Mario Bava directs Barbara Steele, John Richardson and Andrea Checchi in this gothic horror where an executed witch is brought back to life and wants the nubile body of her descendant.

You can tell this was a hot potato back in its day. The uncut version wasn’t available on home video in the U.K. until the mid-nineties due to censorship. It is like a Hammer movie with flashes of extreme gore. A Hammer movie that is actually still disturbing and uneasy at times. Barbara Steele looks resplendent. The comic book set design is full fat spooky. This is what all horror movies should look like. The perfection of the graveyard opening has influenced Richard Donner, Tim Burton and the Silent Hill games for good reason. So it may not captivate for its entire runtime anymore, it is nice to see an aged whack of schlock that still feels a tad transgressive.

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We also do a podcast together called The Worst Movies We Own. It is available on Spotify or here https://letterboxd.com/bobbycarroll/list/the-worst-movies-we-own-podcast-ranking-and/