It seems that I spoke too soon earlier this week when I singled out KATARSIS (1963) as the nadir of the Italian Gothic Horror cycle! To my mind, this one was an even lesser achievement (with totally unfamiliar credits, though it was picked up for U.S. distribution by no less a genre authority than Richard Gordon) – despite having even better possibilities, given the disparate elements that come into play throughout. In fact, the film resembles more the anything-goes attitude redolent of the Mexi-Horror style (think THE BRAINIAC [1962]) – but Italian experiments in this vein, such as SHE (1982) and the notoriously troubled SINBAD OF THE SEVEN SEAS (1989), have always tended towards the worst aspects of Camp. One other case which I may soon be catching is CROSS OF THE SEVEN JEWELS (1987).
Anyway, here we have a horribly (and inexplicably) disfigured and hirsute man with a penchant for torture devices (whose exposure, complete with maniacal laugh, is over-extended), a woman who is a dead-ringer for her mysteriously vanished ancestor (no great beauty, one wonders what all the fuss is about), the current female owner who is clearly unhinged (since she first appears silhouetted in a darkened room and is always clad in black) and even an Oriental Yoghi (though he never accomplishes much). Also on hand are the usual suspects – dumb cop (not helped by being named Dobson!), stern doctor (father of the heroine) and intrepid reporter (who stumbles on the leading lady while skinny-dipping and automatically becomes engaged to her!).
Though lasting for no more than what is considered standard duration for this type of film (87 minutes), the lethargic pace and singular lack of imagination on display results in deadly dullness virtually all the way through! The only two sequences to hold the attention somewhat are the vaguely surreal reconstruction of the dungeon murder (with the woman menaced by a figure in a skeleton outfit, a knight's armor 'come to life' and a monster that resides in a tomb!) and the finale, which sees the faceless sadist (whom the crazed owner, forever in search of the family jewels, disparagingly calls "brainless idiot"!) tripping and hang himself in a welter of chains attached to the ceiling, while the ageing woman herself shares the exact same fate as her victim (an arrow through the heart!).
Anyway, here we have a horribly (and inexplicably) disfigured and hirsute man with a penchant for torture devices (whose exposure, complete with maniacal laugh, is over-extended), a woman who is a dead-ringer for her mysteriously vanished ancestor (no great beauty, one wonders what all the fuss is about), the current female owner who is clearly unhinged (since she first appears silhouetted in a darkened room and is always clad in black) and even an Oriental Yoghi (though he never accomplishes much). Also on hand are the usual suspects – dumb cop (not helped by being named Dobson!), stern doctor (father of the heroine) and intrepid reporter (who stumbles on the leading lady while skinny-dipping and automatically becomes engaged to her!).
Though lasting for no more than what is considered standard duration for this type of film (87 minutes), the lethargic pace and singular lack of imagination on display results in deadly dullness virtually all the way through! The only two sequences to hold the attention somewhat are the vaguely surreal reconstruction of the dungeon murder (with the woman menaced by a figure in a skeleton outfit, a knight's armor 'come to life' and a monster that resides in a tomb!) and the finale, which sees the faceless sadist (whom the crazed owner, forever in search of the family jewels, disparagingly calls "brainless idiot"!) tripping and hang himself in a welter of chains attached to the ceiling, while the ageing woman herself shares the exact same fate as her victim (an arrow through the heart!).