Scarecrow-88 Ricardo Freda, a well regarded director in the history of Italian cinema (along with contemporaries like Mario Bava who accepted assignments Freda left from), was responsible for this strange bit of hokum, with supernatural leanings, containing black mass devil worship, including a silly conclusion which lays out the demonic menace and what was plaguing lead actress Camille Keaton (who wasn't much of an actress but Freda seemed more concerned with her beauty and how to frame shots of her using candlelight, wind-rustling curtains, etc) via Hitchcock's Psycho (Paul Muller comes in, like Simon Oakland did in Psycho, explaining Norman's plight, talking about Lady Alexander and her relation to what is happening to Keaton throughout the film after the incident during the "tragic ceremony")in ridiculous detail (the one doing so hasn't been seen at all throughout the film and shouldn't have any knowledge whatsoever about any of what was occurring to Keaton), but if you like films that are "out there", maintaining an oddball mood, then perhaps "Tragic Ceremony" is your kind of entertainment. I have to admit that I thought it had some serious pacing issues, lulls at the beginning and shortly after the "big scene" (where the bizarre slaughter of the black mass cult assembled in the lair of Lord Alexander and Lady Alexander's castle, all killing each other (!) after a human sacrifice is interrupted takes place), but "Tragic Ceremony" allows Carlo Rambaldi to showcase his gruesome special effects which includes a sword splitting a face in half, a gunshot to the forehead, a decapitation, and a dagger stabbing (also we see a face with a missing lower jaw)to the stomach. The main cast couldn't act if their life depended on it, with Keaton (Day of the Woman) cold on screen, not any better than those around her. Luciana Paluzzi (Thunderball), as Lady Alexander, and Luigi Pistilli (Your Vice Is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key), as Lord Alexander, have minor supporting parts, but because of the limited screen time, they fail to add enough oomph to raise the quality of this rather hopeless exercise in futility. Some impressive visual moments with Keaton in the castle, along with Rambaldi's work, are about all this film has going for it. Once the film leaves the Alexander castle, I felt the film never quite recovers—it seems as if the film was built for the portion within the castle while everything else seems less inspired, although a subplot involving trust fund baby Bill (Tony Isbert) and his adulterous mom is given some time. Not sure what to make of Bill's fate, with the green make-up. There's also a weird additional character, a gas station attendant who might be more than he appears, who affects the lives of the twenty-somethings, responsible for leading them to the Alexanders to begin with. Máximo Valverde is Keaton's lover and Giovanni Petti is the tagalong guitar playing crooner of the foursome. Interesting footnote is the use of the Sharon Tate murders, mentioning the Manson cult, in dialogue of a news broadcast describing similarities to the black mass massacre at the Alexanders' castle.

bensonmum2 On the way home from a day at the beach, four young people seek shelter from a torrential downpour at the home of Lord and Lady Alexander after their car runs out of gas. They don't know it, but the house they're staying in is to be the site of a Satanic ritual. Jane (Camille Keaton), the only female of the group, is to be sacrificed. As her male companions rush to her aid, one of them accidentally kills Lady Alexander. Things really get out of hand and everyone else attending the black mass is also killed. The four try to make an escape, but soon discover there's no escape from what they've witnessed. One by one, they meet their fates.Gong into Tragic Ceremony, I was positive I would enjoy it. Slow-burn Gothic horror is right up my alley. I'm also quite fond of some of Riccardo Freda's other movies like The Horrible Dr. Hichcock, The Ghost, and I Vampiri. Tragic Ceremony seemed to be a sure thing. Unfortunately, things don't always work out the way they should. The biggest tragedy with respect to Tragic Ceremony is the time I spent watching this mess of a movie. With a few minor exceptions, nothing about the film appealed to me or worked for me. The characters are unlikeable, the plot is incoherent and schizophrenic, and the pacing is terrible. There's a subplot about some cursed pearls that goes nowhere and only serves to confuse things even further. In addition, nothing interesting happens for most of the movie. By the time the four leads realize they're in danger, I was well past the point of caring. And I don't understand the reviews I've read that praise the acting of Camille Keaton. I suppose it's a terrific performance if you consider an emotionless daze to be acting. The three male leads are the very definition of nondescript. They do nothing to stand out. The supporting cast includes some genre favorites like Luigi Pistilli, Luciana Paluzzi, and Paul Muller, but none is given anything to do. In fact Muller's main contribution is a two minute long monologue at the end of the movie that attempts to explain what happened in the previous 80 or so minutes. It's a weak attempt to provide a wrap-up to a very weak movie.

Jonny_Numb Few international starlets have gained as much notoriety from such a limited filmography as Camille Keaton, and not without due cause: "I Spit on Your Grave" was made a must-see cult favorite by the condemnations of Siskel & Ebert, while her other films have remained in relative obscurity. "Tragic Ceremony" is an early Keaton offering, an Italian-made mindscrew that takes aim at the '60s hippie culture and the eccentricities of the bourgeoisie, while crafting a fairly suspenseful, surrealistic tale in the vein of Roman Polanski's "paranoid-apartment-dweller" trilogy and the art-drenched works of Mario Bava. The ringmaster of this free-association nightmare is Riccardo Freda, who uses a lot of avant-garde techniques (the shaky-hand-held motorcycle ride; the wide-angle 'ceremony'; low angles and long shots) to establish a purposely inconsistent mood--it's a disorienting experience that uses a cliché setup (freewheeling hippies vacationing in the country run afoul of rich Satanists) to subvert our expectations time and again; the 'climax' seems to occur midway through, and just when we wonder where else the story could possibly go, Freda extends his creepy surrealism right up to the end (even if the final scene is marred by an overly awkward explanation that isn't really necessary). Even the violent moments (while clearly the product of a low budget) transpire in a style that exists somewhere between reality and the exaggeration of a dream. And, of course, Keaton is wonderful to watch, possessing the kind of understated demeanor that made her signature performance in "I Spit" so memorable. Now that it's on DVD, there's not excuse for any fan of Euro-horror to miss this "Tragic Ceremony."

HumanoidOfFlesh "Tragica Ceremonia En Villa Alexander" is a wonderfully creepy ghost story made by Riccardo Freda.Freda is the best known for his early Gothic horror movies like "I Vampiri" and "The Horrible Dr.Hitchcock".The film is well shot,with some gloomy atmospheric imagery and outrageously gory set-pieces.The acting is pretty good with Camille Keaton("I Spit on Your Grave")in the lead role.The soundtrack by Stelvio Cipriani is truly beautiful and haunting.The gore effects are pretty nasty and shocking,and the climax is truly eerie.The film is extremely rare and hard to find,so get the copy as soon as possible.The plot is as follows:a group of friends run out of gas in the middle of nowhere during the thunderstorm and find refuge in a villa.Little do they know that the owner is about to have a black mass in the basement!Soon the orgy of blood-soaked violence begins!