Rainey Dawn
Another film from the Drive-in 50-pack collection. It's under the name "The Murder Mansion" in the pack. It's actually one of the better films in the collection. The movie is far from outstanding but it's actually a decent film. A pleasant surprise in the collection - it is entertaining. It's a horror-thriller with a bit of mystery thrown in. Worth watching if you ever happen to find it on TV or in a movie pack.A group of people get blinded by the thick, thick fog... they cannot drive further. They end up in a creepy mansion and wind up staying the night there. The owner tells them some weird stories and strange things begin to happen. Is it ghosts? Is it vampires? You'll have to watch to find out.Good story to watch late at night.6.5/10
Red-Barracuda
A group of strangers wind up at a remote mansion one foggy night. Soon they are terrorized by a ghostly chauffeur and vampiric old woman.This is a pretty solid Spanish flick that combines the feel of a thriller with spooky supernatural horror. It opens in such a way as you would be forgiven for thinking that you were in for some giallo mayhem, seeing as it quickly introduces us to a selection of shady characters. But pretty soon after the action moves to the fog enclosed environs of an old dark house and creepy graveyard. The combination of the two strands of film type works pretty well all-in-all with a decent enough amount of intrigue in the set-up and some quite effective scary moments. The latter is covered almost exclusively by the appearances of the two ghosts, who are utilised well. In particular, a scene where a woman turns in bed to be confronted face to face with the scary old woman is pretty spine tingling. The focus is really more on spookiness in general, as there isn't a lot of sex and violence in this one. Which isn't entirely surprising really considering this was made in Franco's Spain, in a climate that was very conservative about such matters. The cast of actors is good enough, with the star turn being Evelyn Stewart who appeared in several Italian pictures from the time including a very memorable role in the excellent giallo The Case of the Scorpion's Tail.So all-in-all a somewhat under-appreciated film. It hardly breaks the mould but it does what it does well enough. Spanish films from the 70's tended to be poorer relations to their Italian equivalents. And while this one has its weaknesses, it is certainly one of the stronger Spanish thrillers from the period.
HumanoidOfFlesh
A group of people are getting lost in the fog and they end up in a creepy looking Murder Mansion where 'zombies' of chauffeur and his ghostly madame roam during the night in the search of their prey.Who is behind the mystery of Murder Mansion?Pretty tame and non-exploitative Gothic Spanish/Italian co-production.The film lacks blood and nudity and this is quite surprising.There are some subtle lesbian overtones,but no lesbian sex.The climax in which two main characters Frank & Laura expose the odd scheme is slightly disappointing,though.Still if you are into groovy 70's Eurohorror you have to check this Gothic chiller with Scooby Doo plot.7 foggy mansions out of 10.
Scarecrow-88
Modestly entertaining spook-house chiller has a various group of motorists finding themselves crashed nearby a cemetery thanks to a thickening fog that has engulfed them. Near the unattended graveyard is a manor once home to a rumored-to-be witch who, along with her chauffeur, died in a car crash three decades earlier. Their spirits perhaps roam the grounds as a car, being driven by a man dressed in a chauffeur's uniform, almost runs over handsome motorcyclist Fred(Andrés Resino)who was attempting to flag the driver down. Fred is carrying a lovely hitchhiker, Laura(Lisa Leonardi), as they found themselves crashing near the graveyard. Before their unfortunate accident, wealthy heiress, Elsa(..beautiful red-head Analía Gadé), recently recovering from a nervous breakdown due to the death of her father(..who died of a heart-attack while having sex with a much younger woman), was driving to a village to meet clients, Mr & Mrs Tremont(Eduardo Fajardo & Yelena Samarina)but, also runs off the road and into an embankment near the graveyard, encountering two sinister beings shrouded in darkness, one in a chauffeur's hat and boots, with a female figure slightly behind him. Incredibly frightened, Elsa runs into Fred and Laura. The trio find the manor, discovering that the Tremonts inside, having been in a wreck with another motorist, a gun-toting, sports-car driving, alcoholic, skirt-chasing, weak-hearted Mr. Porter(Franco Fantasia)who came on to Laura a little strong when he had initially picked her up on the side of the road. This group finds that the manor has an owner, the mysterious, enigmatic Martha Clinton(Ida Galli;Case of the Scorpion's Tale, Seven Notes in Black), who carries a striking resemblance to her aunt(..her portrait hangs above the fireplace in the living room of the manor). Martha dotes on the folklore behind her ancestor, the claims of vampirism and witchcraft and how these things drove locals from the location elsewhere. Over the night, Elsa will be targeted by the eerie chauffeur and Aunt Clinton, as she slowly is driven mad, but why? Why would the spirits of Clinton and her chauffeur wish to drive Elsa crazy? Meanwhile Fred and Laura snoop around, wishing to understand more about their surroundings and the chauffeur who almost run him over.Important sub-plot is introduced in the early going, regarding Elsa's very unhappy husband Ernest(Alberto Dalbés), who is having an affair with another woman. Ernest was once wealthy as well, but spent his money on women and drink. Ernest mentions to his devoted lover how he'd like to split from Elsa, but her financial support is hard to give up. This isn't just thrown in the movie for filler, and could very well tie into the future events of the movie. The cast is decent and the dubbing is bearable. The film flirts with the supernatural, but the overall story isn't that overwhelming. The whole film lives and breathes familiarity...you have seen it all before, over and over. Perhaps the film offers surprises for viewers who are not accustomed to these type of old dark house mysteries where something's afoot, but I believe most will find this merely an adequate time-waster, nothing special or mind-blowing. Could've been a lot worse, but I have a pretty good feeling most will forget about this movie soon after it's over. Elsa's story is emphasized more than everyone else's.
