I found out through painstaking research (reading it on the internet) that this is the first Italian horror film of the sound era, and that director Freda walked off set and left Mario Bava to finish the film.
A bunch of girls have turned up dead throughout town, with all their blood drained from them. The cops are baffled, but a young plucky, happy go lucky jerk journalist is out to make a name for himself and catch the killer. He keeps being hit on by a young Duchess as their families are historically linked somehow, but he's not interested (his mate is though). Little does the guy know that the killings are somehow linked to the Duchess's castle, and it's all going to come to a head.
Actually the film starts of kind of like a giallo. The victims are killed in a strange way that leaves the police baffled. There's a few suspects that leads to the actual culprit who is a mystery to the viewer. There's even a bit of sleuthing on the part of the journalist. Things then slide into gothic horror territory, what with the creepy castle with the mood lighting and secret passages.
This is a very good looking film thanks to Bava, who even at this early stage seems to be a master of visual composition and lighting. I don't know who did the 'aging' effects either, but it's the true standout of this film and had me wondering how they hell they managed to do that back in the fifties. Other than that, it did strike me as a little dull. A good looking little dull film with some good special effects that was first out of the gate. This is a dull review too. Some people love it though, so don't listen to me.
Paul Muller was good in it as the junky guy though, and at the age of ninety-five, he still walks this Earth. Unless he died years ago and someone in his family is claiming his pension.
Actually the film starts of kind of like a giallo. The victims are killed in a strange way that leaves the police baffled. There's a few suspects that leads to the actual culprit who is a mystery to the viewer. There's even a bit of sleuthing on the part of the journalist. Things then slide into gothic horror territory, what with the creepy castle with the mood lighting and secret passages.
This is a very good looking film thanks to Bava, who even at this early stage seems to be a master of visual composition and lighting. I don't know who did the 'aging' effects either, but it's the true standout of this film and had me wondering how they hell they managed to do that back in the fifties. Other than that, it did strike me as a little dull. A good looking little dull film with some good special effects that was first out of the gate. This is a dull review too. Some people love it though, so don't listen to me.
Paul Muller was good in it as the junky guy though, and at the age of ninety-five, he still walks this Earth. Unless he died years ago and someone in his family is claiming his pension.