Mario Bava

Mario Bava’s directorial debut. A hybrid mystery and mad-scientist picture. In contemporary Paris, young women turn up drained of blood. The press screams vampire. Dario Michaelis plays a reporter determined to uncover the truth. The case leads to his estranged cousin, her gothic castle, and the secrets they hold.

Like Lust of the Vampire, an uncredited Mario Bava assumed the director’s chair after the credited director abandoned the project. The plot concerns the first atomic rocket mission into space. The pilot runs into unexplained trouble and has to abandon the mission. I feared this would devolve into a cheap Quatermass knock-off, but I’m pleased to report we’re not subjected to any laughable rubber-suited aliens.

Any film starring Christopher Lee as a ghost, whipping a half-nude woman as she moans in ecstasy can’t be all bad.

At an Italian fashion house, a group of models finds themselves stalked by a mysterious masked killer.