A '60s gothic horror movie from director Mario Bava, this has pretty much everything you might expect, and want, from this kind of thing. Christopher Lee has a pivotal role, everyone involved seems to be credited under a different name from when the film was marketed for international distribution outside of Italy, and there's a fine atmosphere of lust and kink running throughout it.
Lee plays Kurt Menliff, a nobleman who returns home just in time to congratulate his brother, Christian (Tony Kendall), on his upcoming marriage to Nevenka (Daliah Lavi). Nobody really wants to welcome Kurt back. It's especially difficult for Giorgia (Harriet Medin), a housemaid who believes that Kurt helped driver her daughter to suicide. Others made unhappy are Count Menliff (Gustavo De Nardo), a butler named Losat (Luciano Pigozzi), and a cousin (Katia, played by Ida Galli) who wouldn't mind being kissing cousins with Christian. There's soon another death, and there's always time for one or two people to be whipped, whether for pain or pleasure.
This may not be one of the very best from Bava, but that's a high bar indeed. It still looks gorgeous for many of the key sequences, has admirable consistency in the atmosphere and tone from start to finish, and explores some twisted darkness with a fine balance of restraint and growing hysteria. Although that's me saying that after viewing it through a modern lens. It's worth noting that it was deemed problematic by Italian censors, due to the themes of sadomasochism intertwining with the central mystery. Ernesto Gastaldi, Ugo Guerra, and Luciano Martino are the credited writers, although Gastaldi claims to have received no input at all from the latter, and the screenplay continually dances between the chilliness of the gothic castle setting and the heat (sexual and/or angry) between a few of the main characters.
Lee excels in a role that makes the most of his imposing figure and sheer magnetism, Kendall tries hard as he plays a character who always has to be a step behind unfolding events until the very end scenes, and Lavi does well as she grows more and more nervy and unbalanced throughout the film, not without good reason. Galli is a welcome inclusion, and Medin, De Nardo, and Pigozzi each get at least one moment that places them as a potential prime suspect or victim in the murder mystery.
I'm not sure how others view this one, but I wasn't a huge fan. It's a nice enough way to pass 92 minutes, but I can easily imagine myself forgetting that I've even seen this if asked about it in a year or two (which is one of the reasons I write and review everything I see). I can't fault the cast or the production design though. It just lacks a truly memorable set-piece, and it lacks anything that feels specifically . . . Bava-esque.
6/10
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Feel asleep during this one when I first watched it. Not one of Bava's better ones, in my opinion. Planet of the Vampires is loads better.
ReplyDeleteI don't mind Planet Of The Vampires, but never loved it as much as many other people. Might be overdue a rewatch though, especially if seeing a cleaner and nicer print (cannot recall version I originally saw).
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