MURDER OBSESSION

Nightmare sequence

MURDER OBSESSION (aka Murder Syndrome/Fullia Omicida/1981). Director: Riccardo Freda.

Michael Stanford (Stefano Patrizi) is an actor who hasn't seen his mother, Glenda (Anita Strindberg), in quite a few years. He comes to her castle -- where she lives with a majordomo named Oliver (John Richardson of She and One Million Years B.C.) -- for a visit and invites a few of his colleagues: the director Hans Schwartz (Henri Garcin); his assistant Shirley (Martine Brochard); a leading actress named Beryl (Laura Gemser); and Michael's girlfriend, Deborah (Silvia Dionisio). Apparently Michael killed his father, William (also Patrizi), a famous conductor, when the latter was beating his mother. Michael spent time in an institution and remembers little of the incident. But even he wonders if he is responsible when someone starts assaulting the people in the castle with definite homicidal intent.

Stefano Patrizi and Laura Gemser

Murder Obsession is one of those schlocky Italian horror psycho-shockers with way too much thunder and lightning, an obnoxious synthesizer soundtrack (except for the classical music which provides moments of blessed relief), bad overwrought dubbing, and a convoluted plot line with zany twists, one of which you can certainly see coming. There is a dream sequence for Deborah that seems absolutely endless and features spiders, bats and monks (and which turns out to not be entirely a dream), and at one point some poor soul gets a chainsaw in the throat. The final scene -- invoking the Pieta -- is suitably macabre, but otherwise the movie is not memorable. Riccardo Freda also directed The Ghost and Caltiki, the Immortal Monster, among others; both films are much better than this one.

Verdict: Throw in a castle and some gore and you've got a movie. *1/2.