Session: Italian Gothic Horror Month, Week 3
Movie: Horror (1963)
AKA: The Blancheville Monster
Directed by Alberto de Martino
As always, there may be spoilers here. And the trailer may be NSFW and/or NSFL.
Plot:
Emily Blancheville has returned home to find that much has changed -- the servants have all been replaced, her brother is now in charge, and her father has been horribly injured so he's been confined to some remote dungeon. Oh, also, her dad thinks that the only way to break a family curse is for her to die before her 21st birthday -- which is five days away. Hilarity ensues.
Reaction:
Before anything else, I note that the housekeeper is named Elenore. And every time someone called her name (which happened more times than one might think) my brain went off on a tangent, and I sang to myself, "Gee, I think you're swell. And you really do me well. You're my pride and joy, etcetera." But I suppose it's not fair to let that affect my judgement of the movie (for better or worse).
The opening sequence, a long pan of a forest in the rain, and it's stunningly beautiful. It's black and white -- as is the whole movie -- and has an almost 3D appearance. That set such a high bar, giving me such expectations that the rest of the movie couldn't possibly meet. Much of the movie was gorgeous, though, which is interesting given how cold it felt. The music, on the other hand, was overbearing which detracted. But overall there was a grippingly moody quality. The end -- the unmasking of the villain -- kind of reminded me of Scooby Doo.
The movie had a lot of allusions to Poe -- though admittedly some were subtle enough that I didn;t really catch them. Keith had to explain them after the movie was over. Of course, I'm not really fully conversant in Poe. I did love the whole buried alive part of the film -- even if it did lead to an annoyingly unexplained plot twist.
Overall, though, quite entertaining.
Ratings:
Me: 7.5
Christina: 9.3
Ethan: 7
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