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Rating Averages
My Friends |
Not rated. () |
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All Flixster |
(664) |
450 |
3122 |
Female |
(244) |
165 |
1147 |
Male |
(420) |
285 |
1975 |
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Plot:
A vengeful witch and her fiendish servant return from the grave and begin a bloody campaign to possess the body of the witch's beautiful look-alike descendant. Only the girl's brother and a handsome d...( read more 
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Recent Reviews
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MCT:July 1, 2008
I'm really gonna have to re-review this movie later. I missed the first 10-20 minutes. Normally, I don't allow myself to watch a movie (let alone critique it) unless I've sat through the whole thing, but I went to a Horror movie fest in the woods. It was great! All these movies shown on the wall of the inside of a barn. How cool is that? So the next few reviews are all coming from this viewing.
I like Bava. I don't love Bava, but I certainly do like him. Being this is Bava's first directorial film (I think that's right), I feel I have to be somewhat lenient. But that doesn't make a cornball movie good. This movie is crazy cornball. Some people swear by these films. Personally, I found Criterion's "Monsters and Madmen" box pretty boring. So realize why I'm being so rough on this movie. There are cool aspects to this film. It is a very disturbing movie disguised as another Universal Monster movie. If you've seen the Universal Monster movies, you realize that they really aren't all that scary, but more borderlining silly. (With the exception of some of the original films like Dracula, Frankenstein, Creature, and the Invisible Man.) But the use of really occult storylines is pretty cool. Also, the gore in this film, although limited, is pretty brutal, especialy for black-and-white 1961.
But the movie really is cheese. Yeah, Bava is known for cheese, but usually it's so well crafted that it's pretty cool. Bava's still staritng off so the cheese really feels heavy-handed. I'll rewatch this movie sometime so I can really give it a more fair review, but as of right now, I'm not super thrilled about this movie.
Updated 07.01.08 Okay, I missed a lot more of this movie than I realized. I have to say, I actually really like Bava. He's a crazy talented director. While this movie isn't his best (I really like Black Sabbath), it's actually got a lot going for it. I don't know why an Italian is so obsessed with 18th century Russian horror, but it's pretty effective. Sure, the makeup on the Russian zombie is a bit absurd, but that doesn't really matter. Some of the coolest stuff in this movie are just really old black-and-white euro-gore effects. I mean, that eye getting pierced. Hell, you barely saw any of it, but it was still distrubing as all get out. I have this an extra star since my initial review because it is actually good. You just have to watch the whole thing.
The thing about this movie is the context. I swore that I would never become my boss when it came to reviewing movies, but there is something to understand about this movie. The Satan thing was just launching and this really is one of those bizarre Satan films. The story doesn't necessarily make sense or follow any kind of Satan lore that I'm aware of, but sometimes you just have to ignore that for the general mindlessness that comes with these kinds of movies.
Normally, I'm not a big fan of this entire genre. The Touch of SatanMystery Science Theatre episode is the closest I'll ever really get to the Satan genre, but there's some real gem moments. However, the surprising part is the happy ending on this film. Bava ends up usually giving the dark and sinister vibe in his films and I'm not accustomed to seeing things end so positively. Now, I'm not saying that there's singing in this movie, but there's something going on that's more than just the basic downer ending and I can appreciate that (even though I get off on misery.)
Anyway, there's stuff to enjoy so I hope you snuggle up with some popcorn and enjoy some actual decent camp. -
MCT:May 26, 2008A masterpiece of horror. Visually stunning. The beautifully haunting presence of Barbara Steele stays with the viewer. Mario Bava's best film.
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MCT:April 29, 2008My favorite Bava film and one of the highest achievements in Italian horror films. Bava pays tribute to the Universal classics and puts his own spin on things at the same time.
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MCT:April 24, 2008Shocking. Promising opening scene makes way for laughable script, dubbing, acting, plot.......
Must not be taken seriously -
MCT:March 14, 2008Great Vampire Movie, Different then Most, but the again a Bava Movie. The Acting was great for 1961, A Barbara was hot. A Good rainy Storming outside movie, What was that, just the wind you say, ha. Add it to your collection.
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