tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2316228451187611813.post1429985191591077568..comments2024-01-28T19:45:11.660-08:00Comments on At the Mansion of Madness: Spirits of Death / A White Dress for Marialé (1972)Giovanni Susinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03253382939348997303noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2316228451187611813.post-34580335026545379232014-08-16T22:20:29.531-07:002014-08-16T22:20:29.531-07:00Hi Rob. Me too! It seems like there are so many of...Hi Rob. Me too! It seems like there are so many of these made, but because I can't seem to get enough, I'm hesitant to say that the genre's been done to death. Hope you like Shadows of Death if you do see it.Giovanni Susinahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03253382939348997303noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2316228451187611813.post-70208192492291418192014-08-16T19:36:32.629-07:002014-08-16T19:36:32.629-07:00I do tend to always enjoy the whole "Strange ...I do tend to always enjoy the whole "Strange people invited to a strange old house" genre of film. And from this review, I am really interested in this one. Good stuff. R.S. Sterlinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09342230029830159127noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2316228451187611813.post-41460206040404836472014-08-15T22:35:59.255-07:002014-08-15T22:35:59.255-07:00Thanks Jonny! Definitely check it out, and if you ...Thanks Jonny! Definitely check it out, and if you can get a hold of it, the version that was released by Camera Obscura is supposed to be far superior, being longer and much better looking than the bootleg that's floating about online, which I'm sad to say is the version I watched and reviewed (still loved it). Unfortunately the C.O. DVD sold out fast and has been out of print, but C.O. has announced definite plans of releasing it on Blu-ray, and the early screen grabs to that are amazing. I thought about using them for this review, but I felt dishonest.Giovanni Susinahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03253382939348997303noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2316228451187611813.post-1780762479592892822014-08-15T22:22:42.441-07:002014-08-15T22:22:42.441-07:00There are a couple other reviewers that felt the m...There are a couple other reviewers that felt the more unconventional, strange parts in the middle were unfortunate and that the movie would have fared better without them, but I honestly thought those were the best parts (the underground storm and the mad dinner party). Imagining the movie without its quirkiness, it wouldn’t quite stand out as much. It would still be somewhat good, but it wouldn’t be the odd gem it is.<br /><br />Pistilli was good at being a bad-guy character or an uncertain bad-guy character, like his role here as Paolo. Thinking about it, his more detestable characteristics in Your Vice were more or less separated out into a couple of the other characters, leaving him a little more likable and sympathetic.<br /><br />Yes, with Mariale there was a lot that seemed left out and possibly left to suggestion. So she had a past childhood trauma, but why keep her drugged and cooped up in an isolated castle? Also, I couldn’t tell if the castle was some sort of ancestral castle. It belonged to Paola, but it did have Mariale’s mother’s white dress and her portrait in the crypt, suggesting a family legacy at the castle.<br /><br />The Blood Sucker Leads the Dance has gotten some terribly negative reviews. I personally like it, but you have to go in expecting a cheap, sleazy gothic giallo. It’s also on the comical side, and I did once consider reviewing it a long time ago (I might still get back to that). Here’s a positive review from MMMMMovies from a while back that I left a comment on: http://mmmmmovies.blogspot.com/2011/07/bloodsucker-leads-dance-1975-or-how-to.html <br /><br />Recalling Bloodsucker, Asylum Erotica, and Spirits of Death I’ve realized a common theme of interracial lesbianism. Not sure if that’s coincidental or not, but it’s obvious some of these films’ were intent on breaking a few old fashioned taboos. <br /><br />Haven’t seen Spirits of the Dead either; it sounds like an interesting anthology. It seems that Fellini’s segment is the most favored, but I also love Barbarella, and I see there’s a segment with Roger Vadim directing his wife, Jane Fonda, so that’s a little more incentive as well. <br />Giovanni Susinahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03253382939348997303noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2316228451187611813.post-75382020693759554412014-08-15T09:37:47.974-07:002014-08-15T09:37:47.974-07:00I've had this on my shortlist for some time no...I've had this on my shortlist for some time now and finally found it, and then you go and give me more of a reason to increase the urgency, lol. Love that poster, and can't wait to watch this one now. Excellent write-up.Jonny Deadhttp://bloodsuckinggeek.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2316228451187611813.post-59007588289332154152014-08-15T06:12:30.997-07:002014-08-15T06:12:30.997-07:00Such an odd gem! It has a very good cast but is su...Such an odd gem! It has a very good cast but is surprisingly obscure. Luigi Pistilli was an amazing character actor, I hated his character so much in Your Vice (in a good way) while here, he's slightly more sympathetic. I agree that Ida Galli does tend to be underused in some of her films but she does have this ethereal quality about her that really works here as you mention. I did enjoy her as the bitchy sister-in-law in Seven Notes in Black!<br /><br />The gothic scenes were very well-done with the attention to lighting (especially during the scene where they walk down the stairs with their candelabras and the spotlights gradually dim, other gothic horrors tend to directly shine the spotlight at the actor causing the candles to cast a black shadow on their face). That dinner party definitely is a highlight, I believe the music in that scene borrows a little from Iron Butterfly's In a Gadda da Vida. According to Scavolini, this film was merely a work-for-hire which was originally going to be a conventional horror film but then he changed it up and added the dinner party and other strange moments.<br /><br />There were some concepts that felt a bit underdeveloped such as Paolo's possessiveness and other aspects of Mariale's past (we only know about the murder-suicide). Despite that, Spirits of Death is a very solid gothic giallo that doesn't stick to the usual cliches.<br /><br />On a side note, I really need to watch Fellini's Spirits of the Dead and I've also been meaning to watch a gothic giallo called The Bloodsucker Leads the Dance but I've heard VERY bad things about it.Terencehttp://chicks-with-candles.tumblr.comnoreply@blogger.com