Murder Obsession (1981) aka”Satan’s Altar” , “Follia Omicida
directed by : Riccardo Freda,
Cast: Stefano Patrizi, Laura Gemser , Anita Strindberg,Silvia Dionisio
Rather poor blend of Giallo mystery trappings with satanic/occult horror that works mostly as a perversely charming hodgepodge of genre cinema clichees but retains some merit due to some wonderfully crafted disturbing scenes of lucid demonic psychedelia.
Michael is a successful actor, but he has a scandal in his past: at a tender age he knifed his father to death. He and his girlfriend Deborah go to his mother’s for the weekend, and are joined by the director and others from a recent film project. But they are given a rather cool reception by the superstitious housekeeper Oliver. Soon rude things begin happening to some of the guests, and Michael fears a repeat of his nightmare past is in progress.
Ricardo Fredda’s Gialli tend to lean towards the trashier end of the genre canon , see “Iguana with the tongue of fire” for reference. This one is along the same lines, as the pace is quite problematic to put it nicely and the storyline doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. Luckily the end is quite strong if downbeat and manages to tie the fragmented narrative together. As per usual in Gialli , there is not much care for character development . Performances by genre regulars are mostly unspectacular. However this will probably appeals to fans of trashier Gialli like: Strip nude for your killer , Paris Sex Murders and the aforementionen Iguana with the Tongue of fire.
Borderline fodder yet with rewarding moments. I’d like to watch the bluray though as my vhs copy is a bloody mess.
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