Lawyer Albert Kovac (a solid and likable performance by Walter Brandi) travels to his client's moldy old castle to conduct some business only to find out said client died a while ago. Moreover, the client's snippy and faithless widow Cleo Hauff (the ever entrancing Barbara Steele in fine form) informs Kovac that the owner was able to revive the spirits of the long deceased plague victims and now his unrestful spirit roams the halls of the castle. Massimo Pupillo's adequate direction does a decent enough job of creating and sustaining an appropriately brooding gloom-doom Gothic atmosphere, but alas the slack pacing and overly talky script make this one a bit of a chore to sit through. The narrative quite simply is much too drawn out and uneventful; things don't really kick into eerie and exciting life into the last third. However, the able cast do their best with the pedestrian material: Brandi and Steele do sturdy work with their roles (although Steele unfortunately has a limited amount of screen time in a regrettable secondary part), with commendable support from Marilyn Mitchell as Cleo's sweet and fetching stepdaughter Corinne, Alfredo Rizzo as the affable Dr. Nemek, Luciano Pigozzi as creepy and loyal servant Kurt, and Ennio Balbo as fretful paralytic Oskar Stinner. Both Carlo Di Palma's crisp black and white cinematography and Aldo Piga's robust ooga-booga score are up to speed. A strictly passable time-killer.
Review of Terror-Creatures from the Grave
