The Horrible Dr. Hichcock (1962)

Starring Barbara Steele, Robert Flemyng, Silvano Tranquilli, Maria Teresa Vianello, Harriet Medin
Directed by Riccardo Freda
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

Twelve years after the accidental death of his wife, an acclaimed surgeon returns to his mansion with a new bride, who soon becomes convinced the house is haunted.

I viewed the American release of this Italian chiller, which according to film historian Troy Howarth has had scenes cut from the original, which likely explains why I found some of the film's subtexts a little difficult to understand.  The film however is a well-photographed and paced gem, with fine direction by Freda, which keeps the audience guessing as to what is going on.  This isn't one of Steele's greatest roles, playing the victimized second wife, but she's fine in the part, and gives the audience its entryway into the story and central character to follow.  Roman Vlad's music score, although at times a bit simplistic and at others a bit over the top, gives the thriller a worthy musical setting that helped sustain my interest.  I look forward to seeking out the Italian release in hopes of an even richer cinema experience.

The Flesh Eaters (1964)

Starring Martin Kosleck, Byron Sanders, Barbara Wilkin, Rita Morley, Ray Tudor
Directed by Jack Curtis
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

An alcoholic actress, her assistant, and their pilot find themselves stranded on an island where a scientist is performing secret experiments on flesh eating bugs that soon threaten them all.

Curtis delivers an impressively mounted independent horror film, notable for some gory special effects, some of which hold up better than others.  However, the anchor of the film is Kosleck, the familiar 1940s Universal contract player, who makes a marvelous villain, even when pretending to be benevolent, delivering his lines in his sinister European accent.  The rest of the cast aren't in Kosleck's class, but Sanders, Wilkin, and Morley fill their roles relatively well.  The film's creature design is also unique, and Julian Stein's music is memorable, adding to the creepy atmosphere.  I wouldn't say the story is the strongest, incorporating a lot of character stereotypes pulled from other films, but Curtis' direction is more than capable, balancing the shocks with some human drama.  It's a film to be appreciated even with some drawbacks.

The Evil Of Frankenstein (1964)

Starring Peter Cushing, Peter Woodthorpe, Duncan Lamont, Sandor Eles, Katy Wild
Directed by Freddie Francis
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

Victor Frankenstein returns home to his ancestral castle, to find it looted and left in ruins, but when he discovers his creature has been preserved, he seeks to return it to conscious life.

Although this, the second sequel to Hammer's The Curse Of Frankenstein, has Cushing return in the lead role, as well as to the castle featured in Curse, Anthony Hinds' screenplay changes many story elements from the original film.  Frankenstein was never sent to the gallows, but merely exiled, he had no partner in the creation of the creature, and the creature never killed a human being, but animals alone.  In addition to these changes, the film's release by Universal Pictures allowed for the monster's makeup to be tailored more closely to Universal's classic design, and electricity from lightning plays a more prevalent role in the Creature's resurrection.  Although some of the production design harkens back to the earlier Hammer film, there are no other holdovers from the original cast, or from the previous sequel, and Kiwi Kingston replaces Christopher Lee in the role of the monster.  Among the film's assets are a driving title theme by composer Don Banks, although I didn't find his other cues as memorable, and fine photography by John Wilcox, who showcases Roy Ashton's creature makeup dynamically in a number of sequences.  The story, which concerns Frankenstein turning to Woodthorpe's reprobate hypnotist in order to spark the creature's brain activity, I found less interesting than those of the other Frankenstein pictures, and hoped for more continuity with the earlier picture.  However Cushing, Woodthorpe, and the supporting cast are all fine, with Hammer's craftsmen providing convincing settings for the Baron's castle and the Germanic village it shadows over.