Weird even for a 70's Italian flick
lazarillo
I would probably not recommend this movie to anyone not already familiar with 1970's Italian genre films in general because even by the deranged standards of…
I would probably not recommend this movie to anyone not already familiar with 1970's Italian genre films in general because even by the deranged standards of those films, this film is very deranged. It's kind a combination of a giallo, an erotic sex flick, and supernatural Gothic horror film. The closest thing I can compare it to is Emilio Miraglia's "The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave" or Joe D'Amato's "Death Smiles at Murder". The director, Elio Panaccio, would go on to direct the more widely available "Exorcist" knock-off "Cry in the Darkness" (aka "The Possessor"), but this is probably the better of the two films. It's definitely the weirder.The almost completely non-sensical plot involves the death of an old man, who narrates the beginning of the film (up until he dies at least, at which point he is never heard from again). His heirs go to a mansion to hear the reading of the will where they are picked off one by one. The killer is a handsome stranger who seems to be connected to a mysterious "aunt", who is not one of the heirs, but is obviously related to the old man, and babbles something about a "family curse". The creepy male and female servants of the mansion also seem to be in on the plot, as does one female cousin who is close to the "aunt". There is a lot of space between the first murder and all the others, which all occur pretty much in closing minutes of the film. In the meantime though, there is A LOT of sex to keep the viewers occupied, and no real character development or dialogue to distract anybody.If you can deal with the random non-linearity of the plot, the movie does kind of capture some of the flavor of something like "Fall of the House of Usher" or "The Cat and the Canary", but it's mostly typical 1970's Italian nonsense. The only recognizable actor is American Camille Keaton. The lovely Keaton, quite regrettably, is the only actress who doesn't spend the majority of her screen time having butt-naked sex. She has only a brief nude scene where she meets a bizarre fate--the killer cuts her breast with a knife and sucks out some of her blood, which somehow results in her falling into a catatonic state for the rest of the movie (pretty much the SAME catatonic state she was in in her most famous Italian film "What Have You Done to Solange?"). I'd recommend this to hardcore Italian genre fans (and maybe to Camille Keaton fans), but it may not really appeal to anyone else.
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★ 5 / 10
Despite the cool title, a chore to sit through
melvelvit-1
As the patriarch of the Hilton clan lay dying, he predicts the family will soon destroy itself and the instrument of death will be his sister, Evelyn.…
As the patriarch of the Hilton clan lay dying, he predicts the family will soon destroy itself and the instrument of death will be his sister, Evelyn. Relatives all come together for a reading of his will and, before long, one of them is murdered with a medieval mace. The police are quickly called to the villa but once the killer is apprehended, the malediction comes to pass...
A lack of imagination and a very low budget can turn an unsuccessful blend of drawing-room murder-mystery, Giallo, and Horror into a chore to sit through despite a cool title. All the titular writhing that passes for passion in this confusing tale soon becomes tedious and, unfortunately in this case, there's quite a bit of it. The ostensible "inheritance scheme" plot line begins promisingly enough with old man Hilton waxing philosophic on his deathbed while, downstairs, the butler and maid have grope sex atop his empty coffin but it's all downhill from there. Most of the cast engage in some sort of soft-core coupling during the course of the movie and, since all of them are probably related in some way, it gives the goings-on the added dimension of a vaguely incestuous air. Ironically, the past-her-prime witch, Evelyn, is one of the few who isn't carnal (which is just as well) but why she hates her family and vows to wipe them all out isn't clear. One of the Hilton ancestors dabbled in cell alteration and Evelyn uses this discovery to change her niece, Ingrid, into a non-threatening young man who does her murderous bidding but the action comes too little, too late. The villianess isn't scary, the villa isn't spooky, there's no graphic gore, even less logic, and it all ends more-or-less the way it began with the butler and maid foreshadowing Riff Raff & Magenta in THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW. Connoisseurs of Eurosleaze may not be adverse to SEX OF THE WITCH but there's very little for Giallo, Horror, or Sexploitation fans to enjoy despite the presence of Camille "I Spit On Your Grave" Keaton and Gianni "Gore In Venice" Dei in supporting roles.
I reely wanted to like this, dammit.
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80%
AUDIENCE
4.3/10
612
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You boys are sad sad men.