This film, along with City of the Living Dead and The Beyond, belongs to the gates of hell trilogy by Lucio Fulci. The films are not part of the same story, but rather share similar elements and all three star the great screamer, Catriona MacColl. This one to me is the weakest of the three films. I consider The Beyond to be the strongest as it looks the best and looks like it had a rather sizable budget compared to the other two. City of the Living Dead had some good story elements and was the easiest to understand (except that stupid ending), but it lags here and there. This one tries to be too clever trying to divert your attention here and there and trying to throw a swerve because at times it almost seems like the killer is nothing more than a simple slasher killer that may even have been among the characters you meet during the course of the film. Except the child Bob, who is so annoyingly voiced that he is the one character you want dead more than anyone else featured within. Of the three though, it has the most interesting ending. Sure it is not quite as clear as The Beyond's, let's face it, the two lead characters end up in hell. It also is not a failed ending like in City of the Living Dead where the kid was supposed to have been a zombie, but it never really looked like it. No, the ending in this one is strange, weird and open for interpretation.
The story has a family moving into a house in Boston so the father can take up some research which will net him more money or something and really seems strange that someone can make a bundle simply rummaging through a library. The house they choose to live in though has a dark secret. Of course, the father may have a dark secret too as he seems to have been in town before. That babysitter seems to harbor some dark secret of her own as well. Meanwhile, Bob, the couple's son is not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but at least he knows coming to this house is a mistake, only because the strange girl who seems to live in a painting has warned him while seeing the head of a mannequin fall off and ooze blood! Then there is the bat attack that prompts the couple to want to leave, but the realty agent gets killed before she can meet them and they seem to forget they want to leave and then the father learns everything about the house by listening to a tape that doesn't really explain everything and by visiting a cemetery. Seriously, the man knows that there is a dead guy living in their basement who sustains himself using blood by a tape that has a man screaming crazily and a trip to a cemetery that really reveals nothing other than Dr. Freudstein is not there! Then in the end you see the horrific Dr. Freudstein who is a shock to see when I saw this in the theater, but doubtful anyone from today would get the same shock as they always feature him on the back of the DVD box.
The ending is by far the most interesting aspect of the film as Dr. Freudstein is revealed. He is quite a sight and when the father stabs him, maggots flow out of his body and that gave me nightmares as a child! He then kills the father as the father becomes incapable of taking a few more stabs at the good doctor and then the mother falters too. The boy is seemingly rescued by the strange girl who seems to be a Freudstein herself. The film does not really fit the theme of the gates of hell trilogy as there are no gates of hell opening. However, perhaps the gate to hell in this one is more subtle as Bob is pulled through a crack to seemingly be rescued and then is led off by none other than the creepy girl and her mother who is Dr. Freudstein's wife.
So, this one is okay at times, but it does get downright silly too. That bat attack got absurd, too many things suggesting this person or that person was harboring a secret that never got revealed and the downright awful dubbing of the child. However, Dr. Freudstein looks really good and the ending is interesting. Makes me wish he was in the film more as he looks better than any of the zombies or creatures in The Beyond or City of the Living Dead. It is almost a shame that they kept him under wraps until the very end, but it really is a shock when you do not know what is going on. It is such a pity, more people will not know the surprise of seeing a man who is a living corpse, always accompanied by the cries and laughter of children and filled with maggots! Terrifying and quite frankly, it gave me nightmares as a child! This film just needed more work during the rest of the film and a better voice for the child!
The story has a family moving into a house in Boston so the father can take up some research which will net him more money or something and really seems strange that someone can make a bundle simply rummaging through a library. The house they choose to live in though has a dark secret. Of course, the father may have a dark secret too as he seems to have been in town before. That babysitter seems to harbor some dark secret of her own as well. Meanwhile, Bob, the couple's son is not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but at least he knows coming to this house is a mistake, only because the strange girl who seems to live in a painting has warned him while seeing the head of a mannequin fall off and ooze blood! Then there is the bat attack that prompts the couple to want to leave, but the realty agent gets killed before she can meet them and they seem to forget they want to leave and then the father learns everything about the house by listening to a tape that doesn't really explain everything and by visiting a cemetery. Seriously, the man knows that there is a dead guy living in their basement who sustains himself using blood by a tape that has a man screaming crazily and a trip to a cemetery that really reveals nothing other than Dr. Freudstein is not there! Then in the end you see the horrific Dr. Freudstein who is a shock to see when I saw this in the theater, but doubtful anyone from today would get the same shock as they always feature him on the back of the DVD box.
The ending is by far the most interesting aspect of the film as Dr. Freudstein is revealed. He is quite a sight and when the father stabs him, maggots flow out of his body and that gave me nightmares as a child! He then kills the father as the father becomes incapable of taking a few more stabs at the good doctor and then the mother falters too. The boy is seemingly rescued by the strange girl who seems to be a Freudstein herself. The film does not really fit the theme of the gates of hell trilogy as there are no gates of hell opening. However, perhaps the gate to hell in this one is more subtle as Bob is pulled through a crack to seemingly be rescued and then is led off by none other than the creepy girl and her mother who is Dr. Freudstein's wife.
So, this one is okay at times, but it does get downright silly too. That bat attack got absurd, too many things suggesting this person or that person was harboring a secret that never got revealed and the downright awful dubbing of the child. However, Dr. Freudstein looks really good and the ending is interesting. Makes me wish he was in the film more as he looks better than any of the zombies or creatures in The Beyond or City of the Living Dead. It is almost a shame that they kept him under wraps until the very end, but it really is a shock when you do not know what is going on. It is such a pity, more people will not know the surprise of seeing a man who is a living corpse, always accompanied by the cries and laughter of children and filled with maggots! Terrifying and quite frankly, it gave me nightmares as a child! This film just needed more work during the rest of the film and a better voice for the child!