Horror

This is an early Italian Gothic concerning the Blancheville family , as the daughter, Ombrella Colli, of an insane count returns her home to pay a visit, being accompanied by her boyfriend : John Taylor and his sister : Iran Eory. At the mansion they are received by a doctor : Leo Anchoriz, the grumpy housekeeper : Helga Line, the butler : Paco Moran and finally her brother : Gerard Tichy. But this count is turned nutty, fearing his daughter will fall victim of an ancient curse that has plagued his family throughout centuries, the reason for he wants to kill her and to be sacrified to fullfil the eerie legend.

A terror movie with chills, thrills, creepy scenes and plot twists. Interesting script from Giovanni Grimaldi, Bruno Corbucci, Natividad Zaro, being freely inspired on Edgar Allan Poe novels as The fall of the House of Usher . The plot is plenty of surprises, terror moments , ghastly atmosphere with thunder and lightning, twists and turns. One of the first Italian horror, this time in co-production with Spain, that's why it is full of Spanish actors as Leo Anchoriz, Iran Eory, Gerard Tichy, Paco Moran, Helga Line, while the Italian ones are the unknown Ombrella Colli under pseudonym Joan Hills and Matterasi as John Taylor.

This coproduction is financed by Spanish producers : Alberto Aguilera, Natividad Zaro and Italian as Italo Zingarelli. It displays an evocative cinematography with gloomy atmosphere by prestigious cameraman Alejandro Ulloa who photographed the classic Horroe Express . Shot on location in San Martin de Valdeiglesias (Madrid) where several terror films have been filmed, specially Paul Naschy/Waldemar Daninski movies. Furthermore, thrilling and frightening musical score by Carlo Franci and uncredited Piccillo. The motion picture was well directed by Alberto de Martino. He was a prolific artisan who wrote and directed during the 60s, 70s, 80s ordinary genres of the Italian B series as Peplum : Invincible Glatiator, Triumph of Hercules, Seven Spartans. Eurospy : Operation Lady Chaplin, Upperseven, OK Connery . Macaroni Combat : Dirty Heroes. Thriller, Giallo and Poliziesco : The insatiables, The Counselor, Rome versus Chicago, Puma Man , The Killer is on the Phone, Magnum special for Tony Saitta . Spaghetti Western : Django shoots first, 7th Cavalry, 100 000 dollars per Ringo. Terror : Antichrist , Holocaust 2000 and Horror.

A young, beautiful blonde, her best friend from college with her brother and an admirer of her blonde beauty reach "home," the stately residence of the famed and fabled Blachevilles. Upon arriving there, we meet the brother Roderick, a scary looking housekeeper that seems to possess a station way above her ranks, and a doctor that oozes something not closely related to charm. It seems that all the old servants have been let go and that the patriarch - the father- has recently died - or not? I liked this film for several reasons. If nothing else it has atmosphere. The castle used is an impressive set. The black and white cinematography accentuates the rooms of the castle, a huge family tomb, grounds swirling with fog, and a lot more. We have a huge organ being grinded out in a few scenes in classic horror classic fashion(say that fast five times). The story and the "monster" are nothing fantastic at all, but the film works because the artful direction is able to build suspense. Now, if you are the type of viewer that needs a lot of action, then you really must stay away as this film is more talking and all red herrings(in what turns out to be a not all that clever mystery of who is the Blancheville monster). There is some rather preposterous story about an ancient curse on the family that will die off when the last female(?) descendant turns 21 - utter rubbish. But it is incidental when one looks at the way the film was filmed, and the pace slowly creeps up from slower to slow and then finally fast at the end in the revelation of what has lain cloaked the whole time. This was an Italian production with lots of Spanish influence(much of the cast is Spanish). The actors are all decent and able to make you believe in them at times. This is by no means a great horror film, but it, as other reviewers have noted, is in the same vein as a Roger Corman movie of the same period or a black and white Hammer film. This is the Euro version with no big stars but a decent story and lots of mood.

This is a dubbed Italian horror film that takes place in 1884 France. Emily has just come home to the huge spooky family castle after finishing school. With her are her fiancé John Taylor and his sister Alice. At home she discovers her father has died and her brother is in charge with all new servants and a suspicious doctor. Then there are screams in the night, a disfigured monster roaming about and a family curse that threatens Emily.

It doesn't make a whole lot of sense but it works. This is they type of horror film they used to show late at night on local TV stations. There's no nudity, sex or swearing and very minor blood and no gore. It takes place in a beautiful and very eerie castle drenched with atmosphere. The black and white photography only helps and there are even a few dark and stormy nights thrown in! This isn't really scary but it is lots of fun. The kind of horror movie to watch late at night with the lights off and some popcorn handy. I give it a 7.

The opening sequences show both titles ("Horror" and "The Blancheville Monster") neatly after each other, as if the distributors couldn't really decide which of the two was better and/or more appropriate. They should have just called it "The Blancheville Horror"... Problem solved! Anyway, that was totally irrelevant. I'm more and more becoming a fan of director Alberto De Martino! He's been making good horror movies consistently from the early 60's until the mid 80's, yet he never received the respect and appreciation that other Italian directors did. This stylish and severely underrated picture came out alongside loads of other Gothic horror movies and, although not as brilliant as, say, "Black Sunday" or "Kill Baby…Kill", it's a hugely atmospheric and powerfully compelling chill-tale with an overall decent script and convincing set pieces. Only a couple of days prior to her 21st birthday, a beautiful girl travels back to her wealthy father's castle, accompanied by her new lover and best friend. Upon arrival, her brother informs her about the tragic incident that supposedly killed her father and how he got madly obsessed with the legend of the Blancheville family curse. But the new arrivals notice that there are a lot more strange things going on. Why have all the servants been replaced? Why is the brother so nervous about the girl's upcoming birthday? And, most of all, who or what produces those creepy screams at night in the castle's darkest tower? "The Blancheville Monster" offers pretty much all the elements you're looking for in good Gothic horror, including eerie thunderstorms, scary black-caped monsters, ominous vaults and tight costumes that supply the female cast members with impressive cleavage. De Martino does a great directing job, spreading the suspense equally throughout the whole film and the finale – albeit not too hard to predict – is formidably tense. Unlike any of Mario Bava's Gothic horror movies, "The Blancheville Monster" will not haunt your nightmares, but for fans of classic horror it's definitely worth seeing.

I had no idea what to expect from this one, but it turned out to be Italy's response to the Roger Corman Edgar Allan Poe films, and it's actually pretty good.

In late 19th century northern France, lovely Emily De Blancheville returns to her ancestral home from finishing school to find that her brother has sacked the entire staff and all the new servants are creepy. Worse yet, her father – whom she had believed to be killed in a fire – is actually alive but hideously burned and criminally insane, and locked up in the tower. Her brother explains that there is a curse on the De Blancheville line, and their father believes that the curse can only be broken if Emily dies before her 21st birthday, which is coming up so close that they've already got the castle bedecked with festive balloons. Well, to make 89 minutes short, the father escapes and pretty soon Emily is in for a bad time of it.

What I liked about this film: It's produced by "Llama Films", which has to make a person smile. The leading ladies are all lovely, and Emily's little peekaboo nightie is extremely flattering (yeah, yeah, I know, men are pigs. Oink, oink). The location and sets are amazing, with real castles and genuine ruins (it's so cold, even indoors, that you can constantly see the actors' breath). The monster's makeup seems to be some kind of Kharis mask, Italian style. The dialog is priceless, if a tad wordy ("You will follow me, Emily. To your tomb. To your death. To die. To die. To die. To die"). Have I mentioned it was produced by Llama Films? Oh, and the brother ("Roderick", what else) is played by a guy who looks like Vincent Price. At least, in the context of this film. There are a lot of other shenanigans, with a doctor who is not what he appears, a housekeeper who is exactly what she appears, a premature burial, et al, but I don't like to give away too much of the plot. Sometimes, you have to just let the film run its course and try not to think about what it all means for months, or even years.