The Doll of Satan

A beautiful blonde (Erna Schürer) inherits her uncle's castle outside of Rome, but the governess (Lucia Bomez) insists that he intended on selling the property and various characters pressure her in this path. She's hesitant while strange things start to occur, such as ghostly happenings and satanic nightmares. Her beau (Roland Carey) smells something fishy.

"The Doll of Satan" (1969) is Italian Gothic horror and could fit in the giallo category. It was helmed by a one-shot director, but the star said it was the assistant director who did the work on set, describing the director as an "idiot who couldn't do anything." As the story progresses, a few James Bond-isms manifest, which are eye-rolling, but at least they stir up amusing interest. The two main female stars are arguably the main highlight, along with the authentic castle setting. There's some tasteful nudity involving blonde Erna, which some versions block out (like the one I viewed).

I was disappointed by the overwrought story though. Despite the entertaining bits and entertaining histrionics, it failed to absorb me. For superior Italian/Spanish horror from that general time period, see "The Devil's Nightmare," "Murder Mansion," "The Vampires Night Orgy" and "Count Dracula's Great Love," all of which were released between 1971-73. As with "Murder Mansion," parallels can be drawn to Scooby-Doo. This production even features a dog in the cast, but it actually came out a few months before Scooby-Doo debuted.

Despite the title and some of the advertising stills, it isn't an occult-oriented movie, like "Devils of Darkness," "The Witches" (aka "The Devil's Own") or "The Crimson Cult." Also, it has never been dubbed into English, so English-speakers who don't know Italian will have to settle for subtitles.

It runs 1 hour, 30 minutes, and was shot at Castle Borghese in Pomezia, which is a dozen miles southwest of Rome; as well as Pratica di Mare and in Abruzzo.

GRADE: C.

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.

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.

After inheriting her family's castle, a woman struggles to believe a family legend about her barbaric ancestors coming back to haunt her, which is being played up by her relatives to allow them access to uranium deposits underneath the castle, and must race to stop their plans.

This was a massively dull and barely worthwhile genre effort. Among the few positives to be had here is the film's use of bridging together the kind of storyline that links Gothic horror and giallo together. The central premise here about her returning home only to be confronted with the strange killer provides the kind of setting that brings about glorious Gothic horror shenanigans only utilized too frequently at the start of the decade with the proceedings bringing about family curses, long-held secret relations, a family with a dark, tragic past, and putting the whole thing into a multi-tiered Gothic castle. The first half of this one, with the arrival at the castle and the series of explanations looking at the different aspects of the family legacy coming back to haunt them, makes for a great case, tying into that environment where we get to see the whole thing taking place in a glorious Gothic castle. With some hints along the way that something is targeting her, from the visions of hooded figures trying to kill her or the series of revelations that take place in the finale, it all comes together well enough to have some positives. Outside of that, though, there's just not much here to work with. That's mainly due to the utterly bland and just absolutely lifeless storyline at play here, where it's not geared at all for genre thrills in any regard. The film tends to spend most of the running time explaining what's going on in long, drawn-out conversations around the castle where they tend to spew out the background information on the family curse and how it starts to affect them that are just dull and lifeless to sit through, and the repeated nature of this tactic to explain why she's returned and how everything comes together don't help much. That there's far more of this kind of activity on-screen than any kind of genuine genre shenanigans, whether it be the stalking scenes of the hooded killer looking to keep the whole thing a secret, and there's just nothing interesting happening for so long because of these scenes that it becomes quite difficult to get through. On top of that, with the film suffering from a slew of technical issues that range from lackluster gore, the way-too-bright castle that looks good but zaps the tension, and a series of bad day-for-night shots to show off how cheap it is, these are what hold this down.

Today's Rating/R: Violence, Language, and Brief Nudity.

Italian gothic horror/suspense, written and directed by Ferruccio Casapinta (his sole directing credit). Elizabeth (Emma Costantino, here as 'Erna Schürer') inherits a castle in the Italian countryside following the unexpected death of her uncle. When she arrives she meets the house administrator/former assistant to her uncle, Miss Carol (bespectacled hottie Lucie Bomez), who informs her that shortly before his death her uncle had decided to sell the castle, and that Paul Renaud - the owner of a neighbouring villa - had expressed an interest. Miss Carol also tells Elizabeth that the castle is said to be haunted by an ancestor, who can sometimes be heard in the night calling for his lost love - who was also called Elizabeth. Although initially reluctant to sell, a series of seemingly supernatural events - including the ghostly calling of her own name at night - begin to change Elizabeth's mind, as well as cause her to start doubting her own sanity.

Although promoted as a horror, an anonymous, black-gloved killer also hints at the giallo wave to come. The location (actually two real castles near Rome) and sets are fantastically atmospheric, and the supernatural happenings and visions are pretty effective. Some of the dialogue is a bit clumsy, although that may be down to the English subtitles. And the fight choreography is weirdly inconsistent, with one character who's 'ordinary bloke' one minute, suddenly able to fight like a cross between Douglas Fairbanks and Jason Bourne (I was expecting some reveal to explain this, but no). But the cast are pretty good, one death towards the end involving a dog and an implement of ancient warfare is pretty damn awesome, and saying Emma Costantino and Lucie Bomez are easy on the eye is a criminal understatement.

This would make a fun double-bill with The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave. Some topless nudity. 7/10.