Bloody Pit Of Horror (1965)

Starring Mickey Hargitay, Walter Brandi, Luisa Baratto, Ralph Zucker, Rita Klein
Directed by Massimo Pupillo
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

A pulp fiction publisher brings a group of beautiful models to a castle for a photo shoot, unaware that it's the resting place of the legendary Crimson Executioner, who tortured victims centuries before.

Purportedly based on the writings of the Marquis de Sade, this Italian tale of innocents tortured by the supposed "ghost" of the Crimson Executioner, stars Hargitay, the famed bodybuilder who married Jayne Mansfield, and he's pretty over the top, but I felt that he didn't have the best dialogue to make his character's intentions and motivations clear.  There's not much depth to the other characters either, whom we don't really get to know before they're murdered or become objects of torture.  Colorfully photographed, the film is often beautiful to look at, despite the distasteful torture scenes, and goes through a few shifts in tone, with the footage of the photo shoot pretty light-hearted with some rather silly music before the violence begins.  Some care was taken in designing a number of tortuous death traps, with a giant spider web protected by deadly trip wires particularly impressive visually.  There's also some quality moments of suspense during the torture scenes, but I found these uncomfortable to watch, and not my kind of entertainment.  Overall, I think the film looks great and I enjoyed the music score, but think that the script and Hargitay's performance were not of the same quality.

Terror-Creatures From The Grave (1965)

Starring Barbara Steele, Walter Brandi, Marilyn Mitchell, Alfred Rice, Richard Garrett
Directed by Ralph Zucker
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

A lawyer visits a scientist's villa to assist him in drawing up a will, only to discover he's been dead a year, and his associates are now dying under mysterious circumstances.

We have here another foray into Italian gothic horror for actress Barbara Steele, that ranks among her best films, although her part is really a supporting role.  A strong mystery story and memorable music score make this film a winner, although it's unfortunate that the filmmakers didn't choose to go all out in depicting the creatures of the title in the film's harrowing climax.  Perhaps in explanation of this, IMDB indicates that the actual director of the film, Massimo Pupillo, took his name off the film, affording the directing credit to Zucker, the film's producer.