Okay I gotta admit I was thoroughly impressed and entertained by this movie. I'm pretty sure this is my first Mario Bava film, a well known horror director of the 60s and 70s and I gotta say I dig his style. Presented as an anthology of 3 stories hosted by Boris Karloff himself, amd you know me I'm a sucker for a horror anthology the stories presented are quite good. One concerns a medical practicioner who gets the bright idea to steal from a patient's corpse and has an ending you honestly could see one of two ways, the other involving a woman being harassed and stalked over a telephone before Black Christmas and way before Scream, and finally a good old fashioned period piece involving vampires. A mighty fine selection of both tried and true classic material with more contemporary stuff that has become a classic in their own way in the decades since. The first thing I really gotta talk about is the visuals, holy balls this film looks flippin' amazing! Every last penny is presented on screen with unique use of color which reinforces why I love 60s cinema all by itself, some jawdropping sets that are pretty encompassing and no doubt helped the budget considerably while still showing off excellent production design, and the various styles of costuming really just knocked it out of the park for me and made it so so worthwhile to watch! I'm actually kinda pissed the fuck off people don't talk about this movie, yeah the stories are basic but they surprisingly got me startled and freaked out at times, the whole look of the movie is outstanding, the presentation with Boris is a real treat cause the man had a fantastic sense of humor and they played into that well here, and it was just an investing 90 minute film. Granted from the tidbits of research I did I think I cut myself short cause apparently the movie got a good bit edited down before hitting the States and the italian version is the one to see, this was released by American International Pictures who if you remember from reviews past was the company responsible for Roger Corman's early exploits and his renowned Poe series, so maybe if I can somehow someway find a print sourced in Italy I may enjoy it even more than I already did! I love just the flair of Bava's direction, he knows how to make a shot interesting and his love for zooms just put a smile on my face. This was such a hidden gem for me this month and I honestly don't think it'll be topped this week despite the fact we got one more to go from a certain Mr. Castle. If I had to pick my favorite segment I would go for the second one, The Telephone, I mean what a horrible situation to be in. You're being stalked in your own home by someone you can't see and they love to taunt you over a phone line, and the performance by Michèle Mercier was so damn believable and I really don't think she had to act that much to begin with. Women just have to go through so much shit man and that is a nightmare for countless ladies, so it had me on the edge of my seat and the ending just boggled my mind. This...this was so good! I strongly urge people to check this out if you have a chance, it hit so many buttons for me and I will gladly reward it with a full 4 stars, 8.5/10! It kinda breaks my heart we only got one more week of Halloween goodness to experience but it is a joy as always to be here talking my shit and reveling in the terror and beauty of the most wonderful time of the year.
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