The Ghost

Director - Riccardo Freda (Lust of the Vampire)
Starring - Barbara Steele (The Silent Scream), Peter Baldwin (Even Stevens), and Elio Jotta (Samson in King Solomon's Mine)
Release Date - 1963
Genre - Horror/Thriller
Tagline(s) - "Horror... sharp as a razor's edge" and "Written in blood"
Format - DVD (Personal Collection) (15 Horror Movie Set Volume 2)

Rating (out of 5):

     As I approach the end of the first horror box set I sit here and reflect on the movies in this same set.  A few of them are considered classics in the genre and I would have to agree, however, some of them are only on this to take up space and make the buyer fill like they are getting more for their buck.  I looked at the last film in this particular set and noticed that it starred Barbara Steele.  Nightmare Castle was the first film of Steele's that I had seen so I was a little excited to see this one.  I'm also going to be honest and say I was a little excited to see this one because I do love a good haunted house tale (if it is done right).
      The film follows Margaret Hichcock (Steele) who, along with her secret lover Dr. Livingstone (Baldwin), plot to poison her ill husband and make off with his fortune.  The pair succeed and the sickly man dies.  At the reading of the will Margaret discovers that her late husband left her only 60% of his fortune.  She tries to sneak off before the counsel can audit his fortune to give her the proper amount and discovers that the key to his safe is missing.  Other strange occurrences have been happening in the castle forcing the couple to question if they actually killed the sick man or if his ghost are haunting them.
     After watching this I started realizing that the story for this movie seemed to be a theme with the last 3 or 4 films in this cheap ass set.  Once again this story is very similar to Nightmare Castles with Barbara Steele's role reversed.  In Nightmare Castle Steele is a young girl that is mentally unstable and her new husband tries to drive her insane and possibly death to inherit her fortune.  Now Steele is in the role where she is trying to poison her husband to gain his fortune.  Once again this shows that money can not buy creativity.  The acting in this one is decent at best.  Some of the actors did over due it a bit making the scenes awkward to watch or even follow for that matter.  Sadly, even Steele's performance was mediocre.  She, too, contributed to making the scenes awkward to watch.  The story is once again a rehashing of films from previous years with the addition of what they considered clever twists.  Lack of originality was the true downfall to this flick.  It is like watching the same movie just with a different cast and setting.  Finally, those looking for great special effects and on screen kills will not be satisfied by this one.  However, the film's true praise point is the atmosphere and tension.  The director definitely knew how to drive emotion he just was not given the proper script to do so.  Overall, this film is worth one watch but it is a story you have seen before.  Watch it but don't buy.