The Doll of Satan

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.

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.

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.

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.