TERROR-CREATURES FROM THE GRAVE (1965)

A nervous man runs through the streets of a town at night. He arrives at a stable and saddles up a horse, but is kicked to death by it. Next, we see lawyer Albert Kovac arrive at the Villa Hauff to consult with Jeronimus Hauf about his will. But Hauf's wife Cleo and her stepdaughter Corinne are surprised because Jeronimus died a year ago. In fact, his body is about to be transferred from a grave to the family vault. Hauf dabbled in the occult and bought the mansion because it was built on the ruins of a 15th century plague hospital. Some patients were thought to have spread the plague on purpose, and their mummified severed hands are on display in the villa. There is a belief in the village that Hauf had made contact with some dead plague victims, and Hauf's death, after a fall from a narrow stone staircase, was a bit mysterious, with the five people who were present in the house at the time having signed the death certificate. Oddly, two of those people have died in the past year (one being the man from the first scene), and that day, another of the five, the town's mayor, is found dead with acid splashed on his face. That leaves a wheelchair-bound man named Stinnel and a fifth person whose signature is too smudged to read. There is another belief that sounds of ghostly carts that collected the plague dead can be heard around the villa, and sure enough, Stinnel hears it just before he kills himself in a particularly gory way. The final element in the plot is an old folk song from the plague days that says, "Pure water will save you" from the death carts. Everything is now in place for the playing out of the return of the dead plague spreaders as revenge against those responsible for Jeronimus’ death.

This has a terrible title that conjures up a trashy grade-Z horror movie, but actually it's is a well-produced and photographed Gothic thriller with supernatural elements—somewhat oddly, we don't actually see the grave creatures, even though they are real. The literal translation of the Italian title, 5 TOMBS FOR A MEDIUM, is much better if still a bit misleading—there is no traditional medium present. The big draw here for horror fans is the presence of Barbara Steele looking and acting every inch the way she always looks and acts, as Cleo. She is top-billed though Mirealla Maravidi, as Corinne, has a larger role. Walter Brandi (Albert) is the hero, though he doesn't get to act especially heroically and he's not quite as young and handsome as he should be opposite the two attractive female leads. The spooky Gothic atmosphere is kept up well, and the severed arms are a nice touch with a creepy payoff near the end. It never becomes clear why the opening scene is present; it's almost as if it was footage from a different movie that got spliced on to add five minutes to the running time. The director is assumed by fans to be Massimo Pupillo, but the onscreen credit goes to Ralph Zucker, also a co-producer. The story is that Pupillo directed it but didn't like the outcome so gave credit to Zucker. However, at least one cast member has said that Zucker did indeed direct at least some of it. Credit is given to Edgar Allan Poe for inspiration, but that's a weak claim; the plague background is a faint echo of Masque of the Red Death, and the character of the lawyer might remind one of the narrator of The Fall of the House of Usher. The proceedings bog down a bit in the middle, but for atmosphere, this makes great October viewing. Pictured are Steele, Maravidi, and Brandi. [Blu-ray]