Darkling_Zeist Fun spooky house horror, replete with Nut-bag aunts and all manner of requisite Italian genre lunacy; produced by Lucio Fulci and directed with "relative" competency by Mario 'Burial Ground' Bianchi. The film takes a wee while to come to the boil, but when it finally does reach body temperature it rewards the more patient viewer; also includes a delightful shower scene with the buxom Jessica Moore which certainly doesn't detract from the overall entertainment value. Truth be known this is far more amusing to watch than many of the Fulci-helmed horror's from the similar era; should be of greater interest to those who simply must watch every 80's Italian schlocker. When all is said and done I personally found much to enjoy with 'Murder Secret' (1988) and the zesty electronic score certainly didn't go unnoticed! (Might be time for a Bianchi horror box set)

HumanoidOfFlesh The plot of "The Murder Secret" begins with Richard Hamilton(played by Gabriele Tinti)receiving a letter from his long lost and psychotic Aunt Martha inviting him and his family to visit her at her remote countryside villa.Together he and his wife Nora,their older children Georgia and Charles and their younger son Maurice decide to stay at Aunt Martha's villa.Upon their arrival Aunt Martha is nowhere to be found and the Hamilton's are instead received by the outwardly friendly yet decidedly creepy Thomas who claims that he is Aunt Martha's caretaker and that she will join them shortly.Soon series of bloody murders is set in motion..."Don't Be Afraid of Aunt Martha" by Mario Bianchi is an alright slasher/giallo with three extremely bloody murder scenes including chainsaw decapitation of a young boy.The acting is okay and the plot is entertaining.If you liked similarly gore and nudity laden Andrea Bianchi's "Massacre" give this one a chance.7 crazy aunts out of 10.

lazarillo Your enjoyment of this film 80's Italian horror flick will probably depend somewhat on your expectations. If you're expecting a superior Lucio Fulci film (Fulci produced this), you'll probably be somewhat disappointed (but to be fair it's really no worse than a lot of the stuff the gore-master himself was directing at the end of his career). On the other hand though, if you've seen any of the previous work of Mario Bianchi, the actual director of this (for instance, his deadly dull "Satan's Baby Doll") you'll no doubt find this one comparatively entertaining.A family, consisting of a father (Gabriele "Mr. Laura Gemser" Tinti), his second wife (Adriana Russo), and his three children--a young son, a voluptuous "teenage" daughter (Jessica Moore), and his adult son who shows up later--all drive out to a secluded family estate to meet the father's "Aunt Martha" who has just been released after spending thirty years in a mental institution for the criminally insane. Naturally this sounds like bad idea, but if dumb characters didn't do dumb stuff like this, we'd have a lot less gory horror movies. The place is managed by a creepy caretaker and "Aunt Martha's" arrival is mysteriously delayed. Meanwhile, all kinds of strange things begin to occur. . .This movie is not very well paced as almost all the murders take place in a ten minute period near the end. They're suitably gory at least--one thing I like about the Italians is that they have no compunctions about doing things like decapitating annoying child actors with chainsaws. Tinti is always enjoyable, even in roles like this where he's not making "the beast with two backs" with his more famous wife. Russo and Moore both have memorable nude scenes. I think the former might be the sister of the voluptuous Carmen Russo (they look a lot alike anyway) while the latter appeared in several Joe D'Amato movies like "11 Days, 11 Nights" and "Convent of Sinners". (Here she takes a very long and very hot shower that all by itself might be worth the price of admission). Unlike most latter-day Fulci films or Bianchi's earlier "Satan's Baby Doll", this is not yet available on legitimate DVD. But it really ought to be.

gridoon After spending 30 years in a mental hospital, aunt Martha is free to leave and writes a letter to her relatives, inviting them to spend a weekend on her isolated country house. But when they get there, they meet only the caretaker, who informs them that their aunt has not arrived yet....After 50 slow minutes of virtually NOTHING HAPPENING, there are a few gory murders, and then it's time for the twisted secrets and nonsensical plot revelations. As it often happens in these Italian horror films, there is a very atmospheric score, which actually does most of the director's work for him. And I must mention that the actress who plays the daughter (Jessica Moore) is really hot. There are two scenes of her checking herself out in the mirror, and let me tell you, this girl has every right to be proud of what she sees. (*1/2)