5/10
Bizarre and eerie crime thriller with lots of murders , thrills , chills , twists and turns
30 December 2020
Horror mystey about the residents of a luxurious mansion where are being killed one by one executed by a masked serial killer . At the beginning is killed the house owner , Lord Archibald Marian : Angel Menendez . When the family arrives for the reading of Marian's will , his wife : Maribel Hidalgo, is also murdered . As a group of potential heirs gather in the old house to learn which of them will inherite a fortune. Later on, they learn that a flesh-rending maniac is loose , carrying out a criminal spree . As a result , his will is structured in such way as to set up a dogfight between his potential heirs as to who will collect his fortune . More and more murders go on and a policeman : Vicente Roca and a Scotland Yard inspector : Alberto Dalbes investigate the stranges cases and along the way find out dark secrets . For God's sake , stay in your rooms and lock the Doors !

This scary film titled "Night of Skull" or "Night of the assassins" or "Suspiri" or "La noche de los asesinos" results to be a peculiar Giallo with a lot of murders , being regularly directed by prolific filmmaker Jesús Franco in his usual style . This mysterious film contains suspense , intrigue , whodunit , spooky atmosphere and bloody mayhem , being the essential question to find out : Who's the killer ? . The main interest resides in guessing what kind of murder is executed by the masked killer wielding an iconic skull mask , as a man is buried alive , another is stabbed , a woman is strapped to the face of a rock and drowned by the tides , while two Policemen investigating and discovering dark secrets in the family's past . Being inspired by prestigious writers as Edgar Allan Poe and Edgard Wallace , though actually based on a play titled "The Cat and the Canary" by playwright John Willard previously adapted on big screen in 1927 by Paul Leni and in 1978 by Radley Metzger with Honor Blackman , Michael Callan, Edward Fox . The cast of this atmospheric period piece is formed by Franco regulars such as Alberto Dalbes , Antonio Mayans who was Franco's habitual collaborator , the giant Luis Barboo , and Lina Romay , Franco future wife and his muse, who this time keeps her clothes on, and , of course, common cameo by Jesús Franco as a notary . Adding other actors customary players in Italian/Spanish B films as William Berger , Evelyne Scott , Yelena Samarina , Angel Menendez and Dan Van Husen who played several Spaghetti/Paella Westerns

While the atmospheric cinematography by Javier Zofio , being really necessary a perfect remastering , due to the images are very dark . Being shot on location in Orihuela , Alicante , Comunidad Valenciana . Adding adequate musical score by the Italian Carlo Savina that results to be intriguing and suspenseful. This Gothic flick was middlingly directed by Jess Franco , though it hasn't usual sleaze and depravity , Uncle Jess' regular marks . This hack director was an expert on exploitation movies , making all kinds of genres , such as : Terror : Miss Muerte, Gritos en la noche, Count Dracula, Vampyres Lesbos, Dracula versus Frankenstein , Jack the ripper , Los Demonios, Mansion of the Living dead and Orloff saga that includes : Secret Dr Orloff , Sinister Dr Orloff , Orloff's Invisible Monster , Faceless . Erotic : Justine , Eugenie of Sade , Venus in Furs, Female Vampire , Devil's island lovers . Adventure : Un Capitan de 15 Años , Lucky the intrepid , Fumanchu and kiss of death, Castle of Fumanchu . WIP subgenre : 99 women, Barbed Wire Dolls. Cannibal subgenre: Sexo Cannibal, Mondo Cannibale and Giallo : Bloody Moon , La noche de los asesinos , among others .
3 out of 4 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

Recently Viewed