Luigi Cozzi, welcome back to B & S About Movies! We're so happy to have you back and so pleased that you've gifted us with movies like Hercules and Starcrash. I'm so pleased with the magic that you've brought us today, a near last gasp of Italian horror at the tail end of the 80's.

At La Casa di Sol, an ancient Venezian home of various composers, a young violinist (Cozzi's daughter Giada) practices a Paganini song before she then decides to electrocute her mother by throwing a hairdryer into the bathtub. We haven't even started the movie yet and it's already deranged!

A female rock band is told by their manager that they should find a new song. The drummer travels to a secluded location to meet Mr. Pickett (Donald Pleasence!) to buy an unpublished score by Paganini called "Paganini Horror." The manager, the drummer and lead singer Kate (Jasmine Maimone, Nancy from Demons) agree to record the song and head to La Casa di Sol to make a music video with horror director Mark Singer (Pietro Genuardi, Cemetery Man).

So who owns La Casa? Sylvia (Daria Nicolodi, who beyond writing and appearing in this, wrote Suspiria),who is the young girl from the beginning all grown up.

Oh man, this movie. From the fungus found on the logs used to make Stradivarius violins killing people to invisible walls wiping out most of the audience, this movie is bonkers in the best of ways. There's also Paganini himself, stabbing people and sealing them up in giant bass cases before setting them on fire, before daylight streams through the window and turns him into ash in the shape of a treble clef.

In the original cut, which was eight minutes longer with scenes of planets, galaxies and parallel dimensions that were supposed to give the movie a stronger science fiction touch, as well as a scene in which Pleasence's character put on Paganini's mask and clothes. Cozzi cut these scenes as producer Fabrizio De Angelis wanted a simpler horror movie.

The rules of why people are trapped in the house and whether or not its Hell are never really explained, but this is Italian cinema. There's going to be plenty of bright red blood, lots of screaming, some 1980's looking music video scenes and a masked Pleasence stabbing people. It's a funhouse ride that is well worth taking.

Yup, here it is...another movie that wasted 80 minutes of my life. Paganini horror is a typical and meaningless horror movie. Nothing special, unoriginal and pretty annoying most of the time. It's the kind of movie that is hidden on the lowest shelf at your local videostore, covered in dust. There's a reason why it's down there, by the way...

Although I do believe Paganini Horror has a bit of potential in it, it fails to show it on every possible level. The story is about a female rock band who uses the old Paganini mansion as the location for their newest video clip. Paganini was a violin player who once sold his soul to the Devil himself, in order to become world famous. Satan is still present in the house and he terrorizes everyone who dares to enter the mansion...Pretty dumb of course but some of the aspects that are related to Satan ( like playing the violin -- symphony of the dead ) prove that some tiny elements in this movie show potential. But you cannot believe how cheesy the special effects and the make-up in this movie look !! Blue flashy lights stand as most of the "horrific" effects and the blood shed is rather limited. Even though this movie was shot rather recent - in 1989 - it looks incredibly dated and above all cheap !! And I don't mean the charming kind of 'cheap'...No, I mean the laughable and pathetic kind of cheap. The use of music is damn annoying as well. The stars are supposed to be talented singers and their hits are shown in the movie very detailed. Those are ideal "fast forward"-moments !! The songs suck and they don't really fit in a horror movie anyway...

I keep on wondering how Donald Pleasance got involved in so many ludicrous horror productions !! This guy was such a great actor but he starred in so much crap ! Where does he find these roles ? Does his agent used to tell him stuff like : "Hey Donald, I've got another annoying Italian Cheese ball for you...interested ?" "Yeah sure, sign me up" It's really weird...I'd like to tell you his performance was the only positive aspect about Paganini Horror, but it's not. His acting is as terrible as the rest of the cast. Furthermore, the movie suffers from an amazingly stupid ending ! The ugliest girl survives and she has to face an utterly stupid plot twist...the poor thing. Anyway, you don't care about it anymore at that point. If you managed to sit through it till then, you'll laugh away the stupid ending as well.

I always knew Satan was a musician. Can't really explain why but I always figured Him to be a violin player. It has a really spooky effect, if you ask me...That simple plot idea is the best thing this movie has to offer. I really advise you to skip it.

"Paganini Horror" isn't a masterpiece,but it is a solid horror flick that will keep almost all horror fans entertained.The acting,apart from Daria Nicolodi("Deep Red","Tenebre")and Donald Pleasance("Phenomena","Halloween"),is pretty bad and the rock music is extremely cheesy and annoying.Director Luigi Cozzi("Il Gatto Nero")desperately tries to create some spooky atmosphere and,in my opinion,he partially succeeds.The film is full of rich,glowing colors,and the gore effects are pretty well-done(for example nasty head explosion,violin stabbings etc).All in all I really enjoyed this one,so check it out for yourself.