The Doll of Satan

With a cob-webbed plot creakier than Miss Marple's bowling shoes, and a deliciously Scooby Doo'd twist, director Ferruccio Casapinta's audacious hybrid of Gothic black-gloved giallo, and pulpy Edgar Wallace castle-set calamity proves to be a bit of a camp classic in spite of itself! While nowhere near as phantasmagorically perverse as, Polseli's 'Black Magic Rites!', or Bianchi's sleazy 'Satan's Baby Doll', it has a engagingly skewed Gothic vibe many Euro-schlock seekers may find irresistible! Distractingly perky blonde Elizabeth Ball Janon (Erna Schurer) inherits a forbidding castle estate worthy of Frederick Usher himself, and even before the delectable Schurer has sinuously slinked into her slinkiest of nighties, some sinister, castle-creeping creep has slipped poor Elizabeth a mickey, and she suffers the most terrible visions, her S&M tormented think sponge begins to soak up all these saucy shenanigans as some prototypically elusive Giallo misfit attempts to surreptitiously snuff out all the guests; but just who is the shadow stalking snuffer, and what exactly might their murderous agenda be?

'La Bambola Di Satana' aka 'The Doll of Satan' is a wickedly warped, captivatingly kitsch whodunnit, while ultimately a little tame, its satanic nature, no less diminutive than petite scream dream Schurer, but Ferruccio Casapinta's swinging sixties, ominously outlandish, pop-gothic mystery, with its en suite, fully loaded torture chamber, hot and cold running lunatics, 24hr meth lab, conveniently located burial plots, and tantalizingly torrid terror plots guarantees your shuddersome stay in the hysterically horror-haunted Ball Janon castle will be a far from uneventful experience! Beguilingly steeped in kinky atmosphere, this endearingly quirky 60s Italian creepshow is certainly not without its charming eccentricities, and the fabulously funky, ear-wormingly groovy score by Franco Potenza is one of the more maddeningly compelling aspects to Casapinta's vastly underappreciated, sweetly sadistic Gothic fantasy.

(1969) The Doll of Satan/ La bambola di Satana (In Italian with English subtitles) THRILLER/ MYSTERY

Co-written and directed by Ferruccio Casapinta that has a young man being scolded by a servant, Edward (Manlio Salvatori) and then by governess, Miss Carol (Lucie Bomez) for bringing groceries late before some place else viewers see an old man being dragged away. We then see a niece, Elizabeth Ball Janon (Erna Schurer) coming to visit to a castle after finding out she is the last remaining relative after her uncle's recent unfortunate departure. At this point viewers are oblivious how he died, he is just is. And coming along with Elizabeth is her fiance, Jack Seaton (Roland Carey) and a couple of friends of theirs of Blnache (Beverley Fuller) and Gérard (Giorgio Gennari), and a friend of the family, Mr Shinton (Domenico Ravenna). Meanwhile, Elizabeth already got a buyer interested into buying the castle as he has a villa next door, his name is Paul Reynaud (Ettore Ribotta). And sometime during the night, Elizabeth's drink gets spiked so that she can get assaulted by the unknown intruder, viewers often wonder how come her fiance is not sleeping in the same room with her. Living in the castle with them is mentally disturbed, Jeanette (Teresa Ronchi) and a painter, Miss Claudine (Aurora Batista).

I agree with one reviewer who said it was like watching a Scooby Doo cartoon, but only some parts of it since the ending ended up with the bad buy wearing a mask that happened in many of the cartoons, and that their was a reason for the main bad guy for wanting to own the castle that has valuable minerals that is buried underneath it. But spiking a lady's drink with the bad guy continuing to assault her would not be like the cartoon at all and the nude scenes of Elizabeth;s breats. And for some weird coincidence both were released on the same year, except that "The Doll of Satan" was released months before the first Scooby Doo cartoon had aired.

A courageous french dvd editor released this early rare giallo from 1969, and it's a nice surprise, a blend of moody giallo (black-leathered masked criminal, sexy Erna Shurer, tough Roland Carey, jazzy psychedelic score, moody photography, light erotic scenes), of gothic (light torture scenes) and pure amateurism. Yes amateurism, the director is completely unkown, the fabulous documentary on bonus tells us it is the director of photography Francesco Atteni who really directed, but he was a very minor technician with few movies in his filmography, like there were so many in Italy. Even if this "Bambola di Satana" hasn't got the level of early giallos by Mario Bava, Romolo Guerrieri (with Caroll Baker), Umberto Lenzi (again with Caroll Baker, unforgettable) or Emilio Miraglia, it still suits for giallo fans.

Elisabeth visits the ancestral castle for the reading of her late uncle's will.But the legend of the castle's ghost is only one of her problems-she starts having disturbing erotic nightmares and is abducted by a hooded figure who imprisons her in the torture dungeon.These vivid dreams are in fact nightmares and not a carefully stage-managed reality designed to drive her mad or to her death.Her boyfriend Jack suspects that someone is after her inheritance and begins his own investigation...Very colorful and atmospheric Italian giallo set in a medieval Italian castle with catacombs and torture devices.The killings are very tame and bloodless,there is a black-gloved killer stalking his victims and a little bit of soft eroticism.The wolves howling outside in the dark add a lot to the atmosphere.8 out of 10.

Better movie than I would have expected. A plot that is all in all decent and decently managed. There has been a bit of action and fear in this mystery story that has what it takes to carve out its niche of fans.