Maniac mansion

Despite its hoary silent-era plot, this is a nicely atmospheric minor chiller from Spain. Actually, it's as much a mystery-thriller as a horror pic, having some stylistic elements in common with the Edgar Wallace series, but the spooky mansion and cemetery sequences would not be amiss in a Margheriti or Corman classic. The director and art director fill the screen with significant details and the brooding color cinematography is suitably eerie, if a mite garish (it was the 70s, after all). The cast is attractive, particularly Lisa Nardi, who's quite a dish in shiny leather jacket and tight bellbottoms; unfortunately, it looks like a few nude scenes were clipped for the American release. There's no gore to speak of, nor much Rollinesque artiness, just good old-fashioned gothic chills. Definitely worth a look for connoisseurs, but not quite a "keeper".

This minor and bargain-bin budget entry in the "travelers gathered in creepy mansion" genre is surprisingly good and effective.

A bunch of characters wind up spending the night in a Gothic home near a cemetery, where legends about the undead abound. The film isn't very adept at introducing us to these people in a way that makes it clear who they are and how they're related to one another, but the only thing that's important anyway is that one of them is the wealthy wife of a dissatisfied husband with serious daddy issues and a history of nervous breakdowns. She's convinced that she saw a giant man dressed as a butler joined by an old woman lurking in the cemetery, a story that the hostess is only too happy to corroborate with her own tales about the dark and eerie history that surrounds the place. People start dying, a couple of the more curious house guests suspect that something's afoot and go investigating, and there you have your movie.

By the time the film is over, it's more mystery than horror movie, but it's fairly cleverly plotted for the kind of movie it is, and it does manage to effect a couple of genuinely creepy moments. Keep in mind that this is super low budget obscure cinema we're talking about here, so everything is relative, but within that narrow definition, this film isn't half bad.

Listed at IMDb as "Maniac Mansion," but the version I saw was titled "Murder Mansion."

Grade: B

1972's "The Murder Mansion" aka "Maniac Mansion" is a coproduction between Spain ("La Mansion de la Niebla" or The Mansion of the Mists) and Italy ("Quando Marta Urlo dalla Tomba" or When Marta Screamed from the Grave), exterior shooting outside Madrid, impressive fog shrouded interiors on Italian sets. A rather protracted opening with five people in three vehicles engaged in a spot of highway chicken before the narrative thrust centers on Analia Gade's Elsa, whose wealth is the only thing that binds her to faithless husband Ernest (Alberto Dalbes). Hard drinking Porter (Franco Fantasia) picks up comely hitchhiker Laura (Anna Lisa Nardi), only to lose her to motorcyclist Fred (Andres Resino), while Elsa's attorney Tremont (Eduardo Fajardo) and wife (Ylena Samarina) insist on a late night journey through a treacherous fog that finds all six stuck together in a desolate mansion near an abandoned cemetery. The owner is a beautiful young woman, Martha Clinton (Evelyn Stewart), relating tales of how a series of vampire attacks drove off all the local villagers, and how her own grandmother (whose portrait hangs above the fireplace) died with her chauffeur in a car crash 30 years earlier. None of this sits well with an increasingly agitated Elsa, who first met Fred and Laura while running away from specters approaching through the mist, the apparent ghosts of the long dead duo. We also see flashbacks to Elsa's student days, jealous of her father's affair with a schoolmate and still harboring a certain incestuous resentment that eventually plays out in unexpected fashion. Before that climactic burst there's atmosphere to spare but little spark until the final third, when Fred's opportune snooping reveals a haunting being conducted with tape recordings and a number of disguises, but who's doing it and why? A distinct lack of real supernatural forces may prove a letdown for first time viewers, but on this occasion patience has its reward with plenty of corpses piling up in the final reel. Better known in Italy as Ida Galli, Evelyn Stewart was no stranger to Mario Bava, in both "Hercules in the Haunted World" and "The Whip and the Body," then a costarring role opposite John Drew Barrymore in "War of the Zombies," while German-born blonde Ingrid Garbo contributes some eye candy in an almost naked cameo that can't compare with her fanged femininity in Paul Naschy's "Count Dracula's Great Love" (as Elsa's elderly father, Jorge Rigaud was just coming off "Horror Express," opposite Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing).

Lost in a sudden, thick fog, various motorists end up stranded at the MANIAC MANSION (aka: THE MURDER MANSION) for the night. Weirdness ensues, with lumbering specters and the apparent absence of geographic location.

Once inside the manor, things get even more odd, when the travelers meet Martha Clinton (Evelyn Stewart) who spins tales of local vampirism and ancestral witchcraft. There's also her giant chauffeur lurking about the grounds! Just where have these people wound up?

MM is a wonderfully creepy movie, with the perfect setting. There's a cemetery right outside, and labyrinthine catacombs beneath the sprawling estate.

Filled with an atmosphere of perpetual gloom, it plays like an extended episode of Rod Serling's NIGHT GALLERY. This is also the movie's biggest weakness, as it could have had about 20 minutes shaved off. It tends to go down some rabbit holes, like over-long flashback sequences and supernatural angles that don't add up.

Otherwise, it's a highly enjoyable cavalcade of ghoulish goulash with a nice double cross, double twist ending!

Co-stars the breathtaking Lisa Leonardi as Lisa...

Watched this film titled as Murder Mansion on sub-cheapo Brentwood DVD set called Hell In the Family. Must originally have been from a TV print, because there is no nudity and almost no violence to speak of. Most annoying are the choppy jumps in the film where the violence and nudity belong.

Pity, because the filming of "Mansion of the Fog/Cloud" is really top notch. Fantastic saturated colors ala Mario Bava. Great sets. Decent budget. Decent acting. Great looking damsels in distress. But that is about it.

Too much of the film is missing for the movie to flow well. Too many plot holes. Too many scenes that are suddenly cut.

On the plus side though, Murder Mansion is still a very nice looking movie - lots of atmosphere, and still fairly interesting despite the chopped scenes. Buying the Brentwood DVD set costs less than renting. Bonus in the set is another weird Spanish film - A Veil for the Devil - which is presented as It Happened At Nightmare Inn - also missing the violence and nudity, but still pretty creepy. Both films would be good little cult flicks if someone could scare up intact prints.