Phonearl Good start, but then it gets ruined

Iseerphia All that we are seeing on the screen is happening with real people, real action sequences in the background, forcing the eye to watch as if we were there.

Orla Zuniga It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

Lucia Ayala It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

Red-Barracuda Murder Obsession is the final film from Italian horror director Riccardo Freda, the man responsible for films such as the crazy The Iguana with the Tongue of Fire. Like that one, this is a giallo too, although it's one of the sub-grouping that combines supernatural goings on into the mix. I haven't seen too many of Freda's films but this is my favourite so far. The mystery is diverting enough, while there are some pretty impressive moments of the bizarre, such as the weird, surreal dream sequence where a girl finds herself in a world of madness and black magic with a few nasty surprises. It's quite gory too, although some of the effects are a little ropey.While this is clearly not in the upper bracket of Italian horror, it's a pretty decent feature from the second division. The atmosphere is quite effective and the music is of that early 80's synth type you will have heard in countless American slashers. I guess this is a movie that was trying to pass itself off as an American product, it feels a lot more Americanised than most in the giallo genre. The cast are definitely of the Euro variety though. Anita Strindberg (The Case of the Scorpion's Tail) plays the mother, even though she must be only five years older than the actor playing her son at most. Laura Gemser, star of many Eurotrash flicks such as Emanuelle and the Last Cannibals, also appears as an actress friend of the protagonist.If you like American slashers and Italian giallo strangeness then this film certainly combines these two ingredients.

dbborroughs Michael, a successful actor with a secret in his past, returns to his family estate after a long absence.He arrives with his girlfriend in tow and he greeted by his mother who seems a bit too attentive to her son and distancing to the girlfriend. It isn't long before some more friends arrive for both business and pleasure. However ghosts of the past are reawakened and it isn't long before strange things begin happening and people begin dying.This is Italian horror at its most silly. The film starts off interesting enough with Michael going home to a house full of eerie people and occurrences. There is a nice tension to the proceedings, however things begin to sputter a bit when the girlfriend has one of the funniest "scary" dreams ever put on film after 1965. It comes complete with fake spider web and rubber spider and is impossible to take seriously. From there things begin to move unevenly as bodies begin to pile up and the number of suspects begin to diminish. The film completely falls apart as it tries to explain and re-explain whats really going on and who these people are. Its a mess and I found myself giggling through the final 20 minutes or so.I was disappointed. The early scenes created a nice tension that was lost when things started to become silly and illogical (I know one should not always look for reason and logic in Italian horror). It gets points for keeping me watching to the end, but that was because I kept hoping it would shift gears into reverse and go back to being the decent little thriller at the start.4 out of 10. Disappointing thriller is probably worth watching if you stumble across it late at night and find there is nothing better on. Those who like Italian horror and giallo films can probably add a couple of points.

lazarillo Riccardo Freda is considered one of the maestros of Italian horror based on the strength of three films in the late 50's and early 60's--"I, Vampiri" (which we now know was mostly directed by Mario Bava), "The Horrible Dr. Hitchcock", and the sequel to the latter, "The Ghost". Unfortunately, everything he did after that pretty much ranges from awful to disappointing. This one falls more into the latter category.An actor nearly strangles his female co-star during the filming of the scene. Everyone seems strange unperturbed about this including the actress herself, who later has sex with him(of course, it helps that this character is played by Laura "Emanuelle" Gemser who pretty much has sex with everybody in her movies). They all repair to the troubled actor's eerie, decrepit estate complete with a creepy butler named Oliver and a mother who is "not well". Actually, she looks pretty good for someone who is supposedly the mother of a grown man and, not surprisingly, she has a close, Oedipal relationship with her son who looks EXACTLY like his musical conductor father, "the Maestro", who was mysteriously murdered years earlier (and you can pretty much bet it was by one of two people). The actor's girlfriend is also along for the ride and she suspects something is up between the two of them when the son introduces her to his a mother as his secretary and insists that they sleep in separate rooms. Meanwhile, someone is dispatching the various guests with the usual over-elaborate giallo methods--a bathtub drowning, a chainsaw, etc.Freda brings an interesting Gothic sensibility to the giallo genre here, even though his main focus is obviously on the gory murders. At least he is somewhat in his element, unlike with the abysmal "Iguana with a Tongue of Fire" he did earlier. The acting is awful and the special effects during the murder scene are laughable, but fans of Freda and Laura Gemser could do a lot worse I guess.

technicolorwasteland This film deserves to be re-released, uncut and digitally mastered and whatnot. I guess it would be by now if it were more popular. You don't hear much about it. It's a shame, because this is one of the most overlooked Italian horror films I've ever seen. It is hard coming across the rare Wizard video, but I was able to find it for a low price and I have been enjoying it nonstop ever since I got it. The plot is strange, twisted, and full of bizarre touches of nasty murder scenes, perverse sexuality, nudity, and some very creepy tones of Satanism and the black arts which more than likely will chill you to the bone. It's hard to explain simply, but I'll try...it's basically about an actor named Michael (the very cute Stefano Patrizi) dealing with the painful memories of his childhood when he accidentally stabbed his father to death. He returns, along with his friends, which include a film director, some curvaceous actresses, and his girlfriend Deborah, to the creepy countryside mansion of his recluse mother. Well, you can guess that from there, strange events happen building up to a thunderstorm, gore murders, and some shocking twists in the finale. It sounds simple in a bare bones description like that, but just remember it also fits in hallucinagenic, trippy dream sequences of hooded Satanists sacrificing a nude girl in their Black Mass, lots of slimy spiders and spiderwebs, bleeding skulls, red herrings including a handful of suspicious characters, black gloves, murder attempts, and not to mention many softcore sex scenes which feature both male and female nudity (the gorgeous Patrizi shows off his firm, taut bare butt - another factor which makes this film a personal favorite). The gore murders, when they occur as the film reaches its peak, aren't really very scary, more cheesy, but they are still bloody and do provide effective shocks. The music is also effective in creating the creepy, stormy atmosphere of Satanism, murder and sex in a remote mansion in the countryside. This film is definitely not for everyone, but those who appreciate fine, classy Italian horror and do not mind complicated, twisted plotlines should enjoy it. A plus is the very talented cast which are very effective in their roles. Silvia Dionosio impresses as Deborah, the girlfriend, and John Richardson is an old favorite of many Italian horror films (he's just so cute even though he's pretty spooky in this movie). This is a great, overlooked film. Have fun seeking it out.