qmtv The Story is severely sub par. Decent atmosphere, locations, acting, cinematography, and music Best part of the movie is its atmosphere. It has great locations, and decent cinematography. The music is good. The acting is good. But the story is lacking severely. It's just very slow and people just show up, and things just happen. The story needed a lot of work.Rating is a C/B-, or a 5. Worth a watch for the atmosphere. There are a few twists and turns.

Red-Barracuda When I discovered there was a film called Diary of an Erotic Murderess starring the ludicrously gorgeous Marisa Mell I was obviously going to be interested. Having seen it, it would only be fair to say that it does not live up to the promise of its title plus its star. But hey ho, it still has its moments and is a decent enough Spanish psychological thriller. In it, Gina - played by Marisa Mell - is a con artist who is hired by a millionaire to work as a nanny looking after his deranged son. She soon realises that her considerable charms are a route to the old man's money, so she concocts a plan to get her hands on it. This involves the finding of a secret diary written by the millionaire's late wife; a journal that tells tales of her husband's abuse and her plans to murder him. But like most films of this type, events do not go entirely to plan.Well, despite the title, this one isn't really too erotic unfortunately. Its chief selling point is Marisa Mell though. She was something of a cult actress who starred in a number of interesting Euro flicks, most notably Mario Bava's Danger: Diabolik. This one, along with the superior The Great Swindle, is a Spanish thriller where she was given the lead role. But even though she is a compelling presence, this movie never amounts to as much as its potential suggests it might. It's a fairly standard unremarkable psychological thriller overall, although it does have some bizarre aspects that admittedly don't really go anywhere. For instance Gina is researching the subject of Galician witches and in doing so discovers that the Holy Grail is present somewhere in the mansion she now lives. This incredible plot development is covered in a bizarrely understated manner but it doesn't really lead to anything much ultimately. Overall the mood is quite laid-back, partially because of Carlo Savina's lush score. But despite all this it does end on a commendably disturbing note. This one is probably best left to fans of Ms Mell; otherwise it's not overly memorable.

morrison-dylan-fan Reciving a tremendous small bundle of movies from a very kind IMDber,my first reaction when seeing the name of this title,was that the film was probably some kind of Emanuelle spin-off!.Deciding to dig a bit deeper for info,I was shocked to discovering that the film was actually a rather strange Crime Drama starring Marisa Mell.Having heard a lot about Mell's work with director Mario Bava,I decided that I would use this film to see the "Diabolik" beauty of Marisa Mell.The plot:Struggling to cope with the restless,violent behaviour of his now mute son,and also sharing the pain with his son (Richard),of his wife/Richard's mum sudden death,Alexander decides to go on the hunt for a new maid,who along with helping to keep his castle-like mansion in order,will also hopefully bring a much needed "woman's touch" to the place.Checking through all of the job ads,Alexander cant believe his eyes,when he sees an ad for a woman (Gina) who wants to be a maid and offers all the services that Alexander could ever imagine!.Arriving to the mansion with ravishing clothes and her head held high,Alexander instantly starts attempting to do some "moves" on Gina,due to her looking like a very liberated woman.Despite his best attempts,Gina firmly puts her hand down on Alexander,and tells him that she is here to work and nothing more.Feeling uneasy about having Alexander and Richard desiring to get a "piece of her",Gina soon begins to plan on "taking the mask off",when she learns the shocking secret that the mansion contains The Holy Grail…View on the film:Initially starting out with strong hints of going in the "reincarnation" route that Brian De Palma would go a year later with his brilliant Obsession,the four screenwriters, (deep breath!:Emilio Martinez Lazaro,Rafael Moreno Alba,Mario Siciliano and Manuel Mur Oti) smartly use The Holy Grail as a tantalising Maguffin,to smoothly change genres from a possible reincarnation,haunted house movie,to becoming a psychological Crime film,filled with terrificly dark backstabbing (not literally) murders.For what would be one of his last three performances,Richard Conte gives a great stubborn performance as "elder of the mansion" Alexander,who originally appearing much more sane than his son Richard, (played by a wonderfully nerving Anthony Steffen) actually turns out to be on almost the same page as him,from trying to force himself onto Gina,to deciding that the only way to "cure" his increasingly insane son,is to treat him like a dog and lock him up in a self-made cell.Backed by Conte,Steffen and co-writer/director Manuel Mur Oti obsessive focus on her beauty,Marisa Mell shines from the moment she walks up the mansion stairs,to the agonised,freeze-frame ending.Despite 8 minutes worth of racy footage being sadly cut due to the Spanish censorship of the Franco era,Mell still gives an extremely charismatic performance as the conniving and cunning Gina,who whist being seen as kind and caring on the outside,is very well shown by Mell to be someone who is always hiding a dark ulterior motive behind her beautiful,delicately chiselled face.

goblinhairedguy Despite its seen-it-a-million-times plot concerning a sexy con artist (Marisa Mell) who inveigles herself into a wealthy old man's morbid household, this Euro psycho-thriller is just creepy enough to be absorbing for most of its running time. The old guy (played by the moribund Richard Conte, whose huge earlobes dominate his scenes) has a mute son prone to violent fits whenever reminded of his deceased mama (whom the crook, naturally, resembles). To complicate matters, there's a bastard son and an ex-husband looking for a piece of the action. Most outrageous, though, is that fact that the mansion's most valuable asset is the Holy Grail itself -- a point which is stated so matter-of-factly that one wonders about the accuracy of the translation. The plot features a few neat twists, including a final sting in its tail that will revive you if you've given up on the picture. Of course, the main reason for watching is the dissolute but utterly luscious Mell (best known for her role in Bava's Diabolik), who dominates proceedings with her intelligent grace, knockout looks and subtle ruthlessness. Unfortunately, several nude scenes have obviously been shown from the American print with equal ruthlessness.