| Burial Ground | |
|---|---|
American poster for Burial Ground |
|
| Directed by | Andrea Bianchi |
| Produced by | Gabriele Crisanti |
| Written by | Piero Regnoli |
| Starring | Karin Well Gianluigi Chirizzi Simone Mattioli Antonella Antinori Roberto Caporali Claudio Zucchet Peter Bark Anna Valente Raimondo Barbieri Mariangela Giordano |
| Music by | Elsio Mancuso |
| Cinematography | Gianfranco Maioletti |
| Distributed by | Shriek Show |
| Release date(s) | July 9, 1981 |
| Running time | 85 min |
| Language | Italian (English dub) |
Burial Ground: Nights of Terror (Le Notti del terrore) is an Italian grindhouse zombie movie directed by Andrea Bianchi with cult status, primarily due to its low production values and the casting of a middle aged dwarf as a child in an incestuous relationship with his mother. It is one of a substantially large amount of films that were released as Zombie 3 with one of its alternate titles.[1].
Contents |
A professor who is studying an ancient crypt near a cemetery accidentally unleashes evil from beyond the grave on the nearby burial ground. The curse causes the dead to rise up from their graves to devour the living for their cannibalistic needs; lucky for the undead, their main course will be a group of socialites having a weekend in a large mansion.
Burial Ground: Nights of Terror was given a belated limited release theatrically in the United States by the Film Concept Group 1986. It was subsequently released on VHS by Vestron Video.[2]
The film was released on DVD June 11, 2002 by Shriek Show. It is available separately or in a triple feature package Zombie Pack, Vol. 2. The Zombie Pack, Vol. 2 includes Burial Ground: Nights of Terror, Flesheater, and Zombie Holocaust.[3] Shriek Show released it on Blu-ray for the first time on August 23, 2011.[4]
During the 1980s, this film was difficult to get a hold of in the UK in its uncut form due to the stricter rules regarding the Video Recordings Act of 1984. It was instead released on video in a heavily censored form under the title Nights Of Terror, having 10 minutes and 6 seconds pre-cut by the distributors and then it was cut 3 minutes and 11 secs by the BBFC.[5] As of 2004 the film has been available uncut in the UK under the title The Zombie Dead.[5]
Burial Ground is famous for Peter Bark's classic portrayal of young Michael. Although Bark was in reality an adult dwarf (with an obvious toupee), in the film he plays an adolescent boy. Bark turns in a performance as a young lad that lusts after his mother, both before and after he becomes a zombie. His work is now widely regarded with cult reverence amongst fans of the movie.