The Ghost (Lo Spettro)

A nice twist on a copy

I’ve spent so much time lately diminishing Italian Gothic Horror that I felt that maybe I should provide some balance by spotlighting one I really liked. It was a bit of a slog at times wading through a pile of late 1950s, early 1960s Italian Gothics, even the ones that were partially enjoyable had lengthy sections of tedium. This includes the great Black Sunday.

Not so with The Ghost (1963), starring Barbara Steele. The Ghost is a Les Diaboliques rip-off, but if you were going to copy something in the early 60s, that was a prime choice. I’ve discussed some other Les Diaboliques take offs HERE.

Steele is married to Dr. Hitchcock, who is consigned to a wheelchair; she is his primary caregiver. She is also carrying on an affair with Hitchcock’s physician, who is treating him by feeding him a dose of poison, immediately followed by the antidote. (??!!?) At one point, the pair make love on the floor of a greenhouse. As someone who has spent time working in a greenhouse I cannot recommend this.

The pair soon plot to murder Hitchcock. Given the highly unusual treatment of feeding him poison, the method seems obvious. They carry it out and he is quickly out of the way of the lovers.

If you are familiar with Les Diaboliques you should be able to figure out what happens next. Things go missing. A bell used by Hitchcock to summon help rings out in the middle of the night. Blood drips from the ceiling. His empty wheelchair rolls down the stairs. It seems certain that Hitchcock’s ghost has returned from the grave to plague Steele.

The key to Hitchcock’s safe is missing; the housekeeper reveals he kept it in his jacket pocket, the one he was buried in. Steele and her lover must return to the crypt to open the coffin and retrieve it from his rotting corpse. That was likely ‘borrowed’ from Mr. Sardonicus (more about that HERE).

More twists and turns ensue, climaxing with the appearance of the undead Hitchcock, aping the legendary climax/twist of Les Diaboliques. To its credit, The Ghost adds another, juicy twist to the original. The result is a nicely haunting final moment.

The Ghost was directed by Riccardo Freda, who previously co-directed the pioneering Italian horror film I Vampiri and the excellent science fiction horror Caltiki, the Immortal Monster. In those two films, he relied on the masterful, influential black and white photography of Mario Bava. In this case, The Ghost was filmed in sumptuous, atmospheric color by Raffaele Masciocchi. Vivid reds, greens, and blues add an entire layer of Gothic expression to the film.

One of the most interesting aspects of the film is that all of the actors and contributors to the film had their names anglicized in the credits. This was a common practice at the time, to help convince Italian audiences, who tended to look down on local productions, that they were being treated to a ‘quality import.’ In this case, the trick was especially convincing, since The Ghost does a fantastic job of imitating a Hammer film, in part because it sets its story in the Edwardian era, like many of those did. It really does look and feel like a Hammer production. It’s also one of the best dubbing jobs I’ve ever seen, which helps the comparison from our perspective.

I would go so far as to say that The Ghost was superior to two Hammer Psycho/Les Diaboliques take offs from the same year: Maniac and Paranoiac. Those were nice little pulp slashers, but lacked the atmosphere and final twist(s) of their Italian competitor.

So after all my slagging of Italian Gothic Horror, here’s one well worth your time.

The Ghost is available streaming free on Tubi.