Gianni Garko is found unconscious beside a river. The doctor runs some tests, which causes him
to see visions of exploding heads and still-beating hearts being ripped out of
people's chests. So far, so good. Once the flashback starts up to explain why
Garko was left for dead, things slowly go downhill.
The central story is yet another variation on “The Wurdulak”. It was told much better and more concisely in
Mario Bava’s Black Sabbath. As part of a
horror anthology, the story crackled. Stretched
out to a feature length, there’s just not enough meat here to make it work.
The opening is appropriately gory, but it feels tacked on,
not only to pad the running time, but to hold you over until something horrific
happens. Unfortunately, it's a good hour
before anything really happens. When it
finally does, it's juicy enough I guess. We get some staking, clawing, and face
melting. The gore isn’t bad or anything,
but it’s not enough though to justify the long wait.
Director Giorgio (Mill of the Stone Women) Ferroni just can’t
find a way to make the elements gel. The
wraparound scenes never feel like an organic part of the film and the middle
section that retells The Wurdulak is low on chills. So, if you’ve seen Black Sabbath, there’s
really no reason to check this one out.
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