BlazeLime Strong and Moving!

Steineded How sad is this?

Tayloriona Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Allison Davies The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Mark Turner There are fans of Joe D'Amato around the world, mostly for the horror films that he crafted and some for the pornographic films he made. With over 197 movies credited to him as director the man was at least industrious when it came to making movies. Not having seen most of this films and with only access to a few I was interested to see what this one would be like. The end result was mixed for me.The film opens with in Austria in 1906. A young Greta von Holstein (Ewa Aulin) is sexually abused by her brother Franz (Luciano Rossi). We learn this in the opening moments of the film before we see Greta laying on a slab and apparently dead as Franz laments her passing, blaming himself and others like him.Fast forward to 1909 and the estate of Walter Ravensbrück (Sergio Doria) and his wife Eva (Angela Bo). An out of control carriage overturns in front of the estate impaling the driver and killing him with a young woman named Greta von Holstein inside. Injured they take her up to their home and call Dr. Sturges (Klaus Kinski) to attend to her. Noticing something strange about her he tends to her wounds while noticing a strange amulet around her neck. Suggesting she rest and mend the couple ask her to stay with them for a while.This leads to an attraction that both feel towards Greta. Walter is the first to act upon this, beginning an affair with her. But Eva isn't far behind doing the same. Unaware to both is the fact that Greta begins killing off the help that they employ. Greta becomes jealous of the attention Walter pays to Greta and while he's away she walls her into a room in a remote cellar of the estate. When Greta turns up at a masquerade ball later, she realizes that perhaps Greta was not what she seemed. All of this ties into the past when Walter's father arrives for a visit. Dr. von Ravensbrück (Giancomo Rossi Stuart) has his own connection to Greta that no one is aware of. All will be revealed by the end of the film.The movie does offer some stylish cinematography and depicts what could have been considered sordid encounters at the time of its release in an artistic manner. The use of soft focus cinematography in select sequences adds itself to the air of romance combined with mystery. And yet all of that combined didn't convert me to become a fan of D'Amato.This was the first film that he directed under his real name, Aristide Massaccesi and made early in his career. For me it showed a lot of potential in film making with this film but at the same time his story telling ability was really off here. Characters and concepts that become clear only at the end of the film are never provided earlier when they would have helped create a bit of suspense or given viewers an idea of what was going on. Instead we have a movie that tosses in murders and situations that make absolutely no sense whatsoever. The biggest example is why Greta would have a reason to even come to the Ravensbrück estate. That reason isn't revealed until almost the final scene and no clues as to the reason are provided throughout. And the fact that this is a ghost story isn't quite clear until late in the film either, once more with no clues to that fact provided until that time. Kinski's part here is minimal at best and one I would consider a cameo in spite of the fact that his image and famous face were used to promote the film in posters at the time and on the cover of this new release. Aulin would go on to fame and fortune for her stunning looks and will probably be most remembered for her starring role in the counter culture hit CANDY. Historically there is always a reason to preserve any and almost all films ever made. That would be one reason for this to be a reason to be glad that Arrow has done the amazing job with this release like they always do. The movie is presented here with a 2k restoration from the original camera negative. Extras include a new audio commentary track with writer/critic Tim Lucas, D'AMATO SMILES ON DEATH an archival interview where the director discusses the film, ALL ABOUT EWA a newly filmed interview with the Swedish star, SMILING ON THE TABOO: SEX, DEATH AND TRANSGRESSION IN THE HORROR FILMS OF JOE D'AMATO a new video essay by critic Kat Ellinger, the original trailers, a stills and collections gallery, a reversible sleeve with original and new artwork from Gilles Vranckx and for the first pressing only a collector's booklet featuring new writing on the film by critics Stephen Thrower and film historian Robert Curti.D'Amato fans will want to add this to their collections immediately. Those who haven't been exposed might find the movie of interest. Horror fans will want to give it a look. For most others you'll find it confusing but at least it will provide you with a glimpse of a movie outside of the mainstream that led to a long time career for its director.

MARIO GAUCI D'Amato's directorial debut already incorporates his two major concerns – eroticism and gore; another element which, however, comes to the fore here (a pitfall of many a novice film-maker!) is an ostentatious approach to technique – with shots taken from any number of improbable angles! That said, the elliptical plot is nothing to scoff at either (indeed, whenever one thinks of having unraveled the mystery, another twist turns up to mystify the viewer, and this keeps up till the very last image!): to be fair, this was quite a bold move for a first feature and that is why, for all its faults, the film is not one to be easily ignored.Incidentally, the central theme of resurrection was what linked it with the Christopher Lee vehicle THE TORTURE CHAMBER OF DR. SADISM (1967; with which it was actually paired on DVD); while Klaus Kinski's presence (and co-star billing) in this was basically its selling-point, he exits the picture before it is even half over! He plays a Frankenstein-like doctor called in at a country estate to nurse a carriage accident/amnesiac victim played by Ewa Aulin (after years of research, he conveniently discovers the life-restoring formula on the back of a medallion she wears!) but, while he spends minutes on end carefully preparing the potion, is killed off precisely at his moment of triumph!! As for the girl, she proves not quite the ingénue she at first appears (with a complicated back-story to boot!); seducing both the master and mistress of the house, she eventually drives the latter into a jealous fury which sees her walling up the still-living heroine in the basement! However, she re-appears as a vengeful wraith (with the girl's features occasionally reverting to her true decrepit state for horrific effect) with everybody who had in some way wronged her meeting all sorts of grisly demises (including her crazed and hunchbacked medical student brother – scratched to death by a cat in extreme close-up! – and the young aristocrat's doctor father Giacomo Rossi-Stuart, who had first impregnated the girl and then saw her die on the operating table!!).Berto Pisano's score, which mixes moody interludes with a terrific romantic theme, emerges as one of the film's definite assets. By the way, this was Aulin (who had shot to stardom with CANDY [1968])'s penultimate effort; since its follow-up – Jorge Grau's well-regarded BLOOD CEREMONY (1973) – proved to be in similar vein, I will also be checking that one out presently...

kevin olzak Decidedly not for all tastes, 1973's "Death Smiles on a Murderer" is an Italian horror film from cinematographer-turned-director Aristide Massaccessi (now better known as Joe D'Amato). Rough sledding for most, but I admired all of the European fright flicks that aired regularly on Pittsburgh's Chiller Theater (IMDb lists this film as 92 minutes but my copy runs 84). In 1906 Europe, an incestuous relationship between siblings Franz and Greta (Ewa Aulin) ends abruptly when she falls for a handsome doctor (Giacomo Rossi-Stuart) who impregnates her, with both mother and child ending up dead. Her distraught brother has learned the secret of restoring life to the dead and subsequently revives her, with the Incan formula carved onto the back of an amulet which has her name and date of death on the front. In a nod to Edgar Allan Poe (one of many), she shows her gratitude by instantly slaughtering her beloved brother, the sharp claws of a black cat gouging out the man's eyes (shown in flashback only at the very end). Following a passage of 3 years, Greta is planted at the doorstep of a young couple, Eva and Walter (the latter the son of the doctor who had the affair with her), via a gory carriage accident that leaves the driver fatally impaled through the heart. Dr. Sturges (Klaus Kinski) provides the death certificate for the investigating detective, first examining the girl, who remembers neither her name or any recollection of her past. He soon learns that this is no simple case of amnesia (a telltale vertical scar on the side of her neck), proving it by inserting a pin in the unblinking girl's eye (a startling sight left intact on television). Dr. Sturges, already conducting similar experiments in life after death, recognizes the Incan symbols on the back of Greta's amulet, which help him restore life to a male corpse, only to be instantly strangled to death along with his mute assistant (the revived corpse is promptly snuffed out as well). Meanwhile back at the estate, both husband and wife separately declare their undying devotion to the beautiful stranger, with some nude frolicking that doesn't add up to much. The maid makes a sudden exit, haunted by the spectre of Greta's dead brother, only to have her face shot off by the same unseen assailant later responsible for the murders in the lab of Dr. Sturges (climactically revealed to be the couple's manservant). After an initially unsuccessful attempt to drown Greta in her bath, the wife succeeds in walling the girl up in a dark cellar, only to have the deceased return to haunt first the wife then the husband to their grisly ends. Greta then rewards the manservant's loyalty by slashing him to death (no explanation given as to how he knows her or why he protected her). The husband's doctor father (Greta's reason for vengeance) also meets his maker, trapped in the crypt of his daughter-in-law (whose eyes suddenly snap open!), leaving only the baffled detective still alive to try to sort out all the murder and mayhem. When he learns about the Incan symbols and their meaning, we flash back to Greta's brother revealing what he had done for her 3 years earlier, with his corpse only now discovered by the detective (untouched in the same spot). Having learned the identity of the mystery girl, he goes over the facts with his elderly wheelchair-bound wife, who promptly turns around to reveal herself as Greta, the 'angel of death' herself, her face displaying the smiling countenance of Mona Lisa (perhaps Jaibo was right in his review). Intentionally stronger on mood than coherence, it really only drags once Dr. Sturges exits the picture halfway through, with only the deviant love triangle dragged out until the climactic revelations. In what may have been her last role, the lovely Ewa Aulin gives the same kind of detached performance she did in 1968's "Candy," although she may have appreciated being effectively cast against type (her passivity works amazingly well considering the effect she has on all others, exactly like her character in "Candy"). Alas, Klaus Kinski is totally wasted in the sort of take-the-money-and-run kind of part that he nearly always accepted, with only a handful of lines and an unchanging look of consternation. Kudos to the other reviewers who made the effort to journey through the difficult plot line, I trust I succeeded in my own way.

snarf14738 You have to see this movie more than once to understand and figure out what's going on.In short,after being reanimated from the dead,Greta Von Holstein(Ewa Aulin)seeks revenge on a lover who jilted her by faking a carriage accident and causing the death of its driver on the estate of the son of the man who impregnated her.She is in cahoots with the butler of the estate,who helps with a lot of her dirty work(then meets his end after she uses him).A doctor(Klaus Kinski)finds out her secret after ministering to her after the buggy accident and copies an Incan formula off of her gold pendant for his own use and fame.The pendant was made for her by her brother(with whom she had an incestuous relationship with)who brought her back from the grave after a miscarriage and inscribed her name,the year of her rebirth,and a mathematical formula for reanimation on the pendant.Greta causes the death of almost everyone in the cast,but you won't really understand anything until about halfway through the movie.And she makes sure no one is left to tell her tale!Surrealistic sound track by Berto Pisano keeps the movie on it's feet in the tradition of Phantasm.Definitely a must see!