(1964)
Dir - Camilio Mastrocinque
Overall: MEH
Another Gothic horror movie inspired loosely as needed on the Carmilla novella by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, Terror in the Crypt, (La cripta e l’incubo, Crypt of the Vampire, Crypt of Horror), is one of a handful of Italian productions that Christopher Lee appeared in during the 1960s. Lee's non-villainous role as a Count who is afraid that his daughter may be possessed by an ancestor condemned as a witch, (naturally), is adequately prominent and thankfully his own voice is utilized alongside the rest of the American-dubbed Italian cast. Camilio Mastrocinque replaced the equally prolific initial director Antonio Margheriti and for a filmmaker more accustomed to comedies, he does a fine enough job going through the "creepy old castle, stark candlelight, decrepit tombs, women being helplessly afraid of everything and having nightmares" motions. Though it is well done for what it is and slightly less stagnant than most, the film's highly formulaic approach is ultimately its undoing as there were simply so, so many other movies almost exactly like it being made around the same time.
(1965)
Dir - Domenico Massimo Pupillo
Overall: MEH
The second of three low-budget, camp-fueled horror outings from Domenico Massimo Pupillo was the flashy-titled Bloody Pit of Horror, (Il Boia Scarlatto). The premise of an assembly of models and photographers stumbling across a castle to take advantage of the scenery for their photonovel, (a castle that naturally was long left abandoned with a convicted torturer called the Crimson Executioner sealed off in an iron maiden inside), is just adequate enough to hold the hilariously stupid plot together. Asinine dialog that only exists in the campiest of Euro-horror movies such as "His noble crusade against sin lives again through me!" flow as freely as Italian wine. We are also granted a four minute photo shoot sequence over a record skipping on the soundtrack, (no joke), which is enough to knock any fully conscious viewer into slumber land. For the most part though, it is so stupid and nonsensical that plenty of laughter can be had by the proceedings. The death sequences are equal parts arbitrary and elaborate, with a decked-out torture chamber and a random room full of wires attached to arrows with an adorable stuffed spider at the masked Executioner's disposal. It manages to stay sleazy without technically showing any naked body parts, but you will be far too busy laughing at the dialog, costumes, lack of logic, and needle-skipping soundtrack to really complain.
(1966)
Dir - Damiano Damiani
Overall: MEH
An adaptation of Mexican novelists Carlos Fuentes' Aura, the most Italian-named ever Damiano Damiani's La strega in amore, (The Witch, The Witch in Love, Strange Obsession), is a strange and frustrating psychological thriller. The Haunting's Richard Johnson leads the otherwise local cast as a man asking gallons of questions and getting one cryptic, non-answer after the other from two thoroughly bizarre women living in a giant, crumbling house in the heart of Rome. Everyone's behavior becomes increasingly agitated and baffling and because of that, the viewer never has a clue as to what type of relationship any of the characters truly have with each other. The score from frequent spaghetti western maestro Luis Bacolov plays an almost staring role at times and certainly enhances the strangeness in a few key scenes, namely random dance numbers and feral motion breakdowns. While some of this plays out in a creepy and odd enough manner to engage one's interest, twenty or so minutes could afford to be trimmed to keep the whole thing from seeming so wandering and aimless.
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