Director: Francesco Degli Espinosa
Year: 1975
Country: Italy
Alternate Titles: Giochi erotici di una famiglia per bene
Genre: Slasher
Plot:
After finding his wife having an affair, a man who disposed of her supposedly dead body becomes tormented by the idea that she's still alive once he moves on with a new lover and brings his niece to live with him, which escalates the events further than he wishes.
Review:
This one wasn't all that bad of a horror/thriller. What really tends to work well for this one is the efficiency of how it goes about setting up its central plot line, managing to jump right in with the central idea of this one quite early on. Right away we get her adulteress behavior and then getting caught, only to then jump straight from that into the intended burial after her getting drugged and taken out onto the lake which is all handled quite quickly in here. The resulting aftermath of the event and his quick-rising guilt over the event becomes all the more effective with these taking place so quickly and moving the film along, as well as generating the necessary thriller elements that are much more in vogue here, as this one plays with those far more than it does true horror elements, with the full-blown concept of him going mad and being haunted by the hallucinations of her returning. The scenes of her watching the two of them making love to each other, popping up to talk to him at random intervals in his life, or continually calling the niece on the phone and conversing with only her make this a somewhat creepier tale than what would be expected in such a thriller.
That's where the main impetus of this one falls into, which can make this one feel quite underwhelming, as it's constantly waiting for something horrific to happen that doesn't really show up as the main focus on him losing his mind, which is far more in keeping with that line rather than the horror thread, so a vast majority of the film plays off on those tangents rather than anything more thrilling or chilling. Once it gets to the final reveal and the whole planned outcome of everything coming to fruition for both parties makes for a slightly more engaging time here with the double reveals and twists on display makes for quite a better time here once it's gotten past the thriller storyline for the rest of the film. It really makes for a better ending than expected here, which is quite an enjoyable element that holds this up somewhat.
Overview: **.5/5
A somewhat bland but appealing horror/thriller, there are some worthwhile features on display here that manage to get overwhelmed to the point of uselessness compared to the other factors within here. Those with an interest in this style or approach to the genre will have the most to like here, while most others out there 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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