Lady Morgan’s Vengeance

Massimo Pupillo completes his Gothic horror trilogy with a tale that starts by dredging up the genre’s tritest clichés (a new bride being gaslighted by a cheating husband eager to get his hands on her patrimony, nocturnal peregrinations in a white nightgown, spectral presences, etc.) before taking a unique twist, finally delivering one of the most insane endings in the history of Italian horror.

Elegant from a formal point of view and enhanced by an undeniably refined black-and-white photography, the film might even manage to entertain, provided you can slog through the soporific first half and turn a couple of blind eyes to a plot with more holes than Swiss cheese.

As for the cast, beyond the legendary Paul Muller in his customary role as a conspiratorial bastard, we get a possessed-looking Gordon Mitchel in a performance so over the top that it comes across as absolutely absurd (by comparison, Vincent Price’s legendary hammy theatricality seems like the model of restraint).

The dialogue is weird enough, but a few lines particularly stand out: “I’ve already killed for money… I can kill for love. It’s more beautiful” or, “I’ve had enough of the dead, the living… everyone”.

Top scene: Paul Muller turns a dive off the roof into a new Olympic event.