.jpeg)
For years, classic horror film fans such as myself have been begging for a major restoration and home video release of THE GHOST (original Italian title LO SPETTRO), the 1963 Gothic melodrama from director Riccardo Freda. The fact that THE GHOST also starred the iconic Barbara Steele made the film's status even more important for film geeks. The Severin company has come through by backing a restoration of the movie themselves and presenting it on a 4K/Blu-ray four-disc set stuffed with extras.
Putting all the bells & whistles on the set aside for the moment, this restoration of THE GHOST is a major achievement. Up until now the film could easily be accessed on YouTube or various streaming sites, but the movie's color scheme was faded, and the overall visual quality was murky and flat. Severin's THE GHOST is much brighter and livelier, with bold colors and an increased sharpness that brings out the costumes and production design. THE GHOST didn't have a large budget, but it certainly doesn't look cheap, especially on this new Blu-ray.
THE GHOST is a follow-up to Riccardo Freda's THE HORRIBLE DR. HICHCOCK, but it is not a sequel to that film, despite the fact that it features another Dr. Hichcock who also happens to be married to a woman played by Barbara Steele. (I like to think that the two Dr. Hichcocks are cousins--they certainly have the same taste in women.) The Dr. Hichcock of THE GHOST (Elio Jotta) is wheelchair-bound, and the only thing keeping him alive is a poisonous concoction of his own creation. Hichcock is administered the antidote to this potion by a handsome young doctor named Charles (Peter Baldwin), who is carrying on an affair with Hichcock's much younger wife Margaret (Barbara Steele). Mrs. Hichcock convinces Charles to do her husband in, which he does, and the duo assume that Margaret will now inherit her husband's vast wealth. But the money cannot be found, and as the devious couple search all over the Hichcock estate for it, they start to turn on one another. They also experience various manifestations that make them wonder if Dr. Hichcock is still alive or has come back as a vengeful spirit. Charles and Margaret are also constantly watched by Hichcock's baleful maid (Harriet White Medin). In the end, Hichcock, Margaret, Charles, and the maid all get what they deserve, but not what each of them wanted.
THE GHOST is a much more slower-paced and somber film than THE HORRIBLE DR. HICHCOCK. THE GHOST has only four major characters, and nearly the entire film takes place inside the vast Hichcock manor. This still gives Riccardo Freda plenty of chances to indulge in a heavy Gothic atmosphere, and to wallow in the cruel beauty of Barbara Steele. THE GHOST is one of the great Italian Gothics, with one very nasty scene of violence and an extremely ironic twist ending.
Sevrerin's version of THE GHOST on this set is provided with English and Italian voice tracks, along with English subtitles. The Blu-ray on this set is Region Free. The set has a special slipcover (see photo above). The movie is presented on a 4K disc and a Blu-ray disc.
As for the extras, there's plenty of them. The Blu-ray disc with the actual movie also has a number of programs. "Til Death Returns" is a 22 minute talk with Italian film historian Roberto Curti, who goes into the making of THE GHOST, and also discusses the career of Riccardo Freda. "Give Up The Ghost" is a 28 minute featurette narrated by Tim Lucas. Lucas examines the film's elements and compares its links to THE HORRIBLE DR. HICHCOCK. "Wounds of Deceit" is a rambling essay on the movie, running about 11 minutes and narrated by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas.
The movie disc also has footage from special showings of THE GHOST at movie festivals in Venice and Paris in 2025. This footage is enlivened by the appearance of Barbara Steele herself, who comes off as very hale, hearty, and quite articulate. For years Steele had the reputation of being indifferent or even hostile to her horror film past, but in this footage she seems to have finally appreciated or at least accepted it. (I'm sure the folks at Severin went out of their way to give her the grand treatment as well.)
There's also an audio interview with Barbara Steele that runs about 40 minutes (it is set up to run along with the film). I don't know the circumstances of the interview, or when it was recorded, but it sounds as if it was done recently--I assume it happened in conjunction with the festival showings of the restoration of THE GHOST. Once again Steele seems more than happy to discuss her horror film past, and she even goes into her own personal life as well. The movie disc also has a new audio commentary by Kat Ellinger, which I haven't listened to yet. American and Italian trailers for the film are included, and the Italian one is of particular interest, since it has footage that is not in the existing version of the movie.
The third disc on this set contains an 80 minute documentary on 1960s Italian Gothic horror films entitled EXECUTIONERS, MASKS, SECRETS. It is an Italian production, with English subtitles. It's a decent look at this genre, with Italian and French critics discussing the main elements of the Italian Gothic. Barbara Steele appears in this as well, and she even speaks Italian! The documentary has footage from a number of films, but it's obvious that rights issues limited what could be shown. Those who do not know much about Italian Gothic cinema will probably enjoy this picture the most.
The fourth disc is a CD, and it contains film music from composer Francesco De Masi, including most of his score for THE GHOST. It also has De Masi's music from three other films, which are not Gothics....as a matter of fact, they're movies I haven't even heard of. The music is in stereo, and there's about 70 minutes of it. The disc case contains a card which has a track listing for the CD on one side, and the other has a photo which is probably the ultimate definition of Barbara Steele's career in horror films (see below).
When I was a teenager back in the 1980s, seeing any of Barbara Steele's horror films was almost impossible. Image Entertainment's special edition DVD of BLACK SUNDAY was almost the equivalent of the Holy Grail. Now with Severin's incredible restoration and release of THE GHOST, every single one of Barbara Steele's Italian Gothics is available officially on Blu-ray. Severin's special edition of THE GHOST was supposed to show up before the end of 2025, and if it had, it would have easily topped my "best of the year" Blu-ray list. It'll certainly be on my 2026 list. Even if there wasn't any enticing extras, the magnificent restoration of THE GHOST alone would deserve fulsome praise. Any fan of Gothic horror cinema needs this Blu-ray. (For those who are put off by the four-disc set's price, or feel that they don't need all the extras, it appears that a standard edition Blu-ray of THE GHOST will be coming from Severin in the future.)
Great review! "the cruel beauty of Barbara Steele" I love it! And that's an apt description if I've ever heard one. I haven't yet watched the film on Blu-ray or with the Italian track. I always love to hear Barbara getting interviewed, even though she tends to repeat some stories over and over. But to be honest, interviewers and fans tend to ask her the same questions over and over. It's interesting that she doesn't say very much about her personal life, especially relationships. She rarely talks about her husband, and mostly she's mentioned what happened to them professionally concerning the film They Shoot Horses, Don't They?. She's never said anything about Anthony Quinn, even though the two are seen together in photos from the late 1950s. She seems to guard her privacy, and I have to admire her for it. So many celebrities take delight in telling everything they ever did. As for The Ghost, I never knew it existed until I read that article about her in the book Scream Queens. It never showed up on TV in the 1970s even though The Horrible Dr. Hichcock and Nightmare Castle played quite often. I got my first copy from Sinister Cinema on VHS.
ReplyDelete