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| New to Blu-ray |
The camera work from the combination of director Riccardo
Freda and Raffaele Masciocchi is just superb, with nice camera movement and low
angled shots that are almost voyeuristic in their placement. There appears to
be a deliberate play with horizontal and vertical lines in the scenes, noticing
that the camera placement leads to lines being created by the ceiling, doors,
furniture, windows, paintings, and other items. The use of candlelight and
minimal stage lights creates some wonderful looking shadows cast upon the
actors and their surroundings. Freda is often referred to as the mentor for
legendary horror director Mario Bava, so it isn’t too surprising that there may
be some similarities in the look and style of this compared to Bava’s work. The
music from composer Roman Vlad is a good classical orchestral horror score,
primarily featuring the sounds of an organ. The sound effects that have been
added in are very effective and help build some extra tension in key moments.
The story was written by Ernesto Gastaldi and contains some
dark themes for the era, especially the subject of necrophilia. It is somewhat
surprising that this was able to get made without any type of censorship
because of these themes. The costumes, makeup, and sets are incredible, with the
female actors being dressed in incredibly fancy and ornate period dresses. The authentic
gothic mansion and other period locations really add to the visual appeal of
this production. The mansion is spectacular and it is filled with all kinds of interesting
furniture and other props. There is also an underground cavern and a hospital
setting, containing a fascinating collection of old operating tools and metal machinery.
The acting is great. Flemyng pulls off the evil doctor with
a simple tone in his voice and his facial expressions. Steele is at the height
of her sex appeal in this one and while she isn’t vamping it up, she shows an
excellent amount of fear portraying the victim. For those who aren’t familiar
with the actress, she has a strong cult following amongst horror fans and has
appeared in Black Sunday, The Pit and the
Pendulum, The Ghost, Castle of Blood, Terror-Creatures from the Grave,
Nightmare Castle, and Piranha.
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| I'm scared but still sexy. |
This is a must see for horror fans, it is a true classic of
the gothic horror subgenre.
[Note: The Olive Films release is a truncated version of the film with a running time of 77 minutes. An uncut version is available on DVD with a running time of 87 minutes.]
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Score
-Raul Vantassle