Whatever else is true of this movie, it becomes apparent rather quickly that best storytelling judiciousness was not on the agenda of screenwriters Anthony Kristye and Giovanni Simonelli or director Antonio Boccacci. One is reminded of the storytelling sensibilities (and eventually genre sensibilities) of 30s cinema as story beats, plot development, and characters are thrown at us in effectively the first third that can only be described as Just So. We're treated to these elements, then wait for the narrative to catch up and provide explanation. I suppose there's nothing inherently wrong with this - it's not like 'Tomb of torture' is the only picture to have ever taken such an approach - but it seems especially noteworthy here. Despite such unclear directness, I'll say this much - there's a sufficient air of curiosity about the strange goings-on (or is that peculiarity?) to initially get one's attention. The question is, does it ever improve and become earnestly worthwhile on its own merits?
This distinctly feels like the type of 60s horror flick that would be relegated to late night screenings at arthouse cinemas by Deep Dive genre enthusiasts, or public domain DVD packages cobbling together one to three additional titles of like obscurity. Brusque and forthright even as it builds a mystery and shows flashes of violence, 'Tomb of torture' also carries a tone that is sometimes bizarrely playful, and always too uneven and light to foster any meaningful tension, suspense, or thrills. I'm not sure it knew what it wanted to be. There's a lot going on here, and it's not that the feature lacks all entertainment value - but perhaps it's not the type of entertainment that the feature was intended to boast.
I think this is reasonably well made in terms of the work put into it from behind the scenes: production design, art direction, costume design, hair and makeup. The filming location is swell. But how important are such matters, truly - not least if a movie struggles to stand on its own feet in more substantial ways? The imbalanced and inconsistent tone continues to stand out as a glaring issue, and to a lesser extent so does the blunt forthrightness of the proceedings. Both as written and as directed, there are odd and irregular seeming shifts in characterizations, dialogue, and scene writing; from one moment to the next we don't know what the overall vibe is going to be, but nor do we know how a character is going to act, or what disposition they'll express in dialogue. 'Tomb of torture' is kind of all over the place in these regards, while also not making much significant movement in the narrative itself.
The result is a viewing experience that's generally dull, bordering on aggravating. Particularly as the movie flails about, there's never anything interesting enough to truly keep one actively engaged; it turns out our attention can wander or split without missing much of anything. It doesn't specifically improve, it's not terribly worthwhile on its own merits - and obscure a title as it is, I rather think it deserves to remain so. This may not be wholly, absolutely rotten, but that's not saying much as there's so little fun to be had here that the quantity is nearer "0" than "1." There is, after all, a complete story told in 'Tomb of torture' (I think?), and the climax is somewhat well done. Yet for as poorly as the former is rendered, and for as late in the runtime as we're treated to the latter, it's hard to care. Watch it if you want, I guess; I just don't see any reason why anyone should. Whatever. What's next on the list?
This distinctly feels like the type of 60s horror flick that would be relegated to late night screenings at arthouse cinemas by Deep Dive genre enthusiasts, or public domain DVD packages cobbling together one to three additional titles of like obscurity. Brusque and forthright even as it builds a mystery and shows flashes of violence, 'Tomb of torture' also carries a tone that is sometimes bizarrely playful, and always too uneven and light to foster any meaningful tension, suspense, or thrills. I'm not sure it knew what it wanted to be. There's a lot going on here, and it's not that the feature lacks all entertainment value - but perhaps it's not the type of entertainment that the feature was intended to boast.
I think this is reasonably well made in terms of the work put into it from behind the scenes: production design, art direction, costume design, hair and makeup. The filming location is swell. But how important are such matters, truly - not least if a movie struggles to stand on its own feet in more substantial ways? The imbalanced and inconsistent tone continues to stand out as a glaring issue, and to a lesser extent so does the blunt forthrightness of the proceedings. Both as written and as directed, there are odd and irregular seeming shifts in characterizations, dialogue, and scene writing; from one moment to the next we don't know what the overall vibe is going to be, but nor do we know how a character is going to act, or what disposition they'll express in dialogue. 'Tomb of torture' is kind of all over the place in these regards, while also not making much significant movement in the narrative itself.
The result is a viewing experience that's generally dull, bordering on aggravating. Particularly as the movie flails about, there's never anything interesting enough to truly keep one actively engaged; it turns out our attention can wander or split without missing much of anything. It doesn't specifically improve, it's not terribly worthwhile on its own merits - and obscure a title as it is, I rather think it deserves to remain so. This may not be wholly, absolutely rotten, but that's not saying much as there's so little fun to be had here that the quantity is nearer "0" than "1." There is, after all, a complete story told in 'Tomb of torture' (I think?), and the climax is somewhat well done. Yet for as poorly as the former is rendered, and for as late in the runtime as we're treated to the latter, it's hard to care. Watch it if you want, I guess; I just don't see any reason why anyone should. Whatever. What's next on the list?