Director: Massimo Pupillo (as Max Hunter)
Year: 1965
Country: Italy
Alternate Titles: La vendetta di Lady Morgan
Genre: Supernatural
Plot:
After marrying a complete stranger, a woman grows increasingly convinced that someone in the house is conspiring to drive her mad, and when it finally becomes apparent that they were trying to kill her off to save the family find her spirit comes back to haunt them in revenge.
Review:
This was a wholly effective and enjoyable Gothic Horror classic. Among the better elements within this one comes from the wholly dynamic and worthwhile storyline that allows the film to work incredibly well within the confines of the style. Using the initial setup of the first half to explore their relationship and why he would want to worry a person such as her comes together nicely enough so that when it does happen and they move to the house, the setup is rife with potential for exploring the kinds of Gothic sensibilities on display here. The cold treatment from the others and the generally ornate, elaborate house that everything takes place in provide the kind of location where the intricacies of the film come together, involving the whole thing being a ploy to use hypnosis and mind control against her.
That all lets the film move into far more dangerous territory with the reveal about the hypnosis turning into more overtly obvious attempts to kill her as the instructions become more obvious and intent on doing away with her. This involves some fantastic moments of her being hypnotized and led across the castle grounds to her death while surrounded by the traditional swirling fog-bank around the different areas of the house in a wholly fantastic reveal that sets up the strong second half involving the revelations about what’s been going on and the revenge plot kicking into high gear. With some fantastic ideas involving the ghost manipulating areas of the house against them to either alert them to its presence or turn everyone against each other as it launches into a series of double-crosses trying to keep their secrets intact, this is all fun enough for this genre and manages to bring together quite a lot to like overall.
There aren’t too many issues here holding this one down. The main aspect against this one is the film’s final few minutes, where it seems to present several different storylines together as it wraps itself up, presenting several ideas that are never explained. The flashback structure of everything is brought up with how she recalls the story to her lover, which comes out of nowhere due to the early setup involving the death of her beloved, which brought about allowing the marriage to go through in the first place. As well, several characters’ interactions regarding blood-drinking and corporeal resurrection are carried out, which is rather hard to explain logically, simply for the sake of adding in some shock effects it doesn’t really need in the moment, since it never explains anything. Combined with some rushed moments trying to get this to come together so it ends in something resembling a logical story, there are some factors here that bring it down.
Overview: ****.5/5
A standout and immensely impressive Gothic Horror outing, there’s a lot to like here, and only a few minor drawbacks present that there’s little keeping this from the higher realms of the scene. Those with an appreciation of the style, who enjoy Eurohorror of any kind or Gothic horror from that period, will have a lot to enjoy here, while only those turned off by these features should 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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