The Bone Men's Choir of the Dead

Serge Chekov travels to Skopje to attend his late uncle's will reading. But shortly after his arrival, he finds the body of his niece Mary hanging from a tree in the cemetery. The autopsy reveals that Mary died of a heart attack, but the doctor won't rule out the possibility that she was scared to death. The will stipulates that Serge inherits his uncle's opulent estate, while his wife Nadia receives only scraps. Professor Leon Droila and his daughter Doris also live in the old castle. The latter has set up a laboratory in the basement to work on the reanimation of dead creatures. Nadia tries to convince Serge with her feminine charms to chase them out of the castle, but Serge already has his eye on the pretty Doris. Meanwhile, more murders occur, with Serge getting closer and closer to the center of the investigation. Serge, meanwhile, sets up his own investigation and rather suspects the shady gravedigger Igor as the culprit.

Orgy of the Living Dead is a wild mixture of gothic horror and murder mystery, in which necrophilia, a mad scientist, occultism and zombies are unabashedly packed. Logic falls a bit by the wayside at times, but the film is so moodily staged that genre fans should get their money's worth. It stars Paul Naschy as a gravedigger who identifies a bit too much with his job.

Uncut version included on US Blu-ray

Especially in the US, it was almost impossible to see the uncut export version. On VHS by Wizard Video, a version cut by plot was released, shortened to just under 90 minutes so that the film would fit on a 90's VHS tape. This was a clever way to save money. The removed scenes are only partly necessary, but deepen the characters and make the motivation comprehensible. For example, it becomes clear in one of the shortened scenes that Doris and Nadia can't stand each other at all. Other releases of the film in the US, including Troma's DVD, are also incomplete.

There are two editions of the US Blu-ray of Full Moon. The first edition was unfortunately defective, but had The Return of the Zombis version in the bonus material. Now you can only get the flawless second edition without the old video version. The new edition can be recognized by the V.2 in the inner ring of the Blu-ray. The release is highly recommended. The picture quality is very good and the film is uncut. The only drawback is the thin bonus material and the only mediocre English dub. The original Spanish audio is unfortunately not available.

Picture comparison:

Wizard Video VHS:

Full Moon Blu-ray:

Runtimes:

Wizard Video VHS: 89:26 min.
Full Moon Blu-ray: 98:08 min.

Comparison between the US VHS by Wizard Video and the US Blu-ray by Full Moon.

[00:00:09][00:00:00]

The first shot at the funeral starts earlier in the BD.

BD: 2 secs.


[00:00:18][00:00:11]

Alternative title inserts.

No time difference.


[00:22:04][00:22:16]

After seeing Igor in the tomb, a new scene follows in the BD.

The doctor returns from his autopsy on Mary and tells the group that she died of a heart attack before being hung from the tree. The inspector says that this means his murder theory is no longer valid. The doctor says that it should not necessarily be so, since in his opinion Mary was scared to death. Leon agrees, since you could clearly see the fear in her eyes, and wonders what kind of monster she may have seen. The doctor says that the place where the body was found should be considered. A man says that the dead have orgies in the cemetery.

In the next scene, Igor closes the tomb in the crypt while the others watch him do it. Some of the people leave. The priest offers his condolences.

BD: 1:24 min


[00:22:16][00:23:52]

The inspector and his assistant arrive at Igor's house. They split up and look around. At the front door, the two meet again without having discovered anything.

The US VHS resumes as the inspector opens the door.

BD: 1:26 min.


[00:27:25][00:30:31]

After Igor disappears into the graveyard, the Blu-ray shows Nadia about to put a needle into a small doll in a ritual. A loud voice in the house stops her and she goes into the hallway to eavesdrop. The inspector says goodbye. Nadia goes back to her room and sticks the needle into the doll. She cuts her arm with a knife and lets some of her blood drip into a chalice.

BD: 1:00 min


[00:32:07][00:36:18]

Film tear: Serge takes off his shirt earlier.

BD: 2 secs.


[00:38:04][00:42:21]

Doris runs downstairs in a huff as she caught Serge in Nadia's room. Leon asks what is wrong with her. Doris wants to leave as she can't stand Nadia any longer. Leon tries to calm her down, but Doris says that they will have to move out soon anyway. When Leon asks her why, she tells him that Serge spent the night with Nadia. Leon says that she is probably right. Doris asks what will become of Leon's experiments. Leon says that he will start over somewhere else, since Nadia will probably sell the property. At that moment, Nadia comes into the room. She overhears part of the conversation and coolly asks Doris for her tea. Doris lets the teapot slide to the side as she is pouring, burning Nadia's hand. Serge comes downstairs.

BD: 1:57 min


[00:50:14][00:56:39]

After Serge suspects that there is a document in the tomb, Doris is seen waiting in the car in front of the town hall. Serge is sitting with the mayor. He says that it is clear from the diary that the Count took his secret to the grave. Serge finds this ridiculous, since it is clearly stated in the diary that the Count fears for his life.

Upset, Serge leaves the town hall. He says to Doris that he doesn't understand how this man could become mayor. He wants to go to the cemetery, but Doris is afraid of it. Serge therefore goes alone and takes a crowbar to open the grave. Doris decides to change her mind and wants to come with him.

BD: 1:31 min.


[01:29:30][01:37:59]

The VHS fades out, while the music plays out in black screen.

On the Blu-ray, the two carriages can be seen for a longer time. "Fine" is faded in.

VHS: 5 sec.
BD: 9 sec.