User Reviews

What's Good About It: Barbara Steele and Mirella Maravidi - not necessarily in that order - atmospheric locations and interiors, bravura camera-work, colorful (if somewhat illogical) plot.

What's Not So Good About It: Slack direction, poor editing and a less than spectacular climax.

If you haven't already seen this film a "spoilers alert" may apply

Mirella Maravidi (a.k.a) Marilyn Mitchell is an attractive romantic lead who can look convincingly frightened and is obviously enthusiastic about the project. Barbara Steele, on the other hand, seems less enthusiastic about playing, yet again, the adulterous wife. However, her under-played characterisation contrasts well with that of her excitable step-daughter, and her death scene is very effective.

One of the key features of "Cinque Tombe" is the choice of locations and Carlo Di Palma's lighting of them. The action takes place early in the last century during the winter - a most suitable time of year to set a horror film. The Villa Hauff, where much of the drama takes place, makes use of Castel Castelfusano - a building with a bizarre truncated shape. The prologue of the U.S. version shows a terrified man hurrying from a tavern late at night through deserted cobblestone streets and down a wide flight of steps. This sequence is ominously lit and conveys a real sense of menace. In contrast, later on in the film, the lake beside which Mirella Maravidi and Walter Brandt walk as their relationship develops is bathed in winter sunlight. In the exhumation scene, a gray mist drifts across a line of gaunt trees that form a backdrop to the cemetery. This location is also overshadowed by an odd-shaped "capella".

The interiors are also superbly fitted out: the walls of Villa Hauff are like an art gallery. The Apothecary's store is lined with wooden chests of drawers and glass jars. The fireplace in Stinel's sparsely-furnished living room is used to frame a glamor shot and, later on, the aftermath of a suicide.

In addition to the atmospheric lighting, Carlo di Palma occasionally treats us to some startling camera-work, such as a sequence quite early on in the film that begins with a high angle long shot of a departing horse and trap, followed by a big close-up of Barbara Steele's eyes as she watches and then turns as the camera draws back to show her furtively examining papers in Walter Brandt's briefcase.

As director, Ralph Zucker should have tightened the script - which is essentially a tale of revenge that goes out of control - before starting. He should also have removed some of the more obviously illogical aspects of the plot - for example, if the plague-spreaders had their hands severed before they were hanged and buried in unconsecrated ground, how come it's their hands we see reaching out from their graves! In several scenes, most notably that of the town clerk's office, the dialog needs condensing to prevent the pace from flagging. If the failure to do this was because of pressure or inexperience, the editor should have been able to tighten the scenes. Unfortunately, the editing - especially in the second half - looks more like a basic assembly job than skilled cutting. Unnecessary "cover shots" are left in: when the shock discovery of an empty grave prompts the hero to phone his business partner, we don't need to see him leaving the graveyard to locate a phone - you can cut straight to him making the call! A shot of mummified hands inside a glass case coming to life, if kept short, can be scary; a prolonged tracking shot of all the hands wriggling (and doing nothing more) is not. Now, if one of those hands had suddenly smashed through the glass....

As far as the disappointing climax is concerned, it looks as if the film either fell seriously behind schedule and/or ran out of money. The final scenes look hastily improvised. If the director hadn't intended to show the plague-spreaders at the climax, it was a mistake to show one of their disfigured hands after Stinel's suicide. A partial manifestation two-thirds of the way through the film leads us to expect to see more later on. When this doesn't happen, we feel let down.

In spite of its faults, "Cinque Tombe Per Un Medium" or "Terror Creatures From The Grave" has a lot going for it. If Ralph Zucker had had more experience, a less restrictive budget and a better editor, the film might have been a minor classic. As it stands, I believe this is a case of a film being saved by atmospheric locations, an imaginative lighting cameraman and a couple of enthusiastic actors.

An attorney, Albert Kovac(Walter Brandi)visits a villa, reporting to go over a will for a wealthy occult professor, Geoffrey Hauff, who had reportedly died, accidentally falling down steps. His death was recorded by five people, and each one whose name was written down on the report are dying in unusual ways. Albert's vehicle suffered a damaged engine thanks to an owl(!)and he remains at the behest of Geoffrey lovely daughter, Corinne(Mirella Maravidi), who is worried for her life. The Hauff villa was erected where a hospital housing those diseased with the black plague, their severed hands(..a punishment for purposely spreading their disease to others)in a trophy case within the hall containing pictures and various artifacts found by Geoffrey as he conducted his research into the morbid history of the area. There are graves nearby the villa which hold those who died in the hospital, and it was said that Geoffrey was attempting to contact the dead, hoping to bring their spirits from their eternal slumber. Along with Corinne is her step-mother, Cleo(Barbara Steele)once a potential actress, who gave up the stage to marry Geoffrey. There's obviously more to the story for why would those specific men who reported Geoffrey's death be the ones dying? The fifth witness's name is anonymous and he could hold the answer as to why those he was with that night are winding up dead.

Unremarkable Gothic horror flick from Massimo Pupillo, who didn't take credit for it(..I can't say I blame him), using a disconcerting score to keep the viewer on edge even though nothing happens for great lengths. The copy I watched(Terror Creatures from the Grave)was ravaged by time, the quality of both the film itself and the audio track have seen better days. I kept hoping that the creatures of the title might make an appearance so that I could at least appreciate something for sitting through this tedious ordeal, but even at the end, we see none of those who rose from their caskets(..Tombs of the Blind Dead did this soooooo much better)and I felt cheated. Steele has a rather thankless role as the wife with secrets, who knows more about that night when her husband died than she's letting on..I think pretty much anyone watching can figure she's not exactly an innocent. There are some icky make-up grue such as the effects of the plague on a victim's face who assists his master in releasing the spirits of those damned, the effects of a face damaged by the trampling of a distressed horse, and the guts sticking out from the stomach of a victim who impales himself on a sword. Brandi is about as bland as the presentation of the film. Alfredo Rizzo is the local village doctor, Nemek who works with Kovac in determining what is killing the men. Recognizable Italian character actor, Luciano Pigozzi has a very small(..but important)role as Kurt, Geoffrey's loyal and trusted servant who talks to no one. Tilde Till is the very nervous and superstitious maid who trembles while working in the villa. Check this out only if you're a Barbara Steele completest, because the movie itself never rises above a mediocre, shambling exercise that lumbers along at a languid pace challenging you to stay awake. This could sure use a restoration, but I'm not certain it'd be worth it.

I'm reviewing the Italian version of the film, with subtitles; the US version has extra scenes that make the movie markedly inferior.

Another day, another gothic horror outing for Barbara Steele. I found this one absorbing for the most part. Steele is the star but is slightly sidelined as the story progresses, and her character is fairly one-dimensional. That said Terror Creatures has a lot going for it, there are some nice original touches among the familiar tropes, and the climax is very well realised.

The story of course concerns a notary's assistant turning up at an ancient gothic mansion, which was formerly a medieval leprosarium, when his superior leaves before a letter arrives summoning him urgently. Our hero, played rather blandly by Walter Brandi (!) discovers the writer of the letter, an occultist, has been dead a year, and that a series of deaths of those who witnessed his demise have occured. As usual he turns Sherlock Holmes and attempts to solve the mystery.

While the film has its faults (including a terrible title concocted for the US market!) it also has many good things going for it; the crisp atmospheric cinematography, some well judged horror moments, and an excellent ending. Recommending this one.

Saw this one in a version called "Cemetery of the Living Dead" and was left shaking my head at the reviews I saw on IMDb, especially the ones that call this one of the great Gothic horror films.

Granted, this film has a lot going for it. First, there's Barbara Steele, who just had to be in a film to guarantee it a creepy quality.

Second, there are some great castle sets. The difficulty with this is that you often can't see the expanse of them because the film was shot so tightly, but maybe that's the print I was watching.

Lastly, there's the story, which had some definite possibilities. There are plague carriers rising from the grave to spread the infestation. There are suicides to avoid these ghostly creatures. There's the deceased lead character, who has harnessed the power of life and death.

The problem is that "Cemetery of the Living Dead" is so cheaply filmed that little of this matters. Instead of suspense, there are endless shots of people walking around rooms and down hallways, all to zero purpose.

The plague makeups are also lousy. The dubbing is even worse. Beyond all that, the ghosts of the plague carriers are never shown, unless you count their rubbery "monster" arms. Nowadays, you could buy a better prop at a Halloween shop...for $5.00.

Lots of promise to this one, but nothing is delivered. If you like watching people wander around, then this is the movie for you.

If it wasn't for the presence of Barbara Steele (perhaps the most famous female horror film star), this film would have absolutely no interest. It is extremely poorly filmed and moves at an absolute snail's pace until the last ten minutes. There's the typical amount of gruesome deaths but few frights, and it even lacks unintentional laughs to make it a cult film. There could have been a slightly interesting story of a curse which came out of the revenge of murder victims from the black plague who, vindictive over having the disease in the first place, presumably made sure other people caught the disease as well. Two sisters survive the doctor who couldn't treat them and utilized his basement as a mass grave for them. An arriving attorney reveals that he was just hired by their father (who died a year ago) to write his will which gives the hints that a ghost story is about to unfold. But there's also a plot twist surrounding his death from a year ago, and when all is revealed in the last reel, that's when the only interesting situations occur and a few chills may creep into your bones. Otherwise, the story of the black death might simply lead you into a deep sleep.

An atmospheric, at times startling, and continuously mysterious and involving picture, 1965's "Terror-Creatures From the Grave" nevertheless turns out to be a somewhat tarnished gem in the crown for the so-called Queen of Horror, Barbara Steele. In the film, hunky leading man Walter Brandi arrives at the moldering mansion of Jeronimus Hauff, in the year 1911. An attorney, he learns from Hauff's widow (our Babs) that her scientist/spiritualist husband has been dead for almost a full year, and was thus incapable of summoning anyone to his house. But when Hauff's grave turns out to be empty, and all his old "friends" start dying one by one, Hauff's demise--or possible return from the dead--becomes open for debate. Into this moody stew, director Massimo Pupillo blends some eerie music (courtesy of Aldo Piga, and including a haunting medieval tune regarding "pure water") as well as some mild gross-out sequences: a hoofed-out eye cavity, an acid-scarred face, leaking guts after a saber impalement, and quivering boils on a plague victim's face. The film also boasts some effective B&W lensing and realistically run-down set decoration. As for our Barbara, although she is absent from the screen for at least half of the picture, she makes a decided impression with what time she has. Just look at the expression on her face during and just after her death scene...not for nothing has she been called the Queen of Horror! On the down side, the ending of this film is a terribly rushed affair, concluding with a lame deus ex machina windup not to be believed. Worse, we never even get to see those "terror-creatures from the grave"...only their deformed hands as the camera lets us observe from their POV. I cannot imagine any horror fan being completely satisfied with this denouement. Still, all in all, pretty effective stuff, especially for lovers of '60s Italian horror or Ms. Steele. Oh...and some more bad news. This DVD comes to us courtesy of those indolent underachievers at Alpha Video, with a fairly damaged print and lousy dubbing. If ever a horror film warranted a loving restoration....

Lawyer Albert Kovac (a solid and likable performance by Walter Brandi) travels to his client's moldy old castle to conduct some business only to find out said client died a while ago. Moreover, the client's snippy and faithless widow Cleo Hauff (the ever entrancing Barbara Steele in fine form) informs Kovac that the owner was able to revive the spirits of the long deceased plague victims and now his unrestful spirit roams the halls of the castle. Massimo Pupillo's adequate direction does a decent enough job of creating and sustaining an appropriately brooding gloom-doom Gothic atmosphere, but alas the slack pacing and overly talky script make this one a bit of a chore to sit through. The narrative quite simply is much too drawn out and uneventful; things don't really kick into eerie and exciting life into the last third. However, the able cast do their best with the pedestrian material: Brandi and Steele do sturdy work with their roles (although Steele unfortunately has a limited amount of screen time in a regrettable secondary part), with commendable support from Marilyn Mitchell as Cleo's sweet and fetching stepdaughter Corinne, Alfredo Rizzo as the affable Dr. Nemek, Luciano Pigozzi as creepy and loyal servant Kurt, and Ennio Balbo as fretful paralytic Oskar Stinner. Both Carlo Di Palma's crisp black and white cinematography and Aldo Piga's robust ooga-booga score are up to speed. A strictly passable time-killer.

Massimo Pupillo is mainly known for three horror films: Terror-Creatures from the Grave, Bloody Pit of Horror and La vendetta di Lady Morgan. Afterward, he claimed to be done with horror forever before making Django Kills Softly and the mondo Love: The Great Unknown. He claimed to be disgusted by his films and went into television. He may or may not be dead, as some claim that happened in 1999. There's no evidence, though. There was some confusion when the producer of this movie, Ralph Zucker, died. Pupillo had given up the directing credit for this film and let Zucker take credit. His Americanized credits list him as Max Hunter on other movies.

Luciano Pigozzi plays one of the servants. I am duty-bound to report that he would go on to play Pag in Yor Hunter from the Future.

The main reason to watch this is Barbara Steele. The producers were aware of this, as she's on every poster. This is yet another role where she's an unfaithful wife, but I think if you were married to her, you'd probably let her do anything she wished.

In this one, an attorney arrives at a castle to settle the estate of its recently deceased owner, whose spirit is still roaming the cobwebbed halls of the castle and summoning the spirits of plague sufferers. And then, as usually happens, people start to die.