Angoisse

Members of the cast and crew of a horror movie take a well-earned break at the family home of actor Michael, whose mother (who has obviously been keeping to a tight exfoliation/moisturising regime, since she looks no older than 40) lives a reclusive life with her creepy manservant Oliver. Whilst relaxing at the house, the group are attacked one-by-one by a leather-gloved killer, and Michael begins to fear that a horrific event from his past—one which he has kept suppressed in his mind for years—has finally returned to haunt him.

Murder Obsession opens in fine style with a gleefully trashy scene in which exploitation babe Laura Gemser has her clothes torn from her body by a mysterious assailant who then proceeds to try and strangle her. However, fans of sleazy giallo movies shouldn't get too excited, for director Ricardo Freda soon disappoints by having the camera pull back to reveal that the woman, Beryl, and her attacker, Michael Stanford (Stefano Patrizi), are actors performing their final scene in a horror flick.

Yes, it's the tired old 'movie within a movie' trick! The rest of this wearisome film is just as clichéd and deceptive in style, with numerous silly red herrings during the dull-as-ditch-water first half (nearly every character seems to own a pair of leather gloves!), mucho nudity throughout, cheesy gore towards the end, and a convoluted, logic-free script that is harder to swallow than a broken glass sandwich. Even a genre great like Argento, whose own work is rarely that cohesive, would struggle to make this inept garbage work, so what chance does Freda have?

Supposedly atmospheric dream sequences are rendered laughable by giant rubber spiders; bats flap on clearly visible wires; Michael's girlfriend (Silvia Dionisio) runs through a foggy forest with her tits out; inept gore effects (an axe in the head and a chainsaw in the throat) look as though they were created by a five year old with modelling clay and papier-maché; dreadful dialogue turns emotional scenes into unintentional moments of comedy; and a desperate attempt at shoehorning black magic and psychic powers into the muddled plot severely backfires.

Take a look if a) you dig bad Italian cinema b) you're a rabid Gemser fan, or c) if you absolutely must see every giallo in existence—but be warned.... it ain't great.

This film deserves to be re-released, uncut and digitally mastered and whatnot. I guess it would be by now if it were more popular. You don't hear much about it. It's a shame, because this is one of the most overlooked Italian horror films I've ever seen. It is hard coming across the rare Wizard video, but I was able to find it for a low price and I have been enjoying it nonstop ever since I got it. The plot is strange, twisted, and full of bizarre touches of nasty murder scenes, perverse sexuality, nudity, and some very creepy tones of Satanism and the black arts which more than likely will chill you to the bone. It's hard to explain simply, but I'll try...it's basically about an actor named Michael (the very cute Stefano Patrizi) dealing with the painful memories of his childhood when he accidentally stabbed his father to death. He returns, along with his friends, which include a film director, some curvaceous actresses, and his girlfriend Deborah, to the creepy countryside mansion of his recluse mother. Well, you can guess that from there, strange events happen building up to a thunderstorm, gore murders, and some shocking twists in the finale. It sounds simple in a bare bones description like that, but just remember it also fits in hallucinagenic, trippy dream sequences of hooded Satanists sacrificing a nude girl in their Black Mass, lots of slimy spiders and spiderwebs, bleeding skulls, red herrings including a handful of suspicious characters, black gloves, murder attempts, and not to mention many softcore sex scenes which feature both male and female nudity (the gorgeous Patrizi shows off his firm, taut bare butt - another factor which makes this film a personal favorite). The gore murders, when they occur as the film reaches its peak, aren't really very scary, more cheesy, but they are still bloody and do provide effective shocks. The music is also effective in creating the creepy, stormy atmosphere of Satanism, murder and sex in a remote mansion in the countryside. This film is definitely not for everyone, but those who appreciate fine, classy Italian horror and do not mind complicated, twisted plotlines should enjoy it. A plus is the very talented cast which are very effective in their roles. Silvia Dionosio impresses as Deborah, the girlfriend, and John Richardson is an old favorite of many Italian horror films (he's just so cute even though he's pretty spooky in this movie). This is a great, overlooked film. Have fun seeking it out.

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.

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.

Riccardo Freda is considered one of the maestros of Italian horror based on the strength of three films in the late 50's and early 60's--"I, Vampiri" (which we now know was mostly directed by Mario Bava), "The Horrible Dr. Hitchcock", and the sequel to the latter, "The Ghost". Unfortunately, everything he did after that pretty much ranges from awful to disappointing. This one falls more into the latter category.

An actor nearly strangles his female co-star during the filming of the scene. Everyone seems strange unperturbed about this including the actress herself, who later has sex with him(of course, it helps that this character is played by Laura "Emanuelle" Gemser who pretty much has sex with everybody in her movies). They all repair to the troubled actor's eerie, decrepit estate complete with a creepy butler named Oliver and a mother who is "not well". Actually, she looks pretty good for someone who is supposedly the mother of a grown man and, not surprisingly, she has a close, Oedipal relationship with her son who looks EXACTLY like his musical conductor father, "the Maestro", who was mysteriously murdered years earlier (and you can pretty much bet it was by one of two people). The actor's girlfriend is also along for the ride and she suspects something is up between the two of them when the son introduces her to his a mother as his secretary and insists that they sleep in separate rooms. Meanwhile, someone is dispatching the various guests with the usual over-elaborate giallo methods--a bathtub drowning, a chainsaw, etc.

Freda brings an interesting Gothic sensibility to the giallo genre here, even though his main focus is obviously on the gory murders. At least he is somewhat in his element, unlike with the abysmal "Iguana with a Tongue of Fire" he did earlier. The acting is awful and the special effects during the murder scene are laughable, but fans of Freda and Laura Gemser could do a lot worse I guess.