Director: Lucio Fulci
Year: 1988
Country: Italy
Alternate Titles: Il fantasma di Sodoma
Genre: Ghosts
Plot:
Taking a trip through Paris, a group of American students stranded in the countryside find shelter in an abandoned villa only to realize the location house a secret Nazi hideout and the ghosts of those killed in a bombing raid are killing them off forcing the group to get away alive.
Review:
There's more to like with this one than expected. One of the better elements here is the rather impressive atmosphere created which isn't anywhere near what could've been yet still works well enough here. The massive home, from the elaborate rooms to the kitchen and various lounging areas which by themselves offer a distinctive setting yet when combined with the ever-present Nazi imagery and regalia left lying area gives this some nice atmosphere.
By staying in this kind of creepy location, the ghost action has plenty of great work here as not only does the first encounter where the soldier appears and proceeds to slap her around and spread the blood around on the body start this off nicely, but the idea of them realizing they're trapped which includes the circular vehicular gag but the phone trick and the utterly suspenseful card game which may go on a bit too long but scores the best suspense in the film due to the stakes at hand.
In addition to the fun factor here, the film also works in some rather enticing sleaze and exploitation featured, as the opening shots of the Nazi party drinking and doing drugs with topless prostitutes while being filmed by a video camera starts the film on a positive note. The continuous lesbian dalliances are just as good with the topless figures tempting and seducing each other, and with the continuous scenes of the girls walking around topless or showing the ghosts tempting them, this creates some fine sleaze. As well as the fine gore when appropriate, these hold the film up over it's few flaws.
The main issue here is the fact that the ghosts aren't in the slightest bit threatening as they really don't have much direct action here. The fact that they have them legit trapped inside where they can't get out is a fine setup, yet once they do this they have very little direct contact with any of them and what little of that is there is spent instead on playing elaborate card games or teasing them, which doesn't bode well for those wanting them to be more involved in haunting the group. As well, the clumsy manner of how they get trapped there is somewhat off, and along with the cheap nature of the whole affair old this one down somewhat.
Overview: ***1/2/5
A rather enjoyable outing even with a few minor issues, there's some entertaining elements featured here which manages to really make this quite fun if you're into it. Give this a chance if you're a fan of the creative crew involved here or are interested in this kind of Eurosleaze, while those that aren't into these kinds of efforts should heed caution.
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