Burial Ground (88 Films UHD)

Director: Andrea Bianchi
Screenplay: Piero Regnoli
Starring: Karin Well, Gianluigi Chirizzi, Simone Mattioli, Antonella Antinori, Roberto Caporali, Peter Bark
Country: Italy
Running Time: 85min
Year: 1981
BBFC Certificate: 18

When the late George Romero unleashed the genre defining Night of the Living Dead on the world in 1968, I’m sure he didn’t fully expect the floodgates to open on a slew of zombified imitators, but open they did with a rush of blood red gore staining multiplexes across the world. Among the many imitators released over the next two decades, none were more intriguing than the offerings from the European horror scene. Of course we had obvious classics from the Godfather of Gore, Lucio Fulci, in the form of Zombi, The Beyond and City of the Living Dead among others, but the intrigued horror fan will also find other cult classics such as The Blind Dead trilogy from Roberto Caporali or Jorge Grau’s tremendously underrated The Living Dead At Manchester Morgue. Among this smorgasbord of grue, we also find Andrea Bianchi’s bizarre entry, Burial Ground.

After a typically vague setup with a history professor unearthing a gaggle of shambling ghouls beneath his countryside mansion, Burial Ground kicks into gear when the professors guests arrive at his home. Comprised of three couples and the child of one of the couples, they proceed to let themselves in, make themselves at home and get down to some sexy business. Yes, Burial Ground is one of those 70’s horror films that likes to mix a healthy dose of softcore in with its horror and the first third of the film is largely full of soft focus flesh as none of the guests stop to question where their host just might have gotten to. But gorehounds won’t have to wait too long, because once the walking dead come across their hapless victims, the red stuff really starts flowing!

Yes, Burial Ground is one of the more deliciously, excessively gruesome films of the era with some genuinely great gore effects, even if the HDR of this 4K transfer shows up the bright red blood a little too well at times. Given the age of the film it can be a little stomach churning to see the actors chewing on what are clearly actual bits of offal, but it’s a great effect nonetheless, as the zombies chomp through their victims with some gusto. As for the rest of the film? I think it’s fair to say that Burial Ground would not have won any oscars in its day…

The main cast are on a whole fairly awful, bumbling their way from one sexy or horrific encounter to the next, uncomfortably groping through the former and screaming with uncontrollable histrionics through the latter, while the English dub is of the usual dubious standard, complete with some voices that will be familiar to fans of Italian horror. The zombies themselves also clearly show up the low budget of the production, with their bulky makeup frequently being modified halloween masks (one is clearly Boris Karloff’s Frankenstein’s Monster wearing a wig) and their burlap sack costumes bearing more of a resemblance to the zombies from Tombs of the Blind Dead. They are, however, given a bit more agency than one would expect, even getting to play with weapons in some scenes; the scythe assisted killing is particularly glorious in its absurdity!

For the most part, Burial Ground is largely a rather leaden affair, flip-flopping between sleaze and gore with very little care for pacing, picking up in the second half as the survivors barricade themselves in the professors mansion. But that this feels very similar to Romero’s Night of the Living Dead shows where director Bianchi is clearly apeing on the works of others. As well as Romero, the director clearly has an eye for Lucio Fulci’s stye, even going as far as including a shot which seems to reference Zombi’s infamous eyeball scene, but he never quite manages to deliver the same level of atmosphere as the Godfather of Gore. On a whole, Burial Ground would likely slip unnoticed into some of the lesser zombie films of the era if it weren’t for one factor – Peter Bark as Michael.

Yes, the child that is brought to the mansion is perhaps one of the creepiest, most bizarre and unsettling things about this film. Played by 25 year old actor Bark (real name Pietro Barzocchini), Michael is always very clearly a short adult pretending to be a child, from his wide eyed expressions to his cries for his mother. In fact, it’s the bizarre, weirdly incestuous relationship he seems to have with her that seemingly necessitated the casting of an older actor, but regardless of the age of the people involved, the scenes in which Michael is seemingly lusting over his mother are nonetheless comfortable and feel like they belong in almost a completely different movie. But they are captivating for their weirdness, and Bark’s performance stands out from the rest of the cast in what is ultimately a bizarre horror curio.

This 4K remaster from 88 films delivers a solid picture on UHD, with some vivid colours and lovely clear frames, also cleaning up the soundtrack, a mix of sleazy jazz with some synth tracks that are genuinely atmospheric in places. While it’s hardly a film to recommend to anyone but the most hardened fans of italian horror who absolutely must see everything, it’s certainly for the most part entertaining thanks to the absolutely insane performance of Peter Bark and it’s juicy gore effects. For those looking for a perfect sleazy film to throw on for a beer fuelled evening with friends, Burial Ground could be a good choice.

Limited Edition contents

• Limited Edition Slipcase with artwork by Devon Whitehead
• A3 fold-out poster with artwork by Devon Whitehead and Original Italian Poster Artwork
• Booklet notes with new writing on the film by Martin Beine and Daniel Burnett
• 2 Disc Set

UHD contents

• 4K Restoration From the Best Surviving Element (35mm Blow-up Interpositive)
• 4K (2160p) UHD Blu-ray™ presentation in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible)
• 2.0 English Mono
• 2.0 Italian Mono with English Subtitles
• Audio Commentary with Critics Nathaniel Thompson, Troy Howarth and Eugenio Ercolani
• [Archive] Audio Commentary with Italian Cinema Experts Calum Waddell and John Martin

Blu-ray contents

• 4K Restoration From the Best Surviving Element (35mm Blow-up Interpositive)
• HD (1080p) Blu-ray™ presentation
• 2.0 English Mono
• 2.0 Italian Mono with English Subtitles
• Audio Commentary with Critics Nathaniel Thompson, Troy Howarth and Eugenio Ercolani
• [Archive] Audio Commentary with Italian Cinema Experts Calum Waddell and John Martin
• Return to the Burial Ground – An Interview with Peter Bark at Villa Parisi
• The Borders of the Extreme – An Interview with Eugenio Ercolani
• Zombie and Melodies – An Interview with Pierpaolo De Sanctis
• ‘What the F**k?: The Films of Andrea Bianchi’ An Interview with critic Mikel Koven
• 35mm Blowup Print “Grindhouse Version”
• Deleted Scenes / Trims
• Trailer
• Italian Credits Sequence

For fans of the film, 88 Films have absolutely delivered on this UHD release of Burial Ground, from the slew of extras, to the English and Italian language versions, and even the gloriously crackly 35mm original print used as the source for the 4K restoration, this is an absolute feast of a collection.