''Spirits of Death'' ( it, Un bianco vestito per Marialé/ translation: ''A White Dress for Mariale'') is a 1972 Italian film directed by

Romano Scavolini Romano Scavolini (born 18 June 1940) is an Italians, Italian film director and the younger brother of screenwriter Sauro Scavolini. Career He has been directing since the 1960s. Most of his films are shot independently and with an experimental s ...

and starring Ida Galli, Ivan Rassimov and Luigi Pistilli. The film was also released as ''Exorcisme Tragique'' (''Tragic Exorcism'').Curti, Roberto (2017). Italian Gothic Horror Films, 1970-1979. McFarland.

Plot

As a child, Mariale witnesses the murder of her mother at her father's hands. She later becomes a recluse, living by herself in a dark, gloomy castle. Mariale decides to invite some friends over for the weekend and stages a decadent orgiastic party. Then a series of grisly murders begin to occur.

Cast

Ida Galli Ida Galli is an Italian film actress best known for her roles in Spaghetti Western and giallo films in the 1960s and 1970s. Galli has appeared under several pseudonyms, including Arianna, Evelyn Stewart and Isli Oberon. Extremely prolific, som ...

as Marialè *

Ivan Rassimov Ivan Rassimov (Born Ivan Đerasimović; Serbian Cyrillic: Иван Ђерасимовић) (7 May 1938 – 14 March 2003) was an Italian film actor of Serb descent who appeared in many horror and exploitation films. Biography Born in Trieste ...

as Massimo * Shawn Robinson as Semy *

Luigi Pistilli Luigi Pistilli (19 July 192921 April 1996) was an Italian actor of stage, screen, and television. At one time Pistilli was one of Italy's most respected actors of stage, screen, and television. In theater, he was considered one of the country's ...

as Paolo *

Pilar Velázquez Pilar Velázquez (born 13 February 1946) is a Spanish actress. Born as María del Pilar Velázquez Llorente in Madrid, she made her debut in 1964 at the Teatro Español, with the drama ''Caminos de Damasco''. Between 1966 and 1977 she starred in ...

as Mercedes *

Carla Mancini Carla Mancini (born 21 April 1950) is an Italian film and television actress.Cox p.295 A graduate of the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia she made numerous appearances in films of the early 1970s. Selected filmography * '' Rough Justice'' (1 ...

* Ezio Marano as Sebastiano *

Gianni Dei Gianni Dei (21 December 1940 – 19 October 2020) was an Italian actor and singer. Life and career Born in Bologna, after completing his high school studies Dei moved to Rome to pursue an acting career. He made his film debut in 1960, in ...

as the lover of Marialè's mother

Style

Although the film is often described as a ''

giallo In Italian cinema, ''Giallo'' (; plural ''gialli'', from ''giallo'', Italian for yellow) is a genre of mystery fiction and thrillers that often contains slasher, crime fiction, psychological thriller, psychological horror, sexploitation, and, ...

'', film historian Roberto Curti stated it only becomes a violent murder mystery about an hour into the film. Curti described the ''giallo'' trademarks of violent murders and a twist ending are marginal when compared to other films of the genre at the time. Curti opined the film was one like a perverse '' kammerspiel'' which borrowed from both gothic and avant-garde theatre.

Production

Following his return from Vietnam where he was a freelance photographer, director

returned to his native Italy where he started his film career again as a genre filmmaker.

Release

''Spirits of Death'' was released in Italy on 30 November 1972. The film grossed 65.564 million

Italian lire The lira (; plural lire) was the currency of Italy between 1861 and 2002. It was first introduced by the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy in 1807 at par with the French franc, and was subsequently adopted by the different states that would eventually f ...

in Italy on its release. When the film was released in France, it was titled ''Exorcisme tragique'' to try and bank on the popular success of ''

The Exorcist ''The Exorcist'' is a 1973 American supernatural horror film directed by William Friedkin and written for the screen by William Peter Blatty, based on his 1971 novel of the same name. It stars Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, Lee J. Cobb, Kitty ...

''.

Reception

In a retrospective review, Curti stated that Scavolini's direction and

Fiorenzo Carpi Fiorenzo Carpi (19 October 1918 – 21 May 1997) was an Italian composer and pianist, probably best known for the "Pinocchio" theme. Biography Born in Milan as Fiorenzo Carpi De Resmini, in 1945 he graduated at the Milan Conservatory, pupil of ...

's score "cannot overcome the script's many shortcoming–namely, sketchily developed characters, pretentious dialogue, heavy-handed symbolism." Scavolini later referred to the film as a film "which only deserves to be forgotten"

References

Footnotes

Sources

* * *

External links

*{{IMDb title, 0068272 1972 films Italian horror films Films scored by Fiorenzo Carpi Films set in castles 1970s Italian films