trimbolicelia
Ok little thriller horror film from 1957. A woman is possessed by the spirit of her husband's devil-worshiping first wife. With her Satanist mother assistance the spirit wife plans to make the possession permanent. The husband and the second wife's sister try to prevent this. Some moody atmosphere and a lots of creepy music add to the ambience. Not available on DVD but I obtained a reasonable quality DVD-R, Recommended for fans of the genre.
mark.waltz
Divinely silly, I use that adverb with great relish, since this film has the sensations of a silent film without the creative know-how. It seems to be striving for every emotion mankind has ever known, jotting each line in the screenplay with such self-enthused joy like a dog with a brand new bone. It's one of the rare horror/supernatural films to deal with devil worship, showing what a presumed ritual murder would look like and how one disposes of the body. But when the evil dead returns to life, it's in the body of the widower's second wife, and oh what a gloriously over the top performance leading lady Peggie Castle gives, glaring malevolently as the dead woman enters the soul of the ailing living.You have to give the writer credit. They strived for melodramatics and what they ended up with might give you laughs like those cheap old British horror movies with Tod Slaughter. Marsha Hunt is sincere and strong as the possessed woman's sister, with Arthur Franz the confused widower and Helen Wallace totally over the top as the dead woman's Satan worshiping mother. Melodramatic music, creepy photography and a lack of actual horror makes this all the more spooky. But it appears to be so smug with itself that I ended up finding it more of a parody than a forwarding of actual evil that might be surrounding me. Some hints of cruelty are really difficult to watch, particularly Castle heading to a leashed up dog with a machete.
Uriah43
Having lost his first wife, "Felicia" (Peggy Castle) in a tragic drowning accident 6 years earlier "Dick Anthony" (Don Haggerty) has recently remarried. However, his new wife, "Mandy Hazelton" (also played by Peggy Castle) suddenly takes ill and after a strange seizure she becomes possessed by the soul of Felicia. We soon find out that prior to her death Felicia began practicing "the dark arts" and the deeper she got the more evil she became. And because she is so evil both Dick and Mandy's sister "Kate Hazelton" (Marsha Hunt) begin looking for a way to bring Mandy back. But other people feel differently and they will stop at nothing to keep Felicia here. At any rate, rather than disclose any more of the movie and risk spoiling it for those who haven't seen it I will just say that this was a decent horror movie which managed to maintain the suspense right up until the end. Likewise, having an actress as stunning as Peggy Castle certainly didn't hurt the film either. In short, don't let the fact that this little-known picture is 57 years old or that it was filmed in black-and-white discourage you from watching it. It's a "diamond in the rough" and I recommend this movie to all of those who might appreciate a film of this nature. Slightly above average.
Jeff Marzano
This is an eerie movie about someone who comes back from the dead to take over the body of someone else.This was accomplished by practitioners of the black arts who wanted to bring the original person back to life.The entire movie has a rather strange atmosphere due to the subject matter.This is an interesting subject because it is probably possible. Usually the cases I've heard about was where someone becomes possessed by non human entities (The Exorcist, The Amityville Horror, etc.). Possibly more likely is the theory presented in the the movie 'Horror Hotel' where the satanic creatures are given many lifetimes by Satan.Ultimately this is probably what satanism comes down to. A certain number of evil lifetimes in exchange for a soul. It is thought provoking.Jeff MarzanoRecommended further viewing:Horror Hotel IT ! (The Terror From Beyond Space) Invasion Of The Saucer Men Not Of This Earth (original) The Blob (with Steve McQueen) The Brain That Wouldn't Die The Flesh Eaters The Fly / The Return Of The Fly / The Curse Of The Fly The Four Skulls Of Jonathan Drake The Hideous Sun Demon The Hypnotic Eye The Incredible Shrinking Man The Indestructible Man The Manster The Thing (from another world) The Thing That Couldn't Die The Twilight Zone Collections