5 tombe per un medium (1965)

Director:

Massimo Pupillo

Writers:

Ruth Carter (adaptation)
Cesare Mancini (adaptation)

Release Date:

1967 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Mystery

Tagline:

They rise from dank coffins in the dead of night, murdering their victims in an orgy of slaughter!

Plot:

An attorney arrives at a castle to settle the estate of its recently deceased owner. The owner's wife...

Plot Keywords:

Plague | Black Magic | Medieval | Occult | Digit In Title

Cast

Walter Brandi	...	Albert Kovac
Mirella Maravidi	...	Corinne Hauff (as Marilyn Mitchell)
Barbara Steele	...	Cleo Hauff
Alfredo Rizzo	...	Dr. Nemek (as Alfred Rice)
Riccardo Garrone	...	Joseph Morgan (as Richard Garrett)
Luciano Pigozzi	...	Kurt, the servant (as Alan Collins)
Tilde Till	...	Louise, the maid
Ennio Balbo	...	Oskar Stinner - The paralytic (as Edward Bell)
Steve Robinson
René Wolf

Also Known As:

Cemetery of the Living Dead
Cinque tombe per un medium
Coffin of Terror
Five Graves for a Medium
Terror-Creatures from the Grave
Tombs of Horror

Runtime:

Italy:87 min | USA:85 min

Country:

Italy | USA

Language:

Italian

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

Castel Fusano, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company:

G.I.A. Cinematografica

Trivia:

Director Massimo Pupillo wasn't satisfied with the final result of the film, and allowed the film's producer, Ralph Zucker, to take the director's credit instead even though Zucker hadn't directed any scenes. This has later led people to confuse Pupillo and Zucker for one another.

Mundane Italian horror from the sixties

Upon discovering this film, I thought I may well have come across a hidden gem, but unfortunately, despite a sombre opening that looks so promising, Massimo Pupillo's film never lifts itself too far above the ordinary, and what we are left with is a film that falls short of what could have been. The plot takes in intriguing themes of messages from beyond the grave, the black plague and control over the dead, but the handling is such that the themes are never brought to the forefront, and Cemetery of the Living Dead seems content to remain in merely decent territory, rather than upping the ante as it could easily have done. The film begins by following an attorney who arrives at an estate following a letter from the head of said place of residence. However, he soon learns that the sender died a year ago, and after further learning that includes him finding out that the late estate owner had the power to contact the deceased victims of the bubonic plague which are buried around the house, the plot takes a turn for the more sinister.

The main reason I saw this film was due to the inclusion of the great Barbara Steele. Steele has undoubtedly given a number of great performances in horror classics such as Black Sunday and Night of the Doomed, but she's ineffective here in a role that doesn't allow her to deliver what she's capable of. The rest of the support cast isn't very memorable either. The fact that this film is shot in black and white should mean that the atmosphere is a standout, but the picture is pale and far too bright, which saps any foreboding feelings coming from the cinematography out. The plotting is far too relaxed all the way through, and this helps to nip the suspense in the bud; and that's not exactly what you want from a suspense film. Luckily, this film manages to claw some points back thanks to it's set design and Gothic styling's, as while he was forgetting to generate tension; at least director Massimo Pupillo remembered to get the look of the film right. It all boils down to a completely rubbish ending and overall; I'm a big fan of Italian horror, and not even I liked this. Skip it!