⭐️⭐️1/2
With his wife’s health faltering, Paul (Naschy) brings her to his ancestral home so she can recover. This being a Naschy film, his ancestor was a right bastard shown in the opening slaughtering his buck-naked wife for being unfaithful. Dude’s name was Alaric de Marnad… he was destined to be an awful human. Afterwards, he killed the children that weren’t his and got to practicing witchcraft with a side of Devil worship. But that was centuries ago, that can’t bring any danger in the present… right? Especially to a sick woman with a weak heart. Right? Come on. Geneviéve begins seeing things and it looks like the angry spirit of her husband’s ancestor is hanging around the home, looking to carry on with his violent activities. Before they even arrive, Paul has to go walk to town to get gas, leaving his wife with the car. Bandits (there’s always bandits) almost have their way with her but luckily Paul comes back in time to kick some bandit ass (he always kicks some bandit ass). So, this trip ain’t starting off that great. While this is going on the elderly housekeeper and her pretty niece Julie talk about the house’s history and the incredibly awful human that once called it home. The niece and Paul exchange some smoldering looks when he arrives. That’s probably important. Paul heads to Paris on business for a couple of days and that’s the perfect time for the ghost knight to make his presence felt. This causes an episode and necessitates Paul’s quick return from Paris. Although, nobody believes the woman actually saw the ghost standing in her door. Is she insane? No. Obviously not. But is it an actual haunting? Well, you know the extreme lengths scumbags will take their gaslighting to in horror films… especially Euro-horror but that doesn’t necessarily mean the veil has not been pierced. A familiar plot benefits from the presence of Paul Naschy and a few bits of nastiness but it doesn’t really offer up too many thrills in its first hour. Impressively throwing out its reveal much earlier than expected and giving us a final third worth our time.
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