A few thoughts: Barbara Steele appeared in her fair share of gothic horror films, and while this is by no means the best movie she acted in, it does stand as one of the most compelling single performances she's given. A not-really-sequel-but-almost-feels-like-it-should-be to 'The Horrible Dr. Hichcock', Riccardo Freda shows off yet again how much he's in love with having characters drink potions (see: 'Lust Of The Vampire'), and how little he cares about pacing. At roughly an hour and a half, this movie felt at least an hour longer than that. Repetitive, but still full of spooky atmosphere, this movie does a good job at utilizing its setting and giving the leads plenty of material to work with. Sadly, that material isn't particularly good. As mentioned before, Barbara Steele is pretty great here, and this film affords her many opportunities to utilize an arsenal of expressions and emotional frazzlement. I loved the imagery, setting, and the plot had some nice twists, but overall the pacing was way off, which kept me from caring too much about the story.
Only the most die-hard Italian horror/Barbara Steele fans. This isn't a particularly "important" movie, so you can skip it without feeling guilty.
My grade: C-
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