Mexican horror director channels John Carpenter and Michael Jackson(!) for his debut CEMETERY OF TERROR, on Blu-ray from Vinegar Syndrome.

Obsessed psychiatrist Dr. Caldon (Hugo Stiglitz, NIGHTMARE CITY) has been unable to convince the courts or the authorities that patient Devlon (José Gómez Parcero, DEATHSTALKER II) is no mere serial killer but a Satanic emissary whose bloodlust is limitless. When he learns that the police have shot and killed Devlon after he has claimed his latest victim, Caldon tries to convince the local police captain Ancira (Raúl Meraz, NARCO TERROR) to have the body cremated immediately, even going so far as to forge the signature of a judge on a court order. Unfortunately, they arrive too late since medical students Oscar (René Cardona III, BEAKS: THE MOVIE) and Jorge (Servando Manzetti) have stolen the body in an effort to liven up a party at the local cemetery-adjacent haunted house – with bored girlfriends Olivia (Edna Bolkan, REVENGE) and Marianna (Jacqueline Castro) along with third couple Pedro (Andrés García Jr., LIKE WATER FOR CHOCOLATE) and Lena (Erika Buenfil) – with a little Satanic ritual. The ritual works and Devlon comes back to life, going after the revelers as well as a cadre of trick or treaters including among them Ancira's children who have entered the cemetery for a courage test.

Starting out like a HALLOWEEN/HALLOWEEN II-ripoff with Stiglitz's doctor trying to convince the police of Devlon's supernatural nature, CEMETERY OF TERROR delivers the goods in terms of gore before entirely changing its tone in the last half hour into an extended riff on Michael Jackson's THRILLER video as colorful zombies (the work of MY BLOODY VALENTINE's Ken Diaz) rise out of the grave and terrorize the juvenile characters before a nonsensical final shock twist. This tonal unevenness is marked by passages that drag – with Stiglitz endlessly driving a stolen police car in search of Devlon's body, covering more ground than anyone else seemingly had to in getting from other local places to the cemetery and haunted house – and one wonders why he was not cast as the killer instead apart from a lack of dialogue (Stiglitz had earlier appeared with García Jr.'s father in the shark horror film TINTORERA directed by Cardona the Third's father). Fully enjoyable as Halloween season schlock (indeed, it often plays on American Spanish-speaking stations in October), CEMETERY OF TERROR at least shows an ambition for the genre on the part of director Rubén Galindo Jr. – son of seasoned director/producer Rubén Galindo (SANTO VS. THE KILLERS FROM OTHER WORLDS) – whose follow-up GRAVE ROBBERS was a marked improvement along with his third horror film DON'T PANIC.

Never dubbed into English and only released stateside to theaters for Spanish-speaking audiences, CEMETERY OF TERROR was unavailable stateside in English-friendly form until BCI released a subtitled double-bill DVD with GRAVE ROBBERS as part of their short-lived CRYPT OF TERROR line using the existing video master. Vinegar Syndrome's 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 widescreen Blu-ray comes from a 4K scan of the original camera negative, revealing some rough edges in the opticals but otherwise looking vibrant in bright day scenes and more moody night interiors with red bloodshed that really pops. No complaints about the Spanish DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono and Dolby Digital 2.0 backup tracks which are unambitious in their design but also benefit from everyone being post-dubbed. Optional English subtitles are provided.

The film is accompanied by a pair of audio commentaries. The track with director Rubén Galindo Jr. is a bit frustrating due to his inexperience with the medium. He recalls how he was given a month to finish up his film studies in Los Angeles when his father summoned him back to Mexico to come up with a film project for the following year, and that he had a horror film in mind from the start. He resorts to a lot of describing onscreen action and the character motivations behind it but also notes faults and his desire to remake the film. A passage of his remarks about the film score is either repeated by him verbatim or digitally recopied on the track no so far after the point where it appeared originally. There is also an audio commentary by The Hysteria Continues who note that there is overlap with their track from GRAVE ROBBERS, noting the shared cast, the advancements in that film over this one, how they both share a split story between three sets of characters, the filmmaking heritages of the Galindos and the Cardonas (Cardona III would soon direct his own stab at horror with VACATION OF TERROR which Vinegar Syndrome presumably also has in the works), and also discuss the subsequent telenovela credits of the cast (as well as the untrue rumor that child actor Eduardo Capetillo was a pseudonym for 2005-2011 Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto).