There is no denying that our childhoods play a very large part in who we become as adults. The proof is in the quasi-giallo pudding when looking at the titular character in A White Dress for Marialé (1972) – it has also been known as Spirits of Death and Tragic Exorcism.
Directed by Romano Scavolini, the aforementioned Marialé (Ida Galli, aka Evelyn Stewart) had a traumatic childhood – witnessing the murder of her mother and lover by her father, only for the patriarch to turn the gun on himself after offing the secretive couple. Finding herself in an equally as toxic relationship with Paolo (Luigi Pistilli), the wealthy man hides her away in a half impressive, half dilapidated castle in the middle of nowhere with his trusty banged butler Osvaldo (Gengher Gatti) – looking like an oddball combination of an eccentric Vincent Price and inhuman Lurch.
Unbeknownst to him, his miserable wife has sent for her former friends. . . arriving to a less than warm welcome, both Paolo and Osvaldo are troubled by the new guests. Well, it must be said that it is rare to find a husband that is happy to see his wife’s former lover, in this case, pretty boy poet Massimo (Ivan Rassimov). Then, there’s the exceedingly racist Gustavo (Edilio Kim) and his paradoxically black flame, Semy (Shawn Robinson), only to be matched in eccentricity by Mercedes (Pilar Velázquez), Jo (Giancarlo Bonuglia) and Sebastino (Ezio Marano) – one is a peeping impotent, the second a goofy glutton, the third is schtupping his buddy’s wife. . . I’ll let you figure out who is who.
With the setting being partial palatial stuffiness (with ornate carvings and suits of armour) and part horror manor (it contains what seems like a deformed mannequin house of wax and deadly animal wing), it only makes common sense that the group settles down for a night of costumed Bacchanal, orgiastic and abusive disarray. Peepers peep, gluttons glut, horndogs horn, strippers strip, abusers abuse. . . you get the idea. But perhaps one more is needed – a murderer murders. For it does not take long for the first victim to be found. . . okay, it does for a gialli – close to an hour into the runtime. Who could be the murderer? Might jealousy from the past play a part? Will anyone survive the quick to come chaos?
Putting its setting to good use, Scavolini thrives in the candlelight – with the shadowy corners of the locale adding much to the atmosphere. Within the realm of this part giallo, part psychedelic sixties sexploitation piece, couples canoodle, the butler skulks, snakes slither, scorpions crawl, and the host parades around with numerous guns – plenty of untamed surprises around each and every corner. Despite this, it might come off as a bit slow for some modern viewers, as the setup is a touch too long for what little information is being provided onscreen. But it is fun to watch – after all, it never gets boring looking at the historic infrastructure, or the varied cast, but it is a rare murder mystery that takes so long to get going. But once it does, watch out. . . because death follows death so quickly that there will really only be a few options as to who could actually be committing all of this bloody mayhem.
With a quality cast, crew, and location, A White Dress for Marialé might not use all of its parts effectively to make for classic gialli viewing, but there is enough here to like, and it will keep your attention focused for its rather short ninety-two minute runtime. So, put on your bloody best costume for this party, let’s just hope you don’t go blanco when you need to know who the killer is.
This movie is in Italian with English subtitles