Il fantasma di Sodoma (1988)

Director:

Lucio Fulci

Writers:

Lucio Fulci (story)
Lucio Fulci (screenplay) ...
(more)

Genre:

Horror

Plot:

Six teenagers are terrorized in an isolated villa by ghosts of Nazis killed during World War II by an air raid while participating in an orgy.

Plot Keywords:

Nazi | Orgy | Ghost | Teen | Blood

Cast

Claudio Aliotti	...	Paul
Maria Concetta Salieri	...	Celine
Robert Egon	...	Willy the Nazi
Jessica Moore	...	Marie (as Luciana Ottaviani)
Teresa Razzaudi	...	Annie
Sebastian Harrison	...	Jean
Joseph Alan Johnson	...	Marc (as Alan Johnson)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Domiziano Arcangeli	...	Klaus
Al Cliver	...	Drunken Nazi (uncredited)
Zora Kerova	...	Succubus (uncredited)

Directed by
Lucio Fulci

Writing credits
Lucio Fulci		(story)
Lucio Fulci		(screenplay) and
Carlo Alberto Alfieri		(screenplay)

Produced by
Antonio Lucidi	....	producer (as Antonino Lucidi)
Luigi Nannerini	....	producer

Original Music by
Carlo Maria Cordio

Cinematography by
Silvano Tessicini

Film Editing by
Vincenzo Tomassi

Art Direction by
Franco Vanorio

Makeup Department
Maria Teresa Carrera	....	hairdresser
Giuseppe Ferranti	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Marco Alfieri	....	unit production manager
Silvano Zignani	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Michéle De Angelis	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Sound Department
Roberto Barbieri	....	sound
Giulio De Angeli	....	foley artist (as Giulio D'Angeli)

Special Effects by
Gino Vagniluca	....	special effects (as Luca Vagni)

Camera and Electrical Department
Luca Alfieri	....	camera operator
Umberto Magostini	....	key grip
Massimo Rocchi	....	chief electrician
Rolando Stefanelli	....	assistant camera
Roberto Stiffi	....	generator operator

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Mirella Pedetti	....	seamstress

Other crew
Camilla Fulci	....	script supervisor

Production Companies

• Alpha Cinematografica (as Distribuzione Alpha Cinematografica)

Distributors

• Avo Film Edizioni (Italy) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Artem Publishing  music publisher
• C.S. Cinematografica Stiffi Roma  generators (as Stiffi)
• Cinecittà  technical equipment
• Cinecittà  development
• Cinecittà  printing
• Technosound  dubbing
• Technosound  synchronization
• Fuji Magnetics  film stock (as Fujicolor)
• Il Sole Assicurazioni  insurance

Also Known As:

"The Ghosts of Sodom" - USA (dubbed version)

Runtime:

84 min

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Not Rated | Netherlands:16 | West Germany:18

Company:

Alpha Cinematografica

Trivia:

The German dialog heard in the background during the scene where Mark wanders through the halls is an excerpt from Richard Wagner's opera "Die Walküre". The two characters speaking are Siegmund and Brünnhilde in the 4th scene of the 2nd act.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Nightmare Concert (A Cat in the Brain) (1990)

Many flaws, but entertaining fare.

In an all-too-familiar scenario, a group of teenagers traveling in Europe discover an isolated villa and choose to stay there overnight, unaware of the mansion's dark, war-time past.

Italian filmmaker, Lucio Fulci, ventures into the realms of Nazi-exploitation with this crudely produced, yet strangely entertaining, obscure, low-budget film. 'The Ghosts of Sodom' begins in a typically sleazy manner, with a short portrayal of a drug-laden Nazi party of debauchery being filmed by one member of the party who we will soon come to know as Willy (Robert Egon). Despite the pseudo-eroticised nature of the opening segment, the sequence soon takes a rather unpleasant, repellent tone before the cut-shot quickly transports the viewer back to the present day. It is here that we are introduced to the main characters and, rather characteristic of a Fulci film, these characters remain underdeveloped throughout and seemingly have no individual personality. This is an unfortunately consistent flaw with a large number of Fulci's movies but more so with this film. Despite a few brief instances, the majority of lines in the film could have been spoken by any one of the six main characters. Sadly, this rather glaring fault is coupled with numerous instances of wholly pointless and asinine dialogue.

However, this is not to say that 'The Ghosts of Sodom' is an entirely bad movie. In fact, for a production of this type, it is a rather accomplished piece of film-making. Fulci utilises a beautiful, enchanting soundtrack in a professional, productive way to create a dynamic, dramatic and foreboding atmosphere when coupled with the astonishingly gloomy, despairing and mesmerising visual elements that had become one of his trademarks. Although there are only a few gory shots to satisfy those viewers who have become accustomed to Fulci's often-excessive usage of gore, one should be able to appreciate that the erotic and supernatural elements of the film provide the fodder here. Unfortunately, the rather slow-pace and often empty, prolonged instances of tedium can certainly subtract from the viewing enjoyment and distract the viewer from appreciating the more intricate and important plot-aspects; a true concern as the story is far from enormously intricate. However, in reality, how many similar films do not suffer from these same problems?

One can appreciate this film for the superb, atmospheric presentation if they are able to ignore the predictability, plot/character flaws and kitsch of the whole production. Despite the somewhat inane storyline (although adequate for the production) and often-ridiculous scripting of the movie, one can certainly waste eighty minutes on films far poorer than this. 'The Ghosts of Sodom' is quite simply Nazi-exploitation with a supernatural twist which, in places, is full of tension with the 'Russian Roulette' sequence being the absolute peak of heart-pounding suspense. Fans of Fulci's other films may be disappointed, but fans of the sub-genre may find various things to like about this film despite the movie not being as explicit as other movies of its type. My rating for 'The Ghosts of Sodom' - 6½/10.