Bezenby This film is so tame that my kids could have watched it from beginning to end without a problem, if their attention span lasted that long. I think it's rated 15 solely based on the brief appearance of Joanna Cassidy's boob. That said, it's not a total waste of time due to the cast and the man in charge. Poor Emilia (Nicoletta Elmi). Her mum got all burned in a fire then took a header out of a window and now her dad's dragging her to Italy to make a film about the devil. He's played by grumpy Richard Johnson who works for the BBC and has become fascinated with a photograph of a painting sent to him by a local countess. The picture seems to depict the devil, a group of angry pitchfork wielding locals, a young girl and a burning woman falling from the sky.Emilia also has a nanny played by Ida Galli, who is in love with Richard, but her hopes are destroyed when Joanna Cassidy turns up to help out Richard. Joanna Cassidy is famous for playing sexy stripper/killer android Zhora in Blade Runner, so you can see why Richard makes a bee-line for her and ignores his daughter's random flashbacks to a previous life. She also has terrible dreams and screaming fits, which is distracting Richard from getting some.The Countess is also psychic and gets a bad vibe from all this stuff with the painting and some mumbo-jumbo about two medallions, and she herself starts doing a bit of investigating. One 'accidental' death later, things come to a head in an ending I'll admit I didn't see coming, but it takes a while to get there.Some people love this one, probably due to the complete lack of trash and the way the film looks absolutely gorgeous. It does look great - Dallamano's films always do, regardless of content (Venus in Furs), but he can also be a bit too laid back when it comes to plot, and for me that happens here. Although it's refreshing that there's no actual exorcism scenes in the latter half of the film, there's also not much substituted in its place and very little supernatural shenanigans. There's also some terrible blue screen effects, but that's by the by.

trashgang This is one of those OOP flicks that many people were searching but at this writing it finally had it's official release on DVD. The flick is fully uncut watchable in Italian or English spoken. Parts that never had a English translation are left in in Italian with English subs. A thing that has been done before with Italian flicks.Don't think that this is going to be a classic giallo because it isn't. It even isn't a gory flick. More about possession. But not in the Exorcist (1973) tradition. Although it also centers around a child this has a more arty way of filming. British reporter Michael Williams (Richard Johnson) has lost his wife in a fire. He's left with his daughter Emily (Nicoletta Elmi). He's gone to Italy together with his daughter and nanny to make a documentary about art but Emily still has weird nightmares due the death of her mother. To make her at ease her father give her a medallion. But things go worse from here.The medolic score also adds towards the atmosphere, piano and guitar doesn't give it a eerie feeling but still things are happening. The score sometimes do remind you of Morricone. The downfall for a lot of horror fans can lay in the fact that the possession takes a while to enter. It's a slow flick, nothing graphic to see. And it do takes until almost the end before the supernatural enters and even that is low. Kudos to Nicoletta Elmi as an 11 year old she gives an excellent performance and was a common face back then in horrors. But she decided to quit in her mid 20s to become a doctor.If you like flicks that are beautifully shot and has a eerie atmosphere then this is your stuff. Gore 1/5 Nudity 0,5/5 Effects 2/5 Story 3/5 Comedy 0/5

Witchfinder General 666 Massimo Dallamano was doubtlessly one of the most gifted filmmakers in Italian 70s cinema, his greatest achievement being the 1972 Giallo-masterpiece "Cosa Avete Fatto A Solange" ("What Have You Done To Solange?"). Prior to his premature death in a car accident in 1976, Dallamano was responsible for a fistful of true classics of Italian 70s cinema including "Solange" and "La Polizia Chiede Aiuto" (1974), and I therefore also had high expectations for this occult Horror gem, "Il Medaglione Insanguinato" aka. "Perché?!"/"The Night Child"/"The Cursed Medallion" of 1975. Well, I must say that my high expectations were easily met, maybe even surpassed by this film, which turned out to be a highly atmospheric, suspenseful and also original gem that is definitely worthy of more attention.Too often are occult Horror films from the first half of the 70s just dismissed as being blatant imitations of "The Exorcist"; this might be true in some cases, but it certainly isn't the case here. Other than the film being about possession and having a child as a central figure, this film has little to nothing do with "The Exorcist". Some time after his wife's tragic death in a fire, British reporter Michael Williams (Richard Johnson) goes to Italy with his daughter Emily (Nicoletta Elmi) and her nanny, in order to do a documentary on art. Little Emily, who, after witnessing her mother's gruesome death, is still haunted by nightmares, is given a beautiful silver medallion, which is supposed to have a mysterious past, by her father. Soon after their arrival, strange things begin to occur...British character actor Michael Williams (whose resemblance to "The Omen" leading man Gregory Peck may be intended or not) delivers a very good performance in the lead, and Joana Cassidy and genre-beauty Ida Galli make a nice female support. The true star of this film, however, is little Nicoletta Elmi, doubtlessly the greatest child star in Italian Horror cinema, who once again proves that children can be great actors - and unspeakably eerie. 11 years old at the time this film was made, Nicoletta Elmi had already starred in a number of brilliant cult-productions including Mario Bava's "Bay of Blood" (1971) and "Baron Blood" (1972), Aldo Lado's Venetian Giallo "Chi L'Ha Vista Morire" (1972), Paul Morrisey's "Flesh For Frankenstein" (1973) and Dario Argento's masterpiece "Profondo Rosso" (1975). While "The Night Child" is not the most brilliant production Elmi has ever been part of (that would be a draw between "Profondo Rosso" and "Flesh for Frankenstein" for me), it was her first and only leading role, and it proves more than any other film what a great talent she was. Elmi quit acting in her mid-20s in order to become a doctor."Il Medaglione Insanguinato" is a film as beautiful as it is eerie. Fantastically photographed on beautiful and impressive settings, and with fascinating set-pieces, this is another film that proves that Italian Horror is as visually overwhelming as cinema gets. The film maintains a haunting and creepy atmosphere from the first minute to the end, the generally eerie mood is intensified by several nightmarish and downright frightening sequences. Eerie, haunting and beautiful, this is yet another great film by the great Massimo Dallamano. Standing ovations for the tremendously gifted Nicoletta Elmi. 8.5/10

OnePlusOne Taihei Yasui's Freudian reading and subsequent criticism of Il Medaglione insanguinato in the previous posting, is undoubtedly interesting. However I do feel it's a bit over ambitious. In many of these Italian genre films Freudian thematics are loose points of departure rather than actual work methods as seen with, say, Arthur Schnitzler or ETA Hoffmann. Furthermore these directors often treated classical dramatic constructions and story line logics very much the same way, that is, as a mere basis for experimenting with the given genre themes. Personally I find this period in European cinema thoroughly refreshing. And to me, Il Medaglione insanguinato certainly is no exception. Logical or not, Freudian or not, it is certainly a psychological thriller but it is draped in the quite appealing aesthetics of an near surrealistic Gothic ghost story. It stands out among it's peers today above all thanks to a beautiful rural cinematography, solemn performances by solid genre stalwarts, and a sublime score. Ultimately Massimo Dallamano's dreamlike direction renders a the film a tragical nightmare-ish tranquility which to me makes the film exceed it's limitations.