WeirdJanitor.com
956-645-0920
Creeps, Slashers, and Weirdoes
Cemetery of Terror (1985)
3 out of 4 stars
Cemetery of Terror is a film that I want to lavish equal parts of both praise and hate for its entertaining over the top schlock while remaining riddled with dismally poor acting performances. However, in amid-80s slasher inspired by the likes of Friday the 13 th , no one is expecting tour-de-force acting performances. Instead the audience is treated to a gore fest that is competently made popcorn fare.
Written and directed by a then twenty-thee year old Ruben Galindo Jr, son of Mexican filmmaker
Galindo Sr., a remarkable auteur during the 1970s heyday, Galindo Jr. makes his father proud by
delivering a very watchable and enjoyable slasher turned zombie film. And it works fairly well through the 88 minute running time.
When generally speaking of Mexican horror movies, most people will recall the beloved Santos and Blue Demon movies popularized during the 1960s. Those films garnered much attention in overseas markets. However, “Cemetery of Terror” was a more updated horror film along with the usual contemporary tropes of teens in distress, killer on the loose, walking dead zombies and the mad doctor desperately wanting to put an end to the madness that so much characterized the slasher genre of the glorious 1980s.
The plot of this film is simple. Young college students decide to party in an abandoned house. After
finding an ancient book of spells, and in order to make an otherwise dull night livelier, they cook up a
hair brain scheme to steal a body from a morgue. It turns out that the corpse they decide to steal is the
body of Devlon, a maniac killer with sharp claws for nails that had recently been shot dead after a wild
rampage. On the track to capture Devlon is Dr. Cardan, who proclaims to anyone that will listen that
Devlon is a “demonio”. Famed Mexican actor Hugo Stiglitz plays Dr. Cardan and does an awesome job
portraying the voice of reason that cops refuse to take seriously until it’s too late.
The college kids turned pranksters read aloud from the book of spells, and, bring maniacal Devlon back
to life. He immediately goes on a rampage and we are treated to some fantastic gory effects.
All of this craziness is happening during a hectic Halloween night and there is a great subplot that
involves a group of tween trick a treaters. Besides going out for candy, they dare each other to visit a
cemetery and it’s here that the movie busts loose. It transforms itself from a typical maniac slasher
movie to a full on zombie flick as the dead are brought back to life while the kids run for their lives all
over the cemetery in what has to be the movie’s best scene. Eventually, Dr. Cardan catches up with the
kids and tries to help them not only escape the zombies but also do away with Devlon before he
increases his body count.
Several famous Mexican actors start in small roles here including soap opera novela darlings like Erika
Buenfil and Eduardo Capetillo. However, its Hugo Stiglitz character of Dr. Cardan that carries the film.
With some great practical effects given the low budget, a cool musical score, and a zany zombie scene,
this film hits all the awesome notes for a genuinely entertaining mid 80s horror fest. Definitely
recommended as long as you don’t expect stellar acting performances.
WeirdJanitor.com
...
