The Murder Mansion
The 1972 Spanish-Italian horror-thriller traps a group of travelers in a mansion so far off the beaten path that the locals are unaware of its existence. Director Francisco Lara Polop's hit-and-miss story offers a bit of a convoluted setup, and some well-timed mysterious fog, to get a drifter (Andrés Resino), a hitchhiker (Lisa Leonardi), a prick (Franco Fantasia), an heiress (Analía Gadé), and a lawyer (Eduardo Fajardo) and his wife (Yelena Samarina) all to this lonely, although well-kept, mansion owned by a woman who may, or may not, be a vampire (Ida Galli).
Lacking genuine terror or thrills (you will begin to suspect something is up when our would-be vamp never bites any of her guests) the story somewhat stumbles over itself before getting to a twist that leaves as many questions unanswered as it solves. There's also far too many flashbacks to our high-strung heiress that are mostly wasted in attempts to explain her nerves, her bad relationships with both her husband and father, and events that never properly connect to the "haunted" Rolls-Royce and its monstrous driver.
The mansion itself proves to be quite interesting (including its various satanic artwork and mix of expertly furnished and shambled rooms). Leonardi is certainly a highlight, and I was disappointed to learn her career only really spanned three years in the early 1970s. More of a film that struggles to work than simply a bad movie, I've seen a number of people compare The Murder Mansion to a live-action episode of Scooby-D00 (although it certainly lacks the tongue-firmly-in-cheek humor and zaniness of that franchise).
- Title: La mansión de la niebla
- IMDb: link
