is there to be a great gothic story: Dead love A monster A spooky castle Unspoken hate and revenge A graveyard with a really creepy keeper But from the start, everything goes south, image, sound and acting. Scenes seams to have been match together without rhythm or reason. You could argue that the bad doubling in English doesn't help and makes things worst. But comparing to many other "international" horror movies of the 70's with same treatment (Spanish or Italian made doubled in English for International release), this one is not accomplished.

Too bad, the story is solid, the idea great, the resolution good... But the form is a mess.

Firstly a warning: this film is a very aquired taste. If you like 'hip' new American Slasher films such as Wes Craven's "Scream", then this film is probably not for you (your head may explode!) But, if you are a devout fan early-70's Spanish horror films like me, this is very highly recommended. You may feel somewhat dis-orientated - but that is the film's intention, it does not want to you to have a clear idea of exavtly what is going on for the first 50 minutes! The director plays with the viewer by fragmenting the narrative in a jarring way backwards and forwards so the chronology can only be worked out at the end. The wintery locations and gothic imagery give the whole film a sense of unease and melancholy. There would be no point in me trying to explain the plot of this movie as it would ruin the dis-orientating experience. The title has become very mis-leading since Jorg Buttgereit unleashed "Nekromantik" upon the world: there is NO gore, NO nudity, NO graphic depictions of necrophilia. But it certainly IS as disturbing as Buttgereit's film because of all the dark undercurrents in the film's depictions of rural family life and the decay of heritage. However, it is advised that the movie be watched in the language it is shot in, Spanish, as the English dubbing in the American and Scandinavian video releases is truly appalling. Unfortuantely, the Spanish video release (Norma Video) is very very rare.

What if someone made a horror movie that was completely devoid of plot?

Well, I think it would probably end up a little bit like this one. I don't think I've ever seen a move was so steady it its slide from hackneyed (at the beginning) to complete crap (by the end). I only stuck with it, because I kept thinking it couldn't possibly get worse. Well, up until the very end, "Necrophagus"/"Graveyard of Horror" proved me wrong.

Who would have suspected that a movie with an undead lizard-man, evil grave-robbing cultists, and mad scientists tossed in for no discernible reason could suck this bad? One would think there'd at least be some humor value... but not here.