But all in all this movie does manage to stand out among the horde of Italian zombie films that invaded the market after "Zombi" splashed across the screen, mostly for midgets wearing wigs and a few good gore scenes, but it is worth checking out if you're a fan--if not, you are going to be lost and wondering why you are watching something so strange.

The thing that fascinates me in films like "Burial Ground" is the teeth. Do human teeth really grow that large? The masks in this film (and yes, they are very obviously masks) make the human incisors out to be about three inches long by two inches wide.

I suppose the praise for this film comes from those who like their horror to be mindless, but personally this was a little too devoid of substance for me. The gore was not even believable enough to be of interest, and I found the actions of the humans to be irritating. For instance, why would it take them so long to realize that in order to kill the zombies you have to destroy their heads? Why do they insist on cornering themselves in places like old tombs? Honestly, why do they not just leave the manor that they seem to be trapped at? How could rotting corpses outsmart living, thinking, able-bodied human beings? Why does the manor itself have no phone (I think someone comments at one point that it deliberately has no phone because they are too stressful or something...nothing like deliberately isolating yourself in a rural setting. Forget the zombies...what if someone had a heart attack? Or wanted to order a pizza?).

The movie was filled with so many morons that I was rooting for the zombies. My favorite character was the one that was supposed to be a young boy but looked to be about 21 years old. (Apparently the crew in charge of the dubbing thought he was supposed to be older too since they added the voice of an adult). I have to admit, there was one brilliant moment of absurdity, and I'm talking about the sequence where the little boy, now a zombie, rips his mother's breast off. Somehow the mother, who knows people are returning as zombies and who knows her son has been killed, is so overjoyed to have her zombified son return that she embraces him and even offers him her breast to suckle, in front of everyone no less. This scene actually represents my favorite zombie movie cliche...you know the one...living person knows loved one is dead, perhaps even saw loved one die, but when loved one returns as a zombie, living person thinks dead loved one is somehow alive (despite blood, gore, and/or missing limbs) and allows dead loved one to gnaw at some random body part. Romero attempted to portray this somewhat realistically in "Dawn of the Dead" (the scene on the stairway in the tenement at the beginning of the film) but Fulci made it campy in "Zombie" (the return of the throat-less Susan) and now "Burial Ground" takes it to ludicrous heights with the breast-ripping.

I think most people who see this film must be as disappointed in it as I was. I can tolerate a bad film, it's just this one has such little redeeming quality that watching it is an exercise in endurance. If you're going to make your film rely solely on gore and special effects, then it would be a wise move to make them believable (the shooting-gallery zombie heads come to mind). However, if you're scared or thrilled by shambling actors in mid-grade Halloween masks...you just may think this is the best zombie film ever made.

UPDATE FROM THE AUTHOR:
If I had to give a 5 star review, I would probably give "Burial Ground" two stars, for the camp value alone. The horror elements were shabby, but it was fun to watch it and laugh at how it didn't make any sense. Maybe the reason I disliked it so much the first time was that I was trying to take it too seriously!

Well, Burial Ground was one of those Italian gore "masterpieces" that one hears so much about only to be ultimately disappointed that it was as bad as you thought it would be in a humorless way. A group of Italian rich are staying at a villa in the country. We are briefly...and I mean briefly...told that they were asked to come by a professor that has something to tell them. We see this professor for only moments in the beginning of the film. It is so dark that we really don't know what he is doing except that soon he will be no more and a horde of zombies with masks and maggots a plenty on their faces will start shuffling in this burial chamber waiting for the "right" time to come out of the earth. Hmmm. Anyway, that in a nutshell is the plot of this film. No more exposition. No more explanation why these zombies walk. Nothing. Zip. The rest of the movie shows this group of people and a couple servants get horribly butchered, scream a lot, and a mother feed her breast to a 14 year old boy (with a middle-aged face) who in moments rips the nipple off in a very non-titilating way. Hmmm. The zombies are made-up primarily with masks with lots and lots of maggots, worms, rotten teeth, etc... Some of them look very convincing while many look just ridiculous. The biggest problem with them is that they are not your normal run-of-the-mill zombies...oh no! these zombies think...and are quite shrewd. In fact, they are the smartest zombies I have ever seen on film. They trick their victims with disguises, use various weapons such as scythes and knives, throw a metal spike with accurate precision into a woman's hand at least twenty feet away, apparently used a bear trap (I will never figure THAT one out!), turn on an electric buzz saw (that one boggles the mind too!) and used a huge piece of wood to ram down a door! Zombie group work at its finest! The gore is, however, plentiful for those that like to see people literally stripped of intestinal fortitude, lots of organ-gnawing, flesh-eating, decapitation, and perhaps the most painful form of breast reduction around. Not quite my cup of tea. To be fair, director Andrea Bianchi DOES have some flair as a director. Several scenes were well-shot, with the one with the maid walking down a very dimly lit hall being the best for my money. Bianchi used very poor lighting, however, in many of the scenes. Some were very close to being unwatchable. The acting is in name only for these "thespians" have little to do with acting. They are primarily cardboard characters that you will care very little for. The director must have sensed this and therefore added a liberal dose of sex and nudity prior to the human buffet being served. Maria Angela Giordano as Michael's mother is at the very least a banquet for the eyes before she becomes an entree for the undead. Peter Bark plays Michael and at the very least he is definitely creepy. But if you are looking for mediocre acting in a somewhat plausible, cohesive story...Burial Ground is not for you. There is no plot and the film really is nothing more than an exercise in testing your constitution and good taste. Of course if all you want to see is blood and gore...then Burial Ground is for the gore lover in you.

When my friend told me how freaky this movie was I knew I had to rent it. I walked into the video store and immediately asked where I could find Burial Ground. The employees looked at me strangly and pointed (not said) towared the horror isle. I rented it and watched it. Since then my life has never been the same. The main thing about this movie is this kid Michael. Michael has an adult face and is freaky looking. The Zombies are fake looking and one of them has a NON decomposed eyeball which is impossible. Then there is this random scene where some lady gets her foot caught in a bear trap which happens to be in a nice yard. The opening scene has THE PROFESSOR who is in some kind of cave and talking about the secret. He gets ambushed my zombies and I laugh. The most horrific thing though is this kid who can smell death on rags. He asks to suck his mama's breats and feel her up. Then when he turns into a zombie later on in the movie SHE asks him to suck her breasts. So, he does one more than that, he BITES her nipple off!! This movie left me feeling uncleansed and unshaved. I immediately took a shower. If you want to see this movie, drink beer first.