Apr 14, 2023
Horror (The Blancheville Monster, 1963)
"Emilie will recover soon if we help her, you'll see."
"Not in this gloomy castle, never. Emilie needs to feel young, that's her illness. But here everything is old: the furniture, the walls, the people. Everywhere, even in the air that you breathe, there's an omen of death."
#horror#the blancheville monster#horror: the blancheville monster#horror imagery tw#italian cinema#1963#alberto de martino#giovanni grimaldi#bruno corbucci#gérard tichy#leo anchóriz#ombretta colli#helga liné#irán eory#vanni materassi#paco morán#emilia wolkowicz#harry winter#carlo franci#gothic horror#producers plastered Edgar Allan Poe's name all over this‚ presumably to try and tie it in to Roger Corman's contemporary Poe cycle with#Vincent Price (popular in Italy) but i don't think this is taking anything from Poe's work other than loose inspiration. as indebted to the#earlier Universal horror films as it is the Corman ones‚ at least in spirit‚ this is a fun bit of gothic nonsense which works hard to try#and overcome its intense budget limitations: some external models of the castle are frankly pathetic but the real castle stuff is pretty#good (but pity those poor actors‚ shooting in a real castle interior; it was so cold that their breath was often visible and they had to#try and mime dialogue without exhaling). it all ends up going in a fairly obvious direction but it's not without fun moments even#if the direction is somewhat uninspired and the cast lacks a big personality to draw focus. cheap and cheerful but maybe only#for italian cinema freaks (like me ig)
