Steele

 

 (imdb)

THE GHOST-1963-In Scotland 1910, wheelchair bound and sickly, Dr. Hitchcock (Elio Jotta) conducts some weird seances while his younger wife (Barbara Steele; in Fellini's 8 ½ the same year) and his doctor Livingstone (Peter Baldwin) plot his demise. After they kill him, some strange things happen and a key they need to open a safe is entombed with hubby. They get the key but they see hubby several times. Is it his ghost? Everybody dies in this well-made thriller by Riccardo Freda (THE HORRIBLE DR. HITCHCOCK) only hampered by atrocious dubbing.

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More Steele

TERROR CREATURES FROM THE GRAVE-1965-Attorney Albert Kovac (Walter Brandi) visits the castle of Jaromus Haup on behalf of his partner Joseph Morgan who received a letter from Haup. At the castle Kovac meets Haup's second wife Cleo (Barbara Steele) and Haup's daughter Corinne (Mirella Maravidi). Kovac is informed by Cleo that her husband could not have written the letter because he's been dead for a year! Kovac hangs around long enough to fall in love with Corinne and investigate some murders with a local doctor (Alfredo Rizzo). It seems all the witnesses to Haup's death (he fell down the stairs) are dying in strange ways. It also seems that Haup, who was dealing in the black arts and resurrection of the dead, is still alive (they find his coffin empty) and that the supernatural is involved. It's discovered Haup wants to bring back the plague to kill his adversaries! 

Although we never see any creatures, clocks tick, hearts in jars pound and coffins open. Director Massimo Pupillo made the much wackier BLOODY PIT OF HORROR the same year but this movie doesn't credit him. He was unhappy with the final results so producer Ralph Zucker is credited as director! 

1965 was a busy year for Steele who also made NIGHTMARE CASTLE, THE DOCTOR AND THE DEVIL, THE LONG HAIR OF DEATH and an episode of TV's SECRET AGENT.

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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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Bava and Steele

BLACK SUNDAY-1960-This was Italian horror master Mario Bava's directorial debut. In 1630, Asa Vajda (Barbara Steele) along with her lover Javuto (Arturo Dominici) is about to be burned as a witch, condemned by her own brother. Before this happens she lays a curse on the brother and all his descendants. Then a spiked metal mask is nailed on to her face! Two hundred years later, two doctors are travelling to a medical conference. Dr. Kurvanjan (Andrea Checchi)) and his younger assistant Andre (John Richardson, later in ONE MILLION YEARS B.C.) stop to investigate the tomb where the burned witch was buried after their wagon breaks a wheel. Kurvanjan kills an attacking bat but some of his blood drips into the tomb. Later they meet Katia (also Steele) who lives with her father Prince Vajda (Ivo Garrani) and her brother Constantine in a near by castle. Of course they are related to the ancestors of the witch and even have a haunting painting of her hanging over a fireplace. Revived by the doctor's blood Asa contacts Javuto to kill the old prince who saves himself by brandishing a cross but seems to lose his mind. A servant is dispatch to fetch Dr. Kurvanjan but instead the creepy Javuto picks him up and takes him to Asa's tomb where he becomes her slave and promptly goes to the castle and kills the prince. Andre investigates when Kurvanjan and Javuto plan to kidnap Katia and use her blood to revive Vajda! Andre teams with a local priest to try and stop Vajda's evil plan. And when the poor prince returns to life and tries to drink his daughter's blood Javuto throws him in the fireplace! Vajda pulls a switcheroo that almost causes Andre to kill Katia but torch bearing villagers led by priest prevail and once again burn the witch.

Before this Bava's only work as a director was un-credited but he was a cinematographer on many productions before and after BLACK SUNDAY (which he also photographed). Bava packs the film with lots of eerie scenes and macabre sets.

This film made England born Barbara Steele a horror icon. The next year she went  to American and co-starred in Roger Corman's THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM with Vincent Price and was on an episode of TV's ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS. She returned to Italy to make THE HORRIBLE DR. HITCHCOCK and other horror films (and Fellini's 81/2...). It's based on a story by Russian author Gogol.

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Well Shivers My Timbers!

SHIVERS (THE CAME FROM WITHIN)-1975-David Cronenberg's first feature is about medical transplants using a parasite as a substitute. It's very talking, badly acted, ineptly directed and unintentionally funny. All the characters seem creepy and/or deranged.

After a scientist kills a woman and burns her with acid, Dr. Roger St. Luc (Paul Hampton, a TV actor and musician) investigates the murder and discovers the scientist's weird experiments. His nurse is played by Lynn Lowry (from THE CRAZIES, which this seems influenced by) who has a nude scene. Most of it takes place in a trendy high rise apartment building. The parasite infects its victims and sends them into bizarre sexual frenzies. ("I'm hungry for love" proclaims an infected fat woman)

Barbara Steele (she was in CAGED HEAT the same year) gets infected while taking a bath and seduces a female neighbor. Another TV actor Joe Silver (also in Cronenberg's RABID) has the bloodiest death.

Well Cronenberg certainly got better!

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The She Beast

THE SHE BEAST-1966-A newlywed couple (Barbara Steele & Ian Ogilvy) has their honeymoon interrupted when their car crashes into a Transylvanian lake. An ancient witch-monster is resurrected in Steele’s place and proceeds to kill all the relatives of the town she cursed vengeance on many years before. John Karlsen plays the bow tailed eccentric Count Van Helsing who lives in a cave and reads about the monster’s earlier demise (shown in flashback). He convinces Ogilvy that the only way to save Steele is through an exorcism. The monster (played by a man) looks like a frightening version of Grandmama from TV’s THE ADDAMS FAMILY! There is some intentional humor but I’m not sure the car chase toward the end is supposed to be intentional or not! Mel Welles plays a slimy owner of the inn where the couple stays.

Barbara Steele of course became a star cult actress with her roles in several Italian horror movies most notably Mario Bava's BLACK SUNDAY and NIGHTMARE CASTLE (she’s also in Fellini’s 81/2). Fans should be warned though. She only appears in the first 20 minutes and the last 10!

Ian Ogilvy was in debuting director Michael Reeves next two movies THE SORCERERS (which starred Boris Karloff) and PATHFINDER GENERAL (which starred Vincent Price).

Unfortunately three films would be Reeves' entire output as he died of an accidental drug overdose at 26 in 1969 while preparing to direct THE OBLONG BOX.

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