The Ghost Review

8/10

Barbara Steele is literally the queen of Italian horror, and this 1963 classic is another prime example of that point. Directed by Riccardo Freda, the film tells the story of greed, murder, and a revenge that one would have nightmares about. This movie is shocking, gruesome, and a great gem that is overlooked by many. 

As the film begins, we meet Margaret and John Hitchcock.  John is a doctor, and he is bound to his wheelchair. Margaret is having an affair with John's doctor Charles Livingstone, and she wants to get rid of John. Charles is very hesitant, but Margaret convinces him to let her go through with it. Charles then gives John a lethal injection, and he dies.  I really found this scene to be painfully sad, because John really did love Margaret, and he was completely helpless. 

As the film continues, the two lovers try to make the death of John seem as natural as possible, and we then see the will being read.  Charles and Margaret then look for the fortune of John's, but they cannot find it.  Regardless of this, the two of them believe that they're off the hook, but they were very wrong....  Even though these scenes are extremely slow, I could tell that things were really going to get good, because small occurrences started to happen occasionally.  

The actual paranormal scenes are very crazy in my opinion, and even though they're quite simple, I still found a lot of terror in them. The way that John's body comes back and haunts them was just done so well, because he had such a sluggish quality to the way he moved, and his face was cold as ice. I really feel that rather than the hauntings being physical, that the paranoia coming from the guilt of murdering him created these thoughts and images, which made them go crazy. Along with my experience of watching "An American Haunting"(which I already reviewed), I became very enlightened on what the reality of ghosts really is. 

Outside of the parts revolving around paranormal activity, there was some other scenes that contributed to the freakiness of the movie. What really gets to a viewer is the way the cinematography gets close ups of things so they become frightening. One of the greatest examples of this is the scene where Margaret is in the basement, and she sees a bunch of skulls.  The greatest virtue of what the filmmakers did was that after the shots of the skulls, the viewers get to see the reaction of only Steele's eyes, which gives a very raw depiction of fear. 

Another thing that I loved about this film was the cast. To start things off, it stars Barbara Steele, whom is slowly becoming one of my favorite actresses in the horror genre. She gives such a great performance in the sense that she can be very dark, and can give a very convincing portrayal of paranoia.  Peter Baldwin was also great as Charles Livingstone, because he was very stern, and often angry because of the darknesses in his life. "The Ghost" John Hitchcock was portrayed by Elio Jotta, and he was extremely fit for this role. His voice has such a haunting tone to it, and he went from a helpless old man to a powerful source of evil very proficiently. 

The climax of this movie was absolutely INSANE!  I couldn't believe how far things got, and the murder of a main character completely blew my mind.  The way it was done was so perfect too. Instead of just normal gore, the blood actually splattered on the screen, and there was a lot of it. I think it might have been one of the coolest kills in horror history because of its innovative technique, and the brutal emotions that were portrayed. 

The ending of the movie was very masterful and shocking. In these last few minutes, we see what really happened to Dr Hitchcock, and we see the insanity of Margaret hit a peak.  I love how sudden the ending is, because it doesn't add stupid fluff to ruin it.  It brought so many questions to my head, and I think that flow of imagination is the greatest result of a horror movie. 

PLEASE CHECK THIS MOVIE OUT FOR YOUR OWN GOOD. It is such an underrated and amazing movie, and it truly shocked me at many points. While some parts are mildly slow moving, they only do this for the build up, and I promise you that you won't be let down. 

Nightmare Castle Review

8.5/10

"Nightmare Castle"(aka "The Faceless Monster) is a 1965 Italian gothic film that was directed by Mario Caiano.  It starred horror legend Barbara Steele, and it is one of her most remembered movies. It was extremely shocking for its time, and I found it to be one of the coolest B-Movies ever.

The film starts off showing the unhappy marriage between a scientist named Dr. Steven Arrowsmith and his wife Muriel.  Muriel walks into Stephen's lab as he is working, and he becomes angry with her. The scene then skips forward a little bit, and we see the affair of Muriel and her lover. The two of them seem extremely happy, but then Steven takes them both, and a chain of brutal horrors begin.  I really feel that this beginning was fast moving, and that the supposed build up was almost immediately.  Regardless, these scenes of torture were quite shocking for their time, and there is a surprising amount of bloodshed. 

After the hearts of Muriel and her secret lover are removed from their bodies, Steven marries Jenny, this institutionalized sister of Muriel.  He does this because Muriel's will was only giving to her, and he wanted some of the money.  Jenny tries to be happy in the house of Steven, but she begins to go crazy again because of terrifying nightmares she has.  While this plot line isn't really an original, it truly gives a lot of mystery that really makes the viewer wonder about what is going to happen. 

One of the great positives of the film is the cast. Barbara Steele was truly the real deal in Italian horror films, because she had so much depth in her performances. This is shown to a great extent in this movie, because she plays both Muriel and Jenny. The thing that I really love about this is that she never failed to confuse me as to which character she was acting as.  Paul Muller was also quite amazing, because he was extremely dark, and he gave off the vibe that something was up the entire time.  Laurence Clift was very likable as Dr. Dereck Joyce, because he had the best interest of helping Jenny, and would do anything to help her figure out what is wrong. 

I love this paranormal elements of this story a lot. The taking over of bodies makes one heck of a shock, and I feel that for 1965, it was a pretty innovative plot twist.  All of the actors conveyed these possessions very well, because you almost forget that they aren't themselves, and it's very freaky. After the possessions, the actual bodies even come back, and it is quite amazing how haunting the once peaceful Steele suddenly became.  In fact, the last fifteen minutes of the film created one of the craziest endings ever, because all hell broke loose, and a plethora of outrageous and gory occurrences take place.  This is the absolute perfect climax to a horror movie, and I am utterly impressed in every way. 

I definitely recommend this film to any fan of the classics, because it has the perfect amount of shock value to make you go wild.  While some parts were arguably slow, they really help the build up for complete hell, and they're easy to look past.  There was also great performances by everyone, especially Steele, and it was just one heck of a fun movie.