'Terror In The Crypt' (1964) - Camillo Mastrocinque.

'Terror In The Crypt' generously boasts two gloriously-breasted starlets, and the looming, venerable presence of horror icon Christopher Lee, whose sepulchral-toned, Count Ludwig adds much verisimilitude to the overtly familiar Karnstein family misfortunes. 'Terror In The Crypt' is a noirish Gothic melodrama, with prolific scrivener Ernesto Gastaldi doing yet another salacious riff on Sheridan le Fanu's immortal blood-spiller 'Camilla'. 

While the film has an admittedly lugubrious pace, this actually sits quite happily against the musty, high contrast, cobwebbed theatrics. Whereas, Jesus Franco will have even less plot, a surfeit of orgiastic flesh and interminable half-hour zooms; DP's, Guiseppe Aquari & Julio Ortas have clearly taken much care over their breathtaking compositions; with their effective use of chiaroscuro lighting, and some impressive, yet wonderfully subtle tracking shots. The striking master shots are equally atmospheric, giving vintage fright fans a glorious gander at all the finely honed Gothic baroque Camillo Mastrocinque has so meticulously crafted. I was also beguiled by Carlo Savina's spare, piano-led score, eerily placing the viewer dead centre within all these macabre machinations! To the uninitiated this all might seem a tad ponderous, but to those of us who still appreciate a rippingly lurid, creep-creeping yarn; wherein buxom, kohl-eyed lovelies cower timorously beneath their vampiric violators, and bloody maleficence creeps beyond the boundaries of death, 'Terror In The Crypt' is a timeless Gothic classic deserving of a little more kudos than it currently generates.