In 1910 Scotland, the very wealthy Doctor Hichcock (Elio Jotta) is an invalid. Partially paralyzed he, along with his physician, Dr. Charles Livingstone (Peter Baldwin), is developing a method to cure himself of his ailment. It involves being injected with poison and then drinking an antidote to the poison. With this treatment he is hoping to not only cure himself but others who suffer from paralysis. The hope is that the poison will stimulate his limbs, bringing them back to life. Charles lives at the Hitchcock estate in order to be close to John and monitor his progress.
John’s only enjoyment in life is participating in séances. His housekeeper, Catherine Wood (Harriet Medin), is a medium who is used as a bridge between the living and the dead. John is married to Margaret (Barbara Steele). Margaret and Charles are having an affair. Margaret is tired of being married to John and wants Charles to kill her husband. Charles is hesitant. Eventually, Charles gives in and during one of the experiments, doesn’t give John the antidote to the poison. John dies and is laid in the cemetery’s mausoleum.
The family attorney, Albert Fisher (Alberto Plebani), arrives for the reading of the will. He tells the assembled that John wrote out a new will. In the new will Margaret gets the house, its contents and the surrounding lands, provided she keeps Catherine employed. In addition, she gets one third of John’s other assets, his money. The other two thirds of his assets go to Canon Owens (Umberto Raho), who runs a home for orphaned children. When they go to open the safe to find the money, jewels, stocks and bonds that are supposed to be in it, they can’t find the key. Albert leaves with instructions to notify him when the key is located.
Later Catherine mentions that she had seen John put the key in his pocket a few days before he died, and that he was buried in that jacket. Charles and Margaret go to the Crypt and open the casket. They find the key. When they are opening the safe, to take a bigger share of the money, they are interrupted by a shout from Catherine. Margaret goes to find out what Catherine wants. When she returns Charles tells her that the safe is empty except for some random papers.
Not long after that Margaret begins hearing and experiencing strange things. She begins to believe that John is haunting her. Catherine begins pitting Margaret against Charles indicating that Charles may have taken the contents of the safe. Margaret starts to distrust Charles. The hauntings continue until Margaret, believing her lover is out to cheat her, and John has returned from the grave, loses touch with reality.
“The Ghost” AKA “Lo Spettro” AKA “The Spectre” AKA “Lo Spettro del Dr. Hichcock” was released in 1963 and was directed by Riccardo Freda. It is an Italian gothic horror film.
This was a pretty good little horror film. It’s got all the standard gothic tropes and plot, but it was done in a way that added some interesting turns to the basic premise. It has a lot of nice gothic atmosphere and some actual creepy moments. There may be a couple slower spots, but the tension is strong and unrelenting.
Other than some of the character names, and Barbara Steele, it has no connection to “The Horrible Dr. Hichcock” 1962, which was released the previous year.