The infamous Dr. Hitchcock performs seances and black magic rituals to ease the pain of a debilitating illness. Overwhelmed by sadistic demands, his beautiful young wife (Barbara Steele) concocts a plan to murder the doctor and inherit his riches. The ghastly voice of the murdered professor echoes through the haunted mansion when his ghost returns seeking vengeance. The wife's terror and the spirit's bloodlust lead to a horrific confrontation and their ultimate doom.
The Ghost (originally released in Italy as Lo Spettro) is the second film by Riccardo Freda to detail the gruesome crimes of Dr. Hichcock. In addition to The Horrible Dr. Hichcock (1962), Freda's other legendary films include I Vampiri (1956), Caltiki, The Immortal Monster (1959) and Samson and the Seven Miracles of the World (1962).
Although this is an excellent film, it is odd that so many consider it to be a sequel to "The Horrible Dr. Hichcock" since there are so many unlikely elements in the storyline right from the start such as the doctor's apparent survival of both a fall from a high balcony and a raging conflagration at the end of the earlier film, and, even harder to swallow, his second wife still remaining with him despite his homicidal intentions towards her and the horrific experiences she had gone through living in his house. She has also undergone a profound personality change from innocent "Rebecca"-esque would-be victim to scheming murderous harridan.
ReplyDeleteA thouroughly enjoyable movie, even so.