Riccardo Freda’s The Ghost is an elegant, gothic slice of Italian horror that manages to be both gloriously atmospheric and gloriously silly at the same time. Starring Barbara Steele in one of her many doomed-wife roles, the film dresses up jealousy, greed, and betrayal in velvet drapes and candlelit corridors. It’s the kind of movie…
Tag: Barbara Steele
The Horrible Dr. Hichcock (1962) – Review
Italian gothic horror hit a strange, decadent stride in the early 1960s, and The Horrible Dr. Hichcock stands as one of the more infamous examples. Directed by Riccardo Freda and shot with moody precision by cinematographer Raffaele Masiocchi, the film bathes its sordid tale in the velvet shadows of Victorian London. With its striking imagery…
Piranha (1978) – Review
A lot of Jaws rip-offs flooded cinemas during the late ’70s and earlier ’80s but Joe Dante’s aquatic gem stands as one of the best, in fact, it was so good that when Universal wanted to sue Corman’s studio it was Steven Spielberg who convinced them not to. If that doesn’t equal a good recommendation…
Shivers (1975) – Review
When it comes to the movies, sex and horror go together like peanut butter and jelly. In the case of most horror movies, having sex is like painting a target on your forehead for some axe-wielding maniac to come and kill you, but in the Canadian film Shivers, the very act itself can lead to…