Something Creeping in the Dark

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.

Small horror film which deals with the closed circuit in a haunted house theme. During a tempest night, some car drivers are constrained to shelter in an isolated mansion in the countryside, lured by some kind of Prospero's spell. There is a couple of jaded socialites on their way to a feast, Donald (Giacomo Rossi Stuart, La Notte che Evelyn usci dalla tomba) and his wife Sylvia (Lucia Bosé, La Controfigura), who despises and dominates him. There is Spike (Farley Granger, La Rossa dalla pelle che scotta), a dangerous murderer, who has just been caught by the inspector Wright (Dino Fazio, the producer of the film) and the detective Sam (Franco Beltramme, Il Dolce Corpo di Deborah). There is a pair of doctors on their way to handle an operation, Williams (Stelvio Rosi aka Stan Cooper, Il Gattopardo) and Susan (Mia Genberg, Silenzio si uccide). And the philosophy professor Lawrence (Francesco Lavagnino, the music composer of the film), who seems to know well the area.

All are received by the butler Joe (Gianni Medici aka John Hamilton, Le Notti della Violenza) and his girlfriend (Giulia Rovai), who try in vain to discourage them to stay in this house. Because it was the property of the defunct Lady Sheila Marlow, whose photo portrait (picture of Loredana Nusciak, Folle à tuer) stares at them in the lounge. Having a sulfurous fame, she was an adept of occultism and black magic, accused of having killed her husband, and finally she died in mysterious circumstances.

Excited by this thrilling mood, Sylvia organizes a medium seance to recall Sheila's spirit, but after a disturbing lightning, a threatening presence becomes to "creep in the dark", putting the guests under its influence. And it's like the inhibitions of civilized life vanish to free the instincts and the secret desires of each one, revealing their own truth. Indeed the film is not quite extraordinary nor specially original, but he manages to perpetuate the suspense and to bring the spectator during all this long night until dawn.

This rather obscure film is one of those giallo-like chillers with supernatural attitudes. This time, the threatened people are gathered in a house that seems to be haunted by a ghost.

It's a strange and fairly low-budget film that manages to keep one interested and thrilled thanks to some haunting atmosphere and creepy moments, yet it doesn't quite leave one gasping for breath. The only disappointing thing is that its finish comes too abruptly. Nevertheless surely worth to watch.

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.

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!