Blu-ray Review: Cemetery Of Terror

Blu-ray Reviews, Reviews, Top Story

There’s always a horror in people trying to overdo a theme party. You just want to go to drink, mingle and hopefully get lucky. But the hosts want to make it an over the top experience. They want you talking about them on Monday morning and their outrageously cool fun when someone asks, “How was your weekend?” Such is what happens to the students of Texas Southmost College who get invited to a Halloween party near the cemetery hosted by a couple medical school kids. They don’t want to merely crack a few beers and let the good times roll. Thus we get Cemetery of Terror from the same folks that gave us Grave Robbers.

Devlon (DeathStalker II‘s José Gómez Parcero) is a mass murderer who has been sneaking around the city claiming victims. He finally get not only caught by the police, but filled with lead. However Dr. Caldon (Night of 1,000 Cats’ Hugo Stiglitz) doesn’t want the psycho’s body buried. He swears to the police captain that Devlon was a master of the dark arts and needs to have his remains torched. Before the duo can make it down to the morgue to roast the serial killer, two medical students hijack the body. Why? Because they want to impress the ladies that are coming to their happening party that’s being held near the cemetery. And they’re just not going to be happy showing off a corpse. They have an ancient text that will be a part of a Satanic ceremony to revive the corpse. Except as in many of these cases, the party gets completely out of control and goes out of bounds.

Cemetery of Terror is a hoot with the amount of bad choices made by the medical students. How did they get into med school? I’m guessing Texas Southmost College has rather low standards during the interview process. Indeed the school itself is so Southmost of Texas that it’s in Mexico. Even though Rubén Galindo Jr. sets the action in Texas, the film is in Spanish. Cemetery of Terror was released in America, but only played Spanish language theater in the ’80s. There’s no English dub track. But the kids do drink Pepsi Free and Andre champagne. So while the film doesn’t get too culturally focused as Grave Robbers, you do get a sense that stupid kids will grab any corpse for party favor.

Director Rubén Galindo Jr. made a fine little Halloween fear fest back in the ’80s with Cemetery of Terror. He amps up the undead action with each stupid decision made by the med students until you fear that they can’t make anymore of a mess out of what could have been a fun little party. The film is the perfect double feature for Galindo’s Grave Robbers since both are about kids doing stupid things involving the bodies of really wicked people. Cemetery of Terror will remind you why you need to avoid parties where the focus isn’t the keg.

The video is 1.85:1 anamorphic. The 1080p transfer brings out the bloody gory effects and the finer details of Southmost Texas College. The audio is DTS-HD MA mono in Spanish. The levels are fine as people scream from what rises at the cemetery on Halloween night. The movie is subtitled in English so you can read along.

Audio Commentary with Rubén Galindo Jr. has him reveal that his dad pulled him out of film school in California to come back to Mexico to make the movie. He speaks about the issues he faced as a new director tackling a feature film.

Audio Commentary with The Hysteria Continues has the group reflect on how the film connects with Graveyard Robbers. They dig deep in stories about the film.

Digging Your Own Grave (34:38) is Galindo interviewed about his first major work.

South of the Border Horror (36:10) talks with René Cardona III about going to UCLA film school with Galindo and their famous families.

Vinegar Syndrome presents Cemetery of Terror. Directed by: Rubén Galindo Jr.. Screenplay by: Rubén Galindo Jr. Starring: Hugo Stiglitz, José Gómez Parcero, Bety Robles, Raúl Meraz, René Cardona III, Servando Manzetti, Andrés García Jr. and María Rebeca. Running Time: 91 minutes. Released: November 24, 2020.

Joe Corey is the writer and director of "Danger! Health Films" currently streaming on Night Flight and Amazon Prime. He's the author of "The Seven Secrets of Great Walmart People Greeters." This is the last how to get a job book you'll ever need. He was Associate Producer of the documentary "Moving Midway." He's worked as local crew on several reality shows including Candid Camera, American's Most Wanted, Extreme Makeover Home Edition and ESPN's Gaters. He's been featured on The Today Show and CBS's 48 Hours. Dom DeLuise once said, "Joe, you look like an axe murderer." He was in charge of research and programming at the Moving Image Archive.