THE GHOST (1963)
aka Lo Spettro
Article 2719 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 10-15-2008
Posting Date: 1-22-2009
Directed by Riccardo Freda
Featuring Barbara Steele, Peter Baldwin, Elio Jotta
Country: Italy

A doctor is having an affair with a rich man’s wife. She urges him to poison her husband, which he does. Afterwards, they begin to suspect the husband has come back from the grave.

One of my sources claims that director Riccardo Freda bet that he could write and film a movie in one week, and this is the result. If that story is true, then I will give him credit; he managed to come up with a coherent story, which is more than Roger Corman managed to do with THE TERROR. It’s something of a loose sequel to THE HORRIBLE DR. HICHCOCK, a movie which I quite like, but this one dispenses with the necrophilia angle, which was actually for me the best touch of that movie. Without it, this movie must rely on standard sixties Italian horror trappings and the presence of Barbara Steele to make it work. Unfortunately, I’m not a particular fan of Barbara Steele, and I usually find the standard sixties Italian horror trappings to be a little dull and predictable, so I find it only mildly entertaining. However, some of the fault must surely go to the weak dubbing on this one.

Addendum: According to Tim Lucas, this is not a movie Riccardo Freda made on a bet, though the story is true of a couple of other films of his.