A creature stalks the corridors of an abandoned mansion. Two friends break in and discover that all exits have been sealed off and the creature that hunts them is growing hungry for their blood; there is no escape.

Photographer and student of Architectural Archaeology Tracy (Makenna Guyler) and her friend Petra (Marta Tananyan) explore an apparently abandoned villa in Turin, Italy, only to discover it is not as empty as they’d thought. Tripwires alert the resident to their presence. It is a phantom-like man with a partially-covered face (Mario Cellini) that hunts them through the house, which is inexplicably locked from the outside. They must try to survive and escape, with the help of Alex (Emanuele Turetta), a robber that himself became trapped in the mansion after a failed attempt to burgle the mansion the night before.

Meanwhile, an older gentleman (Franco Olivero) pays a woman to give blood which he takes away in a … blood bag.

This is an Italian horror film definitely inspired by the films of Dario Argento.  In fact, one of the minor characters wears a Deep Red t-shirt. Bright, garish colors wash across the victims, dim, murky lights hide the villains.

The music design (Fabio Di Santo) is excellent, reminiscent of Danny Elfman and Wax Fang.

The characters are pretty bland, and at first I thought it might be a comedy, as it opens with a group of students quipping and joking and teasing Tracy. But once the girls get into the house it’s all serious.

The film opens with the text:

Gunther Disease (med.) a rare, recessive, metabolic disease affecting heme. Its main symptoms include anemia and extreme skin photosensitivity.  It is believed to be the origin of the vampire myth.

Oh no, an ugly person who needs a manicure is touching me!

This sort of gives the game up. The “Creature” (as it is credited) has this disease and must hide from the light and drink blood to survive. He is kept in the apparently empty villa by what’s left of his family, hidden away and partially masked to hide his deformity.

This is basically a story where a disability makes a person into a monster, and I think the genre would be a better place if this trope just went away. Even though the creature is a misunderstood monster somewhere between Frankenstein‘s monster and the Phantom of the Opera, he’s still a monstrous killer, hidden and fed by killers.

That aside, it’s not a bad movie. The tension and the stakes are high, the acting is competent if bland, and the cinematography is strong enough to keep my attention — though the Argento-ness of it was occasionally distracting.

Not great, not terrible, but as long as your expectations aren’t too high it can be enjoyable. Except for that whole disability trope, of course. If that sort of thing annoys you as much as it does me, then give it a miss and check out the original Argento’s Suspiria instead.