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. 

ONE MILLION YEARS B.C.

Tumak (John Richardson) kills an allosaurus

ONE MILLION YEARS B.C. (1966). Director: Don Chaffey.

In this color remake of One Million B.C., which uses the same story more or less, Tumak (John Richardson) is thrown out of his prehistoric rock tribe and wanders around until he encounters Loana (Raquel Welch) and her tribe, the shell people. The shell people are a kinder, gentler tribe who could teach the rock people a thing or two, which they try to do with Tumak when they all go fishing with spears. The first "dinosaur" we encounter is a positively gargantuan real-life lizard who tries to make a snack out of Tumak, and then there's a giant stop-motion turtle that fails to impress. But FX wizard Ray Harryhausen really gets into his stuff with an attack on the shell people's camp by a hungry allosaurus, a marvelous sequence, as well as a battle between a T-rex (or ceratosaurus, which it resembles) and a triceratops, not to mention the pterodactyl that snatches Welch off of the beach and tries to feed her to the flying monster's young'uns. Despite the big improvement in special effects work since the 1940 version, this is not as compelling as the original, with Harryhausen's stop-motion effects work being virtually the only point of interest. Martine Beswick [From Russia with Love] has a lively "cat fight" with Welch. Mario Nascimbene's "epic" if sleepy score doesn't really do that much for the movie. Photographed by Wilkie Cooper. As the lovers, Richardson [She] and Welch [Fantastic Voyage] do what they can. A Hammer-7 Arts production.

NOTE: On the imdb.com page for this movie it is listed as a "goof" that a ceratosaurus fights a triceratops when these creatures lived in different eras of the prehistoric world. Considering this movie illogically puts human beings and dinosaurs in the same time period -- not to mention Raquel Welch as a cavewoman -- that hardly seems like a legitimate complaint!

Verdict: Some lively monsters in a disappointing remake. **1/2.

SHE (1965)

SHE (1965). Director: Robert Day.

In 1918, Leo Vincey (John Richardson), upon discovering that he looks exactly like an ancestor named Killikrates, journeys with his friend Major Holly (Peter Cushing) and pretty Ustane (Rosenda Monteros), to the lost desert city of Kuma in the "Mountains of the Moon." There they encounter the cruel, immortal Ayesha or "She" (Ursula Andress), who wishes Leo to join her in the flame that will give them both life everlasting. Holly and Ustane, however, recognize that Leo has fallen under She's spell, and is not acting the way he should. Who will win the battle for Leo's love, Ayesha or Ustane? Despite the widescreen and color, She is inferior to the 1935 original, although it, too, has some colorful and interesting settings, such as the striking entrance to the city. Andress [Dr. No] gives the weakest performance, but her looks and manner get her by. Cushing, Christopher Lee as a High Priest, and Andre Morell as the leader of a tribe of slaves, are excellent as usual. Like Andress, Richardson [Torso] certainly looks good -- he's like a cross between Troy Donahue and Guy Madison with a little Kerwin Mathews thrown in -- and his acting isn't bad, although Leo is a rather weak hero in this. Rosenda Monteros [The White Orchid] is lovely and very effective as Ustane, as is Bernard Cribbins as Job. The biggest problem with this Hammer remake is its slow pace. In the original film the lost city was in icy terrain but here it's in the desert. The best scene may be the slaves thrown into the fire pit.

Verdict: Not as much fun as The Mole People. **.

BLACK SUNDAY

Barbara Steele in satanic mode

BLACK SUNDAY (aka The Mask of Satan/La maschera del demonio/1960.) Director: Mario Bava.

This is the first film for which Bava was credited as director. The witch Asa (Barbara Steele) has a spiked mask hammered into her face and is entombed, but many years later some blood drips onto the mask and the witch is revived to get revenge on the descendants of those who destroyed her. Asa would also love to possess the mind and body of her lookalike, Katia (Steele, of course). Katia's brother Constantine (Enrico Olivieri) and doctor (John Richardson) do their best to foil the plans of the hateful and vampiric Asa. Although Black Sunday is a famous and influential movie it's still pretty mediocre, but is bolstered by the appearance of Steele with her distinctive, expressive and sensual face [but, who, sadly, is dubbed throughout] and by Bava's excellent cinematography. Like most of Bava's movies, Black Sunday is rich in atmosphere and has excellent settings, especially the castle where most of the action takes place, but it lacks tension and impact. Bava also directed The Whip and the Body/What three years later, but his best film is arguably Blood and Black Lace. 

Verdict: Everything Barbara Steele is in is interesting. **1/2.