Director: Massimo Pupillo (as Max Hunter)
Year: 1965
Country: Italy
Alternate Titles: Il boia scarlatto; Il castello di Artena; A Tale of Torture; Crimson Executioner; Some Virgins for the Hangman; The Castle of Artena; The Scarlet Executioner; The Scarlet Hangman; Virgins for the Hangman
Genre: Torture Slasher
Plot:
Arriving at an ancient castle, a group of models and their publisher, putting together a magazine photo shoot with the reluctant owner, try to conduct business around his schedule, but when they start disappearing fear the stories about The Crimson Executioner have come back to torture the group.
Review:
This was an incredibly entertaining surprise. Among the best features is the film’s mixture of approaches, where it takes a combination of Gothic overtones with some modernized forms of torture and cruelty. The setup works well enough to generate that kind of setup where the modeling group arrives looking to start getting pictures for their covers and the hesitation that comes through with trying to get the owners to grant them permission is a great way to give this some background information on everything while it gives us a chance to look into the setting of where it all takes place. The castle and its interior are gloriously Gothic, the furniture is covered with spider-webs and dust, and the walls are adorned with all sorts of creepy torture apparel that makes this come together rather well.
Another really enjoyable aspect is when the film goes to the castle's dungeon, where the variety of torture devices is stored. One device is a wooden pylon upon which are tied two women as razor sharp blades scrape their cleavages and tear off slivers of black brassiere in a series of close-ups of their nearly naked bodies as the pylon rotates. As the blades slice away clothing and draw blood, the feverish joy in the experience is quite evident when he feverishly pounds the blades deeper and deeper as the women writhe in agony. Another is tied to a gigantic spider web as a bizarre, mechanical arachnid closes in, and the traps along the webbed floor make it nearly impossible to reach them. This is perhaps one of the best scenes in the film, and it is one of the singularly most creative torture methods ever.
That's not to include the other torture methods as well, including the fire-pit, couch of burning coals, boiling oil, and several other incredible torture devices. Most of the film's final half-hour contains these moments, and they make up just about all of the film's greatness. It's such a fantastic series of brutality that has a manic sense of life and energy to it that makes it so interesting since it's also so brutal and primitive, giving it an even bigger sense of dread, as it's designed to inflict pain and suffering. This also manages to throw in a little bit of giallo instincts in the film, where men tend to be killed quickly and women are killed only after they have endured extreme agony. Lastly, the Crimson Executioner is actually a pretty imposing villain. He dons a black eye mask, a red skull cap, a golden medallion, and red leotards. Along with the bare chest and the insane behavior, he creates someone fantastic and memorable. All of these make this film all the better.
This one doesn't have a whole lot wrong. The only real flaw is the overt sexual overtones in the film that might turn some off with how backwards the mentality exposed here is. This is mostly predicated on the fact that it spends so much time on The Crimson Executioner's naked, oily torso as the movie gives us his muscular form to contemplate, under the belief that we will derive pleasure from looking at his naked chest and his skin-tight leotards. He watches himself in a mirror as he rubs oil on his torso, his chest heaving in orgasmic delight at his own touch, where the constant inferences to the purity of the body against the spiritually and physically inferior, this really manages to distort its intentions and themes. His speeches come off as if he’s the embodiment of the real executioner, but yet is a deluded maniac that has no connection, or is he possessed to carry it out, so it feels rather awkward when it's explained in one throwaway sequence at the end. However, this is the film's only real flaw.
Overview: *****/5
A really enjoyable tale that offers up a little bit of everything, this is a rather great entry that manages to work together quite a few intriguing elements that shouldn’t work together, but it does here. This is perfect for Gothic horror or European fare from this time period, or even those who enjoy a little sadism and torture in their films, while most others might want to heed caution.
This review is part of our ongoing series of reviews for Italian Horror Month, every November on the site:
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