Spirits of Death
Spirits of Death (/ translation: "A White Dress for Mariale") is a 1972 Italian film directed by Romano Scavolini and starring Ida Galli, Ivan Rassimov and Luigi Pistilli. The film was also released as "Exorcisme Tragique" ("Tragic Exorcism"). Plot. As a child, Mariale witnesses the murder of her mother at her father's hands. She later becomes a recluse, living by herself in a dark, gloomy castle. Mariale decides to invite some friends over for the weekend and stages a decadent orgiastic party. Then a series of grisly murders begin to occur. Style. Although the film is often  described as a "giallo", film historian Roberto Curti stated it only becomes a violent murder mystery about an hour into the film. Curti described the "giallo" trademarks of violent murders and a twist ending are marginal when compared to other films of the genre at the time. Curti opined the film was one like a perverse "kammerspiel" which borrowed from both gothic and avant-garde theatre. Production. Following his return from Vietnam where he was a freelance photographer, director Romano Scavolini returned to his native Italy where he started his film career again as a genre filmmaker. Release. "Spirits of  Death" was released in Italy on 30 November 1972. The film grossed 65.564 million Italian lire in Italy on its release. When the film was released in France, it was titled "Exorcisme tragique" to try and bank on the popular success of "The Exorcist". Reception. In a retrospective review, Curti stated that Scavolini's direction and Fiorenzo Carpi's score "cannot overcome the script's many shortcoming–namely, sketchily developed characters, pretentious dialogue, heavy-handed symbolism." Scavolini later referred to the film as a film "which only deserves to be forgotten"