More of a "spooky mystery" than a Giallo

The_Void

Murder Mansion is reputedly a Giallo, but I would call it more of a lacklustre mystery film. There are certainly elements of Giallo here, but it never really feels like that is what directors Francisco Lara Polop and Pedro Lazaga intended, and indeed the film is more Scooby Doo than black gloves and leather. Murder Mansion was released in 1972, namely the Giallo heyday so I suppose it deserves some respect for not doing what some films released around the time were guilty of doing - namely, being just another murder mystery, but on the other hand - this film isn't very good, so it shouldn't get too much credit! The plot focuses on three people who find themselves broken down somewhere in the countryside. They happen across an old graveyard, and after deducing that there is likely to be a civilisation near to a graveyard, they decide to look for it. They traverse through the thick fog until they finally come across an old mansion, and since they don't have a lot of choice, they decide to stay there for the night.

I have to give credit where credit is due; the thick fog gives the film a lot of atmosphere and this is hugely beneficial to the plot line, which needs spookiness in order to work. However, the budget limitations are obvious and the sets look extremely cheap, and aren't very effective for it. It's obvious that the filmmakers couldn't afford good actors either, as most of the performances in this film are stale and really quite boring, which doesn't help things! The plot moves slowly, and the Giallo traditions of nudity and blood don't really feature, so things can become more than a little bit turgid at times. I have to say that I wasn't all that interested in the mystery plot, which is shame because I was a fan of Scooby Doo when I was a kid and it might have been nice to see a film that adequately capitalises on that show's basic plot line. The conclusion to the film isn't too bad - if just a little bit silly and although I think that the bad elements of this film more than outweigh the good, I can see why some enjoy it; though it's not really recommended to Giallo fanatics.

score 5/10

The_Void 15 July 2007

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw1694121/