Trip Day 5.
On February 7th, my wife and I went on a trip to sunny California. We started in LA, visiting a friend for a couple of days, and over the next week slowly drove up the coast to finish things up in San Francisco. It was rad! But, it made watching a movie every day/writing about it quite difficult. As committed as I am to this thing, I can't justify missing out on a potentially once-in-a-lifetime trip to blog about a terrible indie-slasher, you know? Plus, I think it's wise to occasionally do things with your spouse.
So things will be a little different for the next 11 entries. I managed to watch the movies, but rather than writing about them as I normally do, I'll do a quick little synopsis, a little imdb research, quote some of the reviews (can you do that?) and bounce off of them. Followed up with my general impressions. Okay, thanks!
California is pretty sweet.
The Ghost
The Ghost is another in a line of Italian gothic horror films from the mid-60's. Barbara Steele stars as Margaret Hitchcock, a woman whose husband (Dr. Hitchcock) is on the verge of death and requires constant medical care. Margaret is having an affair with her husband's doctor, and they decide that their lives would be better with the husband out of the picture. So they kill him. Or so they think... despite their best efforts, he may still be alive. Or are they just going mad?
imdb plot keywords, because they are usually funny:
lover / doctor / murder/ italian gothic / gothic atmosphere
Again, pretty accurate. And again, not funny. Maybe this whole thing isn't working.
Reviews:
The Ghost was shot back to back with the excellent 'The Terror of Dr Hichcock' and builds on the former film's sense of claustrophobia and intensity. Exterior shots are kept to a bare minimum and the film dwells on the shadowy corners of the house.
-Thanks "Guy Kemplay" via imdb
It's a little hard to figure out if The Ghost is supposed to be a sequel or not. (I haven't seen The Terror of Dr. Hitchcock, although it sounds like a pretty interesting film.) The husband/doctor here has the same name as that film, and that stars Barbara Steele as well, again as his wife. Given the events of that film, it's not too surprising that she wants to kill him (there, he wants to use her blood to bring his deceased first wife back from the dead). It sounds like The Ghost is supposed to be it's own thing though - maybe a sequel in an alternate universe? It seems needlessly confusing to set things up that way, but whatever.
Anyways, The Ghost does pretty much just take place in the one house, and it looks pretty good - somehow dark but lush and the same time, you know? I didn't necessarily get a claustrophobic sense. Rather, watching the film brought to mind a mood of sipping brandy out of snifter, perhaps in a large old library while wearing a smoking jacket. A vibe that's a little creepy but not overly so. The story isn't anything to write home about, so the mood that director Riccardo Freda creates is probably the best thing The Ghost has going for it.
I would say that The Ghost is more of a mystery chiller. There's not a great deal of real bona fide horror, and to be honest; I felt the film was a little too talky
-Thanks "The_Void" via imdb
Yeah, it's way more of a mood-piece than an outright horror film. Steele does a good job remaining somewhat sympathetic though - and I think she has to for this film to work. Even though she orchestrated her husband's death, you still feel kind of bad for her. Really, the most horrific thing about it is wondering if/when she'll get caught.
This murder mystery blends in to many of the others of the day and has nothing to offer of considerable value that makes it stand out from the rest. Not that it is a bad film though, rather it is a tame and vaguely entertaining piece which will do nothing more than amuse for 90 odd minutes.
-Thanks "Andy McGregor" via imdb
Despite many overwhelmingly positive reviews, I agree with Mr. McGregor here. As I was looking back and writing these blog entries after my trip was over, I honestly didn't even remember which movie The Ghost was. I had to look it up online, which jogged my memory. (The super generic title didn't help matters.) It's certainly not a bad film, but it's just not one that I would go out of my way to recommend. The well-cultivated mood wasn't enough to save it in my opinion.
Final Thoughts:
An okay film, but sort of at the lower end of the Italian gothic horror films I've seen. If I need to watch another "let's kill a family member for the inheritance and then have an affair with his doctor" movie I'd watch Blood Mania first.
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