Unusual and likable Spanish/Italian co-production that plays something like a seventies Spanish, Old Dark House with giallo elements. Split more or less into three parts, the beginning takes place on the road, the middle introduces us to all the varied peoples holed up in the mansion in the fog and the final 25minutes are pretty wild action all the way. In truth there is nothing particularly violent or sexual but all the ladies are lovely, we really don't know what's going on any more than they do and we care enough to stick with it to find out. Worth it? Yes, I reckon so, it's just that little bit different and even the 'posh' English dubbing seems to help the strangeness that permeates the whole film.
Plot summary
Group of people take refuge in a mansion situated in the middle of nowhere and that too situated next to a cemetery which is always foggy. Slowly one by one is murdered and few survivors claim to witness a witch and a bulky zombie lurking in the cemetery.
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Unusual and likable
The Road Less Taken
Surprsingly well-directed "gothic" tale of a group of people that "accidentally" get together in an old house in the middle of nowhere one creepy night only to find that, one by one, people start to disappear and/or die. Yep, this kind of story has been done over and over again, but this version works well for a number of reasons. The acting is pretty good from the all foreign cast. The lassies are lovely and have some talent. The characters that are meant to be creepy pull that off as well. The director Francisco Lara Polop creates a good deal of tension and breathes a lot of life into some otherwise stale plot contrivances. The mysterious old woman and the gigantic bald chauffeur popping up here and there really added some scares to the film. The story, even when it became clear what was going on, was nurtured in such a way as to still keep you involved. I liked Murder Mansion quite a bit. It is a great film to watch alone at night. Just remember that the road less taken sometimes is the road one should avoid.
Pass It By
The Murder Mansion is your basic Eurohorror film, a Spanish production in this case. Some seemingly random, then it turns out not so random group of guests wash up on a stormy night at a Gothic Mansion where a woman and her chauffeur were killed in a car crash years ago. But they seem to be a pair of lively ghosts going around causing all kinds of mayhem. Especially the chauffeur who in years gone by would have been played by Tor Johnson or in the previous generation Rondo Hatton.
No need wasting your time with the names of the players none of whom will be familiar to American audiences. I'd pass this one right by folks, right by.