The Grim Cellar

1974, Italy/Spain/UK, Directed by Jorge Grau

Colour, Running Time: 89 minutes

DVD, Region 2, Anchor Bay, Video: Anamorphic 1.85:1, Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1

Cockney owner of an antiques shop, George, is heading north for a relaxing break over the weekend in a nice cottage in the Lake District when, stopping for petrol, he faces the misfortune of having his motorbike run over by a hopeless woman driver (Edna). Leaving the ruined bike at the garage he politely forces her to take him the rest of the way in her Mini. Getting lost on the winding country roads they pull over so George can find someone to ask directions. While waiting for him Edna is attacked by a pallid, apparently mindless man but manages to escape to find George and the farmer he’s now talking to - the farmer jests that the description of the man (now absconded) sounds like a tramp that died a week ago. On his brief walk George also comes across a team of agriculturists testing new ultrasonic equipment that theoretically helps destroy crop-threatening insects. George agrees to drop Edna off at her destination so he can borrow her car to head towards the cottage but on the way they nearly run down Edna’s sister, Katie, who is in a state of panic due to her husband being murdered only minutes before. The police soon arrive on the scene but don’t believe Katie’s story about a deathly man attacking her spouse; the fact that she’s a heroin addict and was about to be institutionalised by her husband doesn’t help her case. Dragged into the situation George is prevented from leaving the village by the dictatorial sergeant and so he and Edna check into a local B&B. Determined to convince Edna that the person who attacked both her and her brother-in-law is not the deceased tramp, George takes her to the nearby cemetery to show her the man’s grave, but they get more than they expected when they’re attacked by walking corpses - George realises that their reawakening may have something to do with the equipment he saw being tested earlier.

Clearly impelled by the groundbreaking Night of the Living Dead Grau’s film brings more than a little ecological commentary to the foreground, illustrated by opening shots of polluted Britain in conjunction with public ignorance (an issue even more relevant today). This theme is augmented by George’s discovery of the test equipment that stimulates aggressive behaviour in primitive cerebral structures for the purposes of crop control, inadvertently affecting recently deceased humans along the way. This almost creates a science fiction premise but is quickly (or carelessly) undermined by a couple of scenes: the absence of an image of the living dead when photographed inexplicably borrows from cinematic vampire mythology, plus the transference of life to other cadavers via lacing their eyelids with blood. This anomaly aside the overall ride is an exciting one and centred by one of my favourite set-pieces ever, George and Edna’s gut-tingling visit to the graveyard. It’s a prolonged and progressive attack where they escape one confined area only to end up in another with a cop that’s been assigned to trail them, the entire action set against a backdrop of the isolated windy northern hills. Mention must also be made of Arthur Kennedy’s fascinatingly autocratic policeman who demonstrates narrow-mindedness and intolerance in the extreme. The gore effects (by Giannetto de Rossi, later of Zombi 2 fame), including a disembowelling and a woman’s breast being torn off, are stupendous for the period, managing to earn the film a place on the UK’s banned list in the 80s (it later surfaced on video heavily cut). The climactic hospital scenes predate those of The Beyond and conclude a riveting adventure through terror, establishing one of the genre’s most satisfying movies along the way.

Based on the US Anchor Bay disc containing a newly mastered, accurately framed transfer and a twenty minute interview with Grau, the UK disc (uncut for the first time and titled on screen as ‘Let Sleeping Corpses Lie‘ - a more accurate translation of its Italian title) was also accompanied by Nigel Burrell’s once separately available book outlining the plot along with a critical analysis and stills making it pretty much the best overall package of the film available (although the US disc was available in an LE tin for a while), at least until Blue Underground released their two disc SE. The image (of both AB discs) blew away every release before it, boasting attractive colour schemes and a soft but film-like quality while the 5.1 audio option helped embellish the ethereal soundtrack in places, not forgetting to include a separate mono reproduction for purists. The US AB disc has since been duplicated by Blue Underground and then superseded by the same company, while the British disc has been re-released without the extras as a budget item. The film is a crucial requirement for any self-respecting genre fan’s collection.