Science is pitted against faith when Dr. Paul Eswai (Giancomo Rossi Stuart) arrives in a small 19th-century town where a young woman has perished mysteriously. Chafing against the superstitious beliefs of the villagers, the doctor soon has his own worldview called into question as all signs point toward supernatural interference in the residents’ daily lives. Having established the giallo (Italian thriller-horror) genre three years prior with his The Girl Who Knew Too Much, director Mario Bava perfects the form here with a film whose influence has been cited by Fellini, Scorsese, Coppola, del Toro, Lynch, Tarantino, and countless others. “In Bava’s movies, you’re never safe—the terrors don’t wait around until the climax to spook you. They’re always there.” —Alan Scherstuhl, The Village Voice.
