I was impressed with this "Citizen Kane of Horror Films" as Tom Savini put it.
The story is fairly decent and well told with strong makeup special effects for 1960 (the "bat" scene is expectedly pretty weak). Like Argento, Bava has a great command of light and shadow, which he plays up extremely well in this black-and-white feature.
The only weaknesses were the audio and audio effects that apparently plague many an Italian film from the sixties thru to the eighties. And, when the characters are in an emotional frenzy, the dialogue takes a melodramatic downfall along with the actors delivery of their lines. (If you find yourself sputtering a laugh, it's just a natural reaction.)
The story is fairly decent and well told with strong makeup special effects for 1960 (the "bat" scene is expectedly pretty weak). Like Argento, Bava has a great command of light and shadow, which he plays up extremely well in this black-and-white feature.
The only weaknesses were the audio and audio effects that apparently plague many an Italian film from the sixties thru to the eighties. And, when the characters are in an emotional frenzy, the dialogue takes a melodramatic downfall along with the actors delivery of their lines. (If you find yourself sputtering a laugh, it's just a natural reaction.)