Lo spettro

Scotland, 1910: an adulterous wife (Steele) and her lover, a doctor, seem to be pursued by the avenging ghost of her crippled husband, who they have killed.This whimsical and moody horror film, a sequal to The Horrible Dr. Hichcock, was shot in only nine days on a very low budget. It may well be the best horror film from the Italian school. Just as in its predecessor, the protagonist is called Hichcock, as reference to the master of suspense. Among the actors is Harriet White, who plays an English woman in the Florentine episode of Rossellini’s neo-realistic Paisa. The fact that she plays the role of hellcat here can be seen as a personal vendetta by Freda, who was at that time a fierce opponent of neo-realism. Actress Barbara Steele only worked in Italy at that time and was, as Freda remembers, ‘wonderful at acting horror because of her extraordinary eyes.’ The Italian actors are all shrouded in English pseudonyms. (SdC)