The Vampire of the Opera

The Vampire of the Opera (Italian: Il mostro dell'opera; lit. 'The Monster of the Opera') is a 1964 Italian horror film co-written and directed by Renato Polselli and starring Marco Mariani and Giuseppe Addobbati.

The Vampire of the Opera
Italian film poster
Directed byRenato Polselli[1]
Screenplay by
Story by
  • Renato Polselli
  • Ernesto Gastaldi[1]
Starring
CinematographyUgo Brunelli[1]
Edited byOtello Colangeli[1]
Music byAldo Piga[1]
Production
company
Nord Inudstrial Film[1]
Distributed byNord Industrial
Release date
  • June 30, 1964 (1964-06-30) (Italy)
Running time
85 minutes[1]
CountryItaly

Plot

Cast

Production

The film had a very troubled production. Produced by Rossano Brazzi's brother, Oscar Brazzi, shooting started in 1961, but because of budget issues it was ended only in 1964.[1][2]

Initially conceived as a sequel of Polselli's 1960 horror film The Vampire and the Ballerina,[2] it had the working title "Il vampiro dell'opera" (lit. 'The Vampire of the Opera'), but because of the diminished interest of Italian audience in vampire films, when released it was eventually renamed, replacing the world vampire with monster ("mostro").[1]

Ernesto Gastaldi is credited as screenwriter, but according to him, he wrote only the treatment and made a few corrections to the script.[3][4] The film was shot in Narni.[1]

Release

The Vampire of the Opera was released in Italy on June 30, 1964 where it was distributed by Nord Industrial.[1]

Reception

In his book Italian Horror Film Directors, Louis Paul noted the similarities with Polselli's The Vampire and the Ballerina, both in "his fascination with full-bodied voluptuous actresses as well as the cheap and exploitative premise."[2] Similarly, Roberto Curti described the film as a variation on The Vampire and the Ballerina and on The Playgirls and the Vampire by Piero Regnoli, "i.e., a pretext for showing scantily clad young women, with a little hint of lesbianism to spice up the proceedings."[3][4]

References

Footnotes
  1. Curti 2015, p. 135.
  2. Paul 2005, p. 19.
  3. Curti 2015, p. 136.
  4. Curti 2015, p. 137.

Sources
  • Curti, Roberto (2015). Italian Gothic Horror Films, 1957–1969. McFarland. ISBN 978-1-4766-1989-7.
  • Paul, Louis (2005). Italian Horror Film Directors. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-8749-3.
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