| The monster is a guy called Dr. Fruedstein. He got into a lot of trouble for doing un-ethical experiments in the 1800's , and has somehow found a way of keeping himself alive ( although still rotting, and a virtual maggot farm) by taking organs from unwilling doners who make the mistake of wandering into his house. The first scene shows the good doctor ramming a butcher knife through a young teens skull, so he obviously didn't need a new brain at this stage. I kind of thought it would have been funny being called Dr. Fruedstein, if he had sat his victims down, and asked if they had unresolved conflicts with their mothers, or feared snakes as phalic symbols before he killed them. That would've taken this otherwise pretty pedestrian slasher flick, and turned it into something really entertaining. Still, it did have it's moments. Although it lacked Fulci's usual flair ( I don't think his heart was in it), it did have a few memorable scenes. I really liked the one where the couples son Bob (played by Giovanni Frezza) is held against the jammed cellar door by Fruedstein as his father hacks through the other side. It also had a number of effective gore scenes to salvage it, particularly the throat slashing. I'm probably a little harsh on this, because I saw it after The Beyond, and Zombie, so I was expecting a lot out of it. I was also amused at how the family never heard Fruedstein moving around the cellar, and how adept he was at removing bloodstains after his upstairs outings. Not a great movie, but probably better than anything released theatrically this year, and worth a look for yet another Fulci cameo as Malco's boss. |
