There were dozens of multi part horror films made from the 1950's through the 1970's, and this Italian entry in that genre is a cult classic, but a mixed bag. It's narrated by Boris Karloff who is the star of one of the three parts, his being the longest segment in the Italian language version I saw while writing up this review. I saw the dubbed English version years ago on commercial VHS, and mainly remembered the Karloff sequence that focused on a family cursed with vampires who attack those they loved in life, making me wonder how a vampire continues to survive once they run out of loved ones. Karloff, narrating the film as himself, looks haggard and ancient as the family patriarch, off in war in the middle ages setting, coming back to allegedly get his entire family to join him as one of the undead. The horror involves his young grandson, kidnapped by him for a furious ride along the paths of the seemingly dead countryside, as well as the adding up of never ending victims. It's slow moving, but very spooky.
A modern sequence involves a young woman being harassed by telephone presumably by a former lover she betrayed to the police, and the twists involving an estranged friend she asks for help. This is a suspenseful but ridiculously plotted segment, because why didn't she just get out, go to the police, check into a hotel and stay out of the danger zone? There are some interesting aspects of it, but it's trite and extremely obvious. The other segment is comical, an ugly looking mannequin made out to be a corpse, from which a nurse steals a supposedly valuable ring, much to her own detriment. The corpse comes to life somehow, floating around in a search for revenge. I didn't laugh so much as roll my eyes, especially since the corpse looked like how Bette Davis made herself up as the title character in "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?" To end it all, at least in the Italian version, is a silly return of Karloff in his vampire disguise, bidding the audience adieu.
A modern sequence involves a young woman being harassed by telephone presumably by a former lover she betrayed to the police, and the twists involving an estranged friend she asks for help. This is a suspenseful but ridiculously plotted segment, because why didn't she just get out, go to the police, check into a hotel and stay out of the danger zone? There are some interesting aspects of it, but it's trite and extremely obvious. The other segment is comical, an ugly looking mannequin made out to be a corpse, from which a nurse steals a supposedly valuable ring, much to her own detriment. The corpse comes to life somehow, floating around in a search for revenge. I didn't laugh so much as roll my eyes, especially since the corpse looked like how Bette Davis made herself up as the title character in "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?" To end it all, at least in the Italian version, is a silly return of Karloff in his vampire disguise, bidding the audience adieu.