Murder Obsession

I would take some of the other reviews about this film with a pinch of salt - it's not that amazing and it's not that gory, at least in the version I saw under the title "The Wailing". I also suspect a bit of cheating must have occurred to get it the 5.8 rating.

On to the film... It starts with some brilliant music, the sort you used to get in the early 80's horror films. This made me excited for what was to come, but sadly it seemed to go downhill from there. The problem with The Wailing is that it is confusing and the plot meanders too much. There's some dream sequences that go on for so long you forget they are actually dream sequences. Random scenes seem to be thrown together with no connection. There's also a serious lack of lighting, making it even harder to understand what is happening. It reminded me slightly of Lucio Fulci's "The Beyond" because of the meandering plot.

It does have some good points though. As mentioned, the music is great and gives it a real horror 'feel'. However they used it too much; it almost plays through the entire film and gets tiresome after a while. The atmosphere is quite good, and had the plot been more coherent this could have been a really atmospheric horror flick.

This really isn't worth seeking out unless you're a fan of Italian horror, even then you can still do much better. The UK VHS cover is cool though - I'll give it that.

My review was written in June 1986 after watching the movie on Wizard video cassette.

Riccardo Freda, doyen of Italian horror film directors, attempts to moderate his approach (with mixed results) in "Fear". Reviewed here for the record, feature was made in 1980 with various alternate titles including "Unconscious" and "Murder Syndrome"; it is now available domestically on video cassette.

Stefano Patrizi portrays a film actor who is haunted by nightmares and daydreams relating to having witnessed in childhood the murder of his dad. When he and a film crew visit his mother's home in the country as part of a location-hunting trip a series of grisly murders occurs.

Freda includes hints of various fantasy elements here, ranging from black magic to an invisible kirlian-effect killer, but essentially this is a gothic murder mystery dressed up with modern sex & violence. Key plot element emphasizes the too-close relationship of Patrizi and his mother, played by former sex symbol Anita Strindberg. More recent sex stars Laura Gemser and Silvia Dionisio are on hand in various stages of undress as Patrizi's leading lady and girlfriend, respectively.

Tech credits other than the subpar dubbing are fine and Franco Mannino provides a pleasant musical score emphasizing classical themes. Even for the horror genre, Freda's gloomy ending is a bit much.

If I had a time machine, I would prefer going back to the early 80s, especially 1981 and '82, which were the heydays of Horror. The time was one of the most splendid phase of the slasher and zombie genres and we certainly have enough of those films to revel upon. As I look down to the slasher genre, I see there were many that came out victorious and instantly garnered a decent cult-following. Some others were not so effective then, but found audience in course of time and certain others are still waiting for the right audience to get famous. I think 'Fear' aka 'Murder Syndrome' falls in the 3rd of the aforementioned categories.

I got a copy of 'Murder Syndrome' under the name of 'Fear' in 1994. Being a devoted fan of slasher and giallo, I keep digging the heap of such films to discover something precious. I love slashers, but only when they're accompanied with a sound atmosphere. 'Fear' has everything for a slasher buff like me. It's a great giallo with a twist of supernatural, some edgy psychological dilemma, effective dark humor, gore, nudity and a gruesome atmosphere. So you can choose what you want. Wake up man, It's 1981....What did you expect? Budget wise, the movie has a low profile, but the presence of a big Victorial-era mansion, lush outdoor locations combined with some good acting make 'Murder Syndrome' nifty. Freda seems to have invested his mind heavily in the plot that unfolds very rudely. The ending is almost a surprise and will leave you in shock. I think this was an experiment of mingling two alternate endings and surprisingly, both of them are nicely written.

Michael (Stefano Patrizi) is a successful actor. He has everything to be proud of; name, fame, and a beautiful girlfriend Deborah (Silvia Dionisio). During the weekend break, Michael decides to pay a visit to his mother Glenda (Anita Strindberg ), who lives in a palatial house, somewhere far away from the urban locale. Michael takes Deborah along, as he wants to introduce her to his mother. On the way to his home, Michael gets distracted with some flashes of events from his dark and forgotten past. Finally they reach their destination and are greeted by Oliver (John Richardson), the house butler. Michael meets Glenda but it seems she is living a secluded and lonely life. Deborah feels Glenda is acting suspicious, but she doesn't have anything against her. In the meantime a filming crew with director Hans (Henri Garcin) and 2 actresses Shirley (Martine Brochard) and Beryl (Laura Gemser) arrive at the mansion for Michael's latest movie shoot. The guests are given a cold reception by Oliver, who seems to be very superstitious. Once they settle inside the spooky mansion, strange events begin to occur. Beryl faces a murder attempt, where a strange figure with black gloves tries to drown her in the bathtub. Michael's behavior with Deborah begins to change when Deborah tells him about her dream, where she witnessed a black mass and a strange over-sized spider trying to devour her. Deborah emphasizes that she had been a part of the mass, but she isn't able to recall the exact time of the event. Then Beryl is torn open with a hunting knife, right beside the river bank. Hans manages to capture some snaps of the killer, but before he is able to disclose the killer's identity, he is brutally hacked to death with an Axe. Deborah and the Shirley are looking for some clues, when they accidentally stumble upon Hans' camera and some of those nasty snaps. However, Shirley gets killed by a chainsaw as she is in the photo lab trying to develop the prints. Deborah is left with no other option but to run for her life. Deborah runs across the estate and into the woods only to be stopped by Oliver, who may have some hints about the strange events going on in the mansion.

'Fear' is a great film with some of the great moments that left a deep impression in my mind. I keep this very close to me because it acts as a great hallucinogen for me. When I call it a 'hallucinogen', I mean to say that it is able to push you into a dream world, where you won't be able to differentiate between the real and imaginary. The acting is cut above most of the slasher films that oozed during the 80s. This is a smart and intelligent film from Freda and should be watched for what it is!

Follia Omicida is the original title of this Italian horror. Typical for Italian flicks is the use in other countries of different titles which makes it all confusing. And not even that alone. Now out on DVD and Blu Ray before that it had two versions out on the same label. It came out on Wizard Video on a T-90 cassette. That was the normal release but it also had a big box release on a T-105 cassette. That was the fully uncut version.

From there things go awry for the flick. In the UK it was released as The Wailing. But is was missing 2 minutes. The Wizard release came out under the title Fear and the Greek and Venezuelan videotapes bore the original English export title Unconscious. An alternate Greek release had Satan's Altar. Not only all those different titles and releases made it hard to know which one was correct. It also was released in English and Italian with subs.

The Blu Ray and DVD version now out is even full of mistakes (even the score is changed) so I can only advice to catch the Wizard big box release (with the Italian credits).

All that cleared out it's a weird flick. It has giallo elements but also has a few cheesy moments when for example the black mass scene where we see a big spider and a big spider web as fake as it can be. It also has a few eery moments and a lot of nudity.

Laura Gemser is in it and the first second she appears in this flick she's undressed. And one scene she's even does a full frontal nudity. There are also a few gratuitous nudity shots involved in a forest.

The story itself I can't really explain because it has so many elements of different genres. Michael (Stefano Patrizi) an actor invites his girlfriend to his remote country house. There they will have a on-location shoot. But Michael has a bad backstory which he remembers clearly at the house. His mother is possessive and Michael starts a incestuous relationship with her. But from then on once the crew is at the country house murders abound and all girls have nightmares of a black mass.

Having a lot of nudity it is for an Italian flick low on red stuff. It was Riccardo Freda's (the director) last flick. Sergio Stivaletti made his first special effects here in his first flick to move further to Demon (1985) and other Argento gialli. In the uncut version we can see the work of Sergio by an axe going into a head and a slashing and of course the mutilated body of Laura Gemser.

A collectible flick for so many reasons although it isn't really a good flick due the different elements and not knowing what it really wants to be.

Gore 1/5 Nudity 2/5 Effects 2/5 Story 3/5 Comedy 0/5

Michael is a successful actor,but he has a scandal in his past:it seems that at a tender age he knifed his father to death.He and his girlfriend Deborah go to his mother's for the weekend and are joined by the director and others from a recent film project,who are given a rather unwelcome reception by the superstitious housekeeper Oliver.Soon ghastly things begin happening to some of the guests and Michael fears a repeat of his nightmare past is in progress.The vicious black gloved killer is preying on its victims."Murder Obsession" is perhaps the sleaziest offering of Riccardo Freda to date.It features plenty of nudity provided by Silvia Dionisio,Laura Gemser and Anita Strindberg.This often confusing giallo provides some gruesome killings including death by chainsaw and laughably fake spider attack.There is also a Black Mass,a live chicken beheading,a grubby rape scene and some random gore.7 out of 10.