MovieChat Forums > La maschera del demonio (1961) Discussion > Style over Substance

Style over Substance

posted 9 years ago by jonhopper217
5 replies | jump to latest

For years I thought I had seen this, so decided to rewatch last night and realized I hadn't. It is hyped by many as one of the best horror movies of all-time and this will now be a riddle I'll never solve. Aside from the films beautiful cinematography, it's a complete mess. The acting is atrocious, the lines feel like they are all repeated over and over. I know it's only a 90 minute film, but could easily have been 35-40 minutes and a wonderful short. The dubbing isn't anyone's fault, but it is distracting. I know Bava, Argento and the Hammer films are beloved by some horror fans, but I simply can't sit through poor acting and silly dialogue. Would be interested to see it in Italian, but I doubt it would be any better. Sadly disappointed.

[–] nashknight-1 9 years ago

Agreed, the visuals are nice but the movie is unoriginal and terribly boring

[–] ElectricWarlock 9 years ago

It really doesn't offer anything new plotwise. We've seen the same plot recycled a hundred times before and after. But these kinds of movies are what I live for so the plot being similar to many others doesn't really bother me. It's like if pizza was your favorite food, odds are you're going to like it each time no matter who prepares it because you just love all the ingredients together. That's how I feel about liking so many films with the same plot elements. The more I watched the film the more I grew to love the scenery, atmosphere, and suspense. It also has Barbara Steele who's one of my favorite actresses so I can't complain.

[–] jonhopper217 9 years ago

Barbara Steele > Pizza any day, haha!

[–] Satantangoandcash 8 years ago

The plot and the dialogue are terrible, but the lighting and set design and cinematography in this are really outstanding. Sometimes style is the only substance of a horror movie, and I can live with that if the style is this good.

[–] trevorh321 (5495) 2 years ago

The opening scene is the best part and promises a memorable film. But the rest of it, while having some nice spooky scenes, never lives up to it. It's a decent film. 6/10