Horror Remake

 

 (imdb)

WEB OF THE SPIDER-1971-An American reporter Foster (Anthony Franciosa) meets Edgar Allan Poe (Klaus Kinski) in England and winds up making a bet to spend the night in a haunted castle. After investigating the place he meets two women, Julia (Karin Field) & Elizabeth (Michele Mercier). They don't seem to like each other. It's clear that something is going on. After Elizabeth seduces Foster, a man breaks in and seems to kill her. Foster shoots the man but his body disappears. Then Elizabeth's body also vanishes. While searching for the missing bodies, Foster meets doctor Carmis (Peter Carsten) who vanished years before. He proves through some apparitions/flashbacks that everyone in the house is dead. 

This stylish remake of NIGHTMARE CASTLE directed Antonio Margheriti (under the pseudonym Anthony Dawson) is good but I prefer the original. This was one of 10 films Klaus Kinski made in 1971.

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Italian Horror

 

 (imdb)

HORROR aka THE BLANCHVILLE MONSTER-1963-Emile DeBlanchville (Umbretta Colli; SNOW DEVILS) comes back to her childhood home and to her brother Roderic (Gerald Tichy; HATCHET FOR A HONEYMOON). Also with her are a brother & sister, John (Vanni Materassi) & Alice Taylor (Iran Eory). Things have changed. There's a new butler and a seemingly sinister housekeeper named Eleonore (Helga Line; later in several Paul Naschy movies). Later after the mysterious Dr. LaRouche (Leo Achoritz) shows up, Emily is exploring the castle at night and sees Eleonore injecting a needle into a deformed man. She faints and Rod convinces her it was a dream. Later Emily is traumatized by strange dreams and is chased by an ugly with a cross. Then she's buried alive! 

Typical but well-done Italian Gothic horror by director Alberto Di Martino (HOLOCAUST 2000).

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 (wikipedia)

The Last Poe

 

THE TOMB OF LIGEIA-1965-Local strange guy Verdon Fell (Vincent Price) mourns the passing of his young wife Ligeia (Elizabeth Sheppard). He develops an affliction toward sunlight and wears sunglasses a lot. After a fox hunt near Ligeia's tomb he meets Rowena (also Sheppard) who he eventually marries. The cloud of Ligeia's death hangs over their strange marriage. When Fell regresses Rowena to a child by hypnotism she begins to talk in Ligeia's voice. Then she has a weird dream where she's attacked by a cat and embraced by a dark figure. Fell acts weirder and weirder. Apparently though dead Ligeia (whose body was not buried but resides under the castle) still has a kind of necrophiliac spell on Fell. After Rowena seems to die from a cat attack, Fell burns Ligeia's body but she returns.... or does she?

This was the last of the Corman/Price Poe adaptations (written by Robert Towne). It was filmed in England and features more outdoors scenes than other projects. It's not bad but for me it's the weakest.

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Dr. Hichcock

THE TERROR OF DR. HICHCOCK- (THE HORRIBLE DR. HICHCOCK)-1962-Dr. Hichcock (Robert Flemyng) is a brilliant if detached surgeon who has an unusual relationship with his wife (Maria Teresa Vianello). He drugs her so she appears dead then has sex with her (not shown). She seems to have no objections. One night he gives her too much of a dose and she dies. He leaves their home. 12 years later he returns with his new bride Cynthia (Barbara Steele). After they hear a bloodcurdling scream, his sour puss housekeeper Martha (Harriet Medin) informs him that her sister is living with her but the next day she's going away because “she's quite mad”. On her first night in the old house Cynthia sees a ghostly apparition and hears footsteps. After a night at the opera doc is called away for an emergency at his clinic. His young assistant Kurt (Silvano Tranquilli) sees Mrs. H home. She wanders around in the fog and hears a voice say she will die in her bed. Martha rescues her but she finds a skull in her bed and faints. Meanwhile the doc loses his female patient and feels those old necrophilia come ons. When Cynthia wakes up the skull is gone. Peering through the keyhole into the hall she sees someone wearing white boots just like the dead Mrs. Hichcock. Hubby doesn't believe her because at one time she'd suffered a breakdown after her father died. At night the stupid doctor leaves his wife home alone so he can do the nasty with his dead patient but he’s caught not quite in the act by Kurt. When Cynthia sees Martha emerge from a secret door behind a mirror she investigates and discovers Martha’s mad sister is still around. Later Hichcock sees a ghostly apparition of his first wife playing the piano and moving around the house. The pervert decides to drug Cynthia and play screw the corpse but they don't seem to be alone. The next day when Kurt notices some suspicious scratches on his boss’ neck, Hichcock tells Kurt he believes his wife is paranoid and delusional. Kurt’s not fully convinced. The doc decides to do away with his wife by giving her a poisoned glass of milk. But she tricks him and takes the contents to Kurt. He has it analyzed and finds it full of poison. He hurries over to rescue Cynthia who's hung upside down by her hubby because now apparently his first wife is still alive and he wants to rejuvenate her using Cynthia’s blood.  “Kill her. Kill her. Then there will be only me”. Kurt arrives and while fighting with his boss sets the place on fire. Hichcock falls out a window and Margaret burns up. Kurt carries Cynthia to safety. 

This has the usual gothic feel of the Italian horror films being made around this time. Director Riccardo Freda's (CALTIKI, THE IMMORTAL MONSTER) name was changed to Robert Hampton for the English versions. Many stories abound concerning the production including who was responsible for the necrophilia story line and how long it took to shoot (14 days seems to be the consensus though!). There is also a story that lead actor Flemyng (from England) had read a script without the necro-angle and when he found out about it he tried to get out of making it. 

Barbara Steele was filming Fellini's 8 ½ at the time and took 10 days off from that production to make this.

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