Il mostro di Venezia

The Embalmer
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Dino Tavella
Produced by Christian Marvel
Walter Manley
Written by Paulo Lombardo
Gian Battista Mussetto
Story by Dino Tavella
Antonio Walter
Starring Maureen Brown, Luigi Martucci
Music by Marcello Gigante
Cinematography Mario Parapetti
Release date
 1965
Running time
 83 minutes
Country Italy
Language Italian

The Embalmer (Italian: Il mostro di Venezia; also known as The Monster of Venice) is a 1965 Italian giallo directed by Dino Tavella that was filmed in Trieste and Venice. The film was released in the US in 1966 as The Embalmer on a double feature with The She Beast. It was released in the UK in 1972 as The Monster of Venice, and in France in 1966 as Novices Libertines.[1] The film is patterned after the German Krimi films in style and structure, and is also an early giallo. It contains many travelogue-type sequences designed to show off the beauty of Venice, obviously to pay off the Venice tourist department for their help.[2]

Director Dino Tavella was apparently a one-shot wonder. He was born in 1920 and died in 1969, at the youthful age of 49. He is known to horror film fans only for directing and co-writing The Embalmer, his sole claim to fame. Strangely, none of the actors in the film seem at all well known.

Plot

A serial killer dressed in scuba gear and a wet suit is on the loose in the canals of Venice. He kills women by drowning them in the canal and taking their bodies back to his underwater lair (a submerged monastery) where he embalms them to preserve their beauty. A young reporter is assigned to cover a group of visiting college girls on a class trip to Venice and when one of them disappears, he becomes involved in trying to find the killer. He falls in love with one of the young girls, not realizing that the Embalmer has her marked as his next victim.[3]

The film is done in a style combining elements of the Italian giallo and West German Krimi films and features travelogue scenes of Venice, a killer who dresses as the Phantom of the Opera and an Italian Elvis Presley impersonator. The style is very reminiscent of the Edgar Wallace mystery movies (Krimis) that were being made in West Germany at the time.

Cast

  • Maureen Brown
  • Luigi Martocci (credited in the American print as "Gin Mart")
  • Luciano Gasper
  • Jti Janne (singer of the song "Il medium")
  • Anita Todesco
  • Francesco Bagarin
  • Alba Brotto
  • William Caruso
  • Viki Castillo
  • Roberto Contero
  • Gaetano dell'Era
  • Alcide Gazzotto
  • Antonio Grossi
  • Jack Judd
  • Carlo Russo
  • Paola Vaccari
  • Maria Rosa Vizzina
  • Pietro Walter

Sources

  • Hughes, Howard (2011). Cinema Italiano - The Complete Guide From Classics To Cult. London - New York: I.B.Tauris. ISBN 978-1-84885-608-0.
  • Luther-Smith,Adrian (1999). Blood and Black Lace: The Definitive Guide to Italian Sex and Horror Movies. Stray Cat Publishing Ltd. p. 43

References

  1. ↑ Hughes, p.92f
  2. ↑ Luther-Smith,Adrian (1999). Blood and Black Lace: The Definitive Guide to Italian Sex and Horror Movies. Stray Cat Publishing Ltd. p. 43
  3. ↑ Luther-Smith,Adrian (1999). Blood and Black Lace: The Definitive Guide to Italian Sex and Horror Movies. Stray Cat Publishing Ltd. p. 43


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