Something Creeping in the Dark

Well, I'm a massive fan of Italian horror; particularly Giallo and Gothic horror, so I was looking forward to this given that it's meant to be a sort of cross-over between the two. However, my hopes were dashed as Something is Creeping in the Dark is one boring and poorly made film! I spent an hour and a half watching this film, and yet I really have very little to say about it. The plot is wafer thin and simply focuses on the idea of a bunch of strangers being holed up in a spooky old house for the night. However, they're not the only ones there are some ghostly presence is there too! That's it really. The attempts to build up the characters and their relationships all fall flat, and all that is left to admire is the atmosphere; which isn't exactly anything to write home about as it's a carbon copy of the atmosphere in any number of similar films and director Mario Colucci fails to bring anything new to the table. The film was obviously made on a low budget and there certainly is worse films out there - but I seriously can see no reason to bother tracking this oddity down as there's many, many better films out there too!

Strom rages and there is flooding.A group of strangers is stranded in a creepy looking house in the middle of nowhere.Among them are homicidal maniac Spike played by Farley Granger,beautiful and heavily drinking wife Sylvia(stunning Lucia Bose)and her husband Donald,two police inspectors plus professor,doctor and his nerdy assistant.The house is owned by mysterious butler Joe.During the séance the spirit of former owner Sheila Marlowe is summoned and people begin to die possessed in the dark...Mario Colucci's "Something Creeping in the Dark" is an obscure Italian horror flick with several truly weird and eerie sequences.I loved all the clocks running in the house.The score by Francesco Lavagnino is superbly moody and there is plenty of violence but almost no nudity.The plot is disjointed and hard to follow,but if you are in the mood for some rare Italian chiller give Mario Colucci's slow-burner a look.7 séances out of 10.

Arriving at a countryside mansion, several strangers and police detectives holding a criminal are forced to stay with the eccentric hosts of the house and find themselves playing deadly games with each other than expected and makes for a far more dangerous stay as the guests turn up dead.

This one wasn't all that bad of an effort. One of the more engaging aspects of this one is the rather enjoyable atmosphere created throughout this one which gives this quite a lot to like. Employing the Gothic standouts in the atmospheric location and setup of the house, from the elaborate decorations, furnishings and general old-school air featured with the layout of the house structured up on a remote hilltop filled with the flair featured here. From the cloth drapings, candlelit rooms and raging thunderstorm in the background, they give this the same type of atmosphere and suspenseful air that continually appears in the older Gothic horror fare just before this one was released and eases the film into the eccentric behavior from the hosts rather well. As the first initial meeting between everyone is to offer up an orgy between them all signals, their rather bizarre behavior and straightforwardness showcasing all manner of sexual shenanigans give this a generally depraved ambiance that matches the Gothic trappings rather nicely. This also ties in nicely with the idea of the paranoia and sexual frustration that plays out here with the general air of sleaziness usually featured that manages quite a lot to like with how all the jealousies lead to pent-up rage and murder. Even as the events in the night continue, from the constant enforcement of the supernatural presences in the house which causes everyone to go crazy or the various murder guises that occur which merely add to the paranoid already featured throughout here and readily enhances this one significantly that gives it enough to hold itself out over it's few minor issues. The main problem here is the film's somewhat staid and glacial pacing that really does lower this one quite a bit. Barely anything happens at all for large portions of time as this one tends to remain wallowing in Gothic tropes for the vast majority of the time and doesn't really bring anything out of the incredibly fun atmosphere presented. This one is generally much too interested in its paranoia amongst the cast to really lift itself out of the doldrums as it moves along at a somewhat steady pace that might be considered way too slow for some to really enjoy all that much. As well, the other problem here is the rushed and nonsensical finale that brings everything to a head in a much too rushed manner as a result of the pacing setting up atmosphere over it's pacing so the film just ambles along throughout the main storyline then blazes through the final five minutes to pay it all off which leads to a truly bland effect. These are all that hold it back, though.

Rated Unrated/R: Violence, Full Nudity and Language.

Yeah, that also would have been a great title! Slightly too long, perhaps...

As customary for Italian horror movies from the era late-60s and early 70s, this one struggles with an identity crisis. There simply were too many profitable concepts back then, and writer/director Mario Colucci either can't decide what he wants OR hopes to cash in on all of them at once. As a result, his film is partially Gothic horror, but simultaneously has Giallo aspirations, and blends in occult & supernatural elements. Usually, these horror sub-genre stews end up being a complete mess, but in case of "Something is Creeping in the Dark" it all works out surprisingly well!

I loved this movie straight from the cool opening sequences, with various cars on a forsaken road that pass or cross each other and the screen that atmospherically freezes to display the names of cast and crew. Eventually there are eight eccentric characters who find themselves isolated in a storm and cut off from civilization because either the bridge collapsed, or the roads are flooded. It's rather weird, though, because there isn't a drop of rain or a whistle of wind noticeable. They seek refuge in a spooky old house with an even spookier caretaker, and only there they realize what an odd bunch of characters they are. There's a married couple that hate each other, a duo of policemen that just captured a fugitive murderer, a mysterious professor, and a surgeon with his geeky assistant. Oh yeah, the caretaker also hides a naked girl in his bedroom. The wife of the unhappy couple suggests an orgy - that's what you do when you're stranded with strangers, right - but they prefer to hold a séance to call out to the spirit of the deceased female house owner instead.

You won't ever hear me say the script of "Something is Creeping in the Dark" makes much sense, or that it's a compellingly realistic fright tale, but Mario Colluci does manage to keep it interesting, entertaining, and occasionally even suspenseful. The séance, for instance, is effectively sinister and our director also makes excellent use of the creepy mansion and its scenery. The walls of the room where most of the action takes place are full of clocks. When they are all ticking together, and the crowd is silent, it has a rather scary effect. When all the clocks collectively stop ticking for no apparent reason, it has an even scarier effect. The build-up towards the finale is also very well-handled, and even though the ending itself is ridiculously basic, it worked for me! Not a great or highly recommendable piece of Italian horror, but fun to watch.

I originally bought this movie thinking it would be a giallo, which it is not, though clearly it is informed by such. It is actually an old- fashioned Old Dark House type of film. A motley band of characters are forced to assemble in an old creepy mansion on a dark and stormy night.

Farley Granger is fabulous as a murderer, held captive by the police (the Police Inspector is great, too).

A seance evokes what is evidently a ghost, and then spooky happenings ensue. It's the kind of a movie where everything seems creepy, but then not much actually happens. There are some acts of violence, even killings, but it's no gore fest.

Go into it expecting heaps of atmosphere and not much else.