Lo spettro (1963)

User Rating:

5.8/10   

Director:

Riccardo Freda

Writers:

Oreste Biancoli (screenplay)
Riccardo Freda (writer)

Release Date:

30 March 1963 (Italy)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

Horror... sharp as a razor's edge!

Plot:

A woman and her lover murder her husband, a doctor. Soon, however, strange things start happening, and they wonder if they really killed him, or if he is coming back from the dead to haunt them. |

Plot Keywords:

Haunt | Murder | Doctor | Perversion | Straight Razor

Cast

Barbara Steele	...	Margaret Hichcock
Peter Baldwin	...	Dr. Charles Livingstone
Elio Jotta	...	Dr. John Hichcock (as Leonard G. Elliot)
Harriet Medin	...	Catherine Wood, Housekeeper (as Harriet White)
Carol Bennet	...	Woman
Carlo Kechler	...	Police Superintendent (as Charles Kechler)
Umberto Raho	...	Canon Owens (as Raoul H. Newman)
Reginald Price Anderson	...	Albert Fisher

Also Known As:

Lo spettro de Dr. Hichcock
The Ghost (USA)
The Spectre

Runtime:

97 min

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Norway:15 | Sweden:15 | USA:R

Company:

Panda

Movie Connections:

Follows L'orribile segreto del Dr. Hichcock (1962)

suspenseful and atmospheric film, with some occasional well placed shockers

I recently watched this film, which was part of a 10 pack horror collection that was put out by Brentwood. Unfortunately the source print for this dvd was a print that was in terrible condition, and barely watchable.

The first thing that struck me about this film was the music. Even during the opening credits I was watching the credits carefully to see who the composer was, half expecting it to be Ennio Morricone, (which it wasn't). If the music wasn't enough to hook me completely, seeing Barbara Steele on the screen, whom I immediately recalled from "Black Sabbath" definitely made me want to continue watching this film, bad print and all.

The setting of this film is a gloomy Scottish mansion, around the turn of the century. The young wife (Steele) of the creepy, crippled and rich Dr. Hitchcock, conspires with her handsome lover, to murder her husband. Her lover happens to be her husbands physician who is treating him by administering a lethal poison which is immediately followed with the antidote. Needless to say they decide not to administer the second part of the treatment one day and are able to fulfill their burning desire to be together, happy ,rich and rid of the husband. Unfortunately for them, things don't quite work out so well, and things begin to unravel during a succession of supernatural events that take place after the murder.

While this is a fairly predictable plot of greedy people being punished from beyond the grave, the director manages to create a suspenseful and atmospheric film, with some occasional well placed shockers. I thoroughly enjoyed this film and would love to see an uncut well preserved print of it.