Where's the love for this one? I first saw it on tape in a cut version years ago and was shocked by the amount of gore and nudity when I got ahold of the beautiful still-collectible Gorgon Video release. I've since upgraded to Elite's now OOP DVD which was non-anamorphic but had a beautiful transfer.
Hamp (Jack Watson, SCHIZO) and his father John (George Colouris, BLOOD FROM THE MUMMY'S TOMB) row to the fogbound Snape Island for as yet unexplained reasons. They find the dismembered corpse of a man outside and a decapitated woman in the lighthouse itself. When John investigates one of the outbuildings he is stabbed by hysterical nude Penny (Candace Glendenning, SATAN'S SLAVE) who is then knocked out by Hamp. While a psychologist in London (Anthony Valentine) tries to unlock her mind, a group of archaeologists are planning a trip to Snape Island because the spear that thankfully pinned Robin Askwith before he could do much acting in this film turns out to be Phoenician suggesting that there may be a tomb hidden somewhere on the island and they are joined by private detective Brent (Bryant Halliday who did a couple films for producer Richard Gordon and was later the co-founder of Janus Films which acquired the US rights to several art films including several of Bergman's) who has been hired by Penny's family who believe that she was frightened out of her mind by the real killer of her friends. The group travel to Snape Island (cue lots of sexual tension and caustic dialogue courtesy of bitchy Anna Palk and Jill Haworth) along with Hamp's layabout nephew Brom (Gary Hamilton). Hamp tells the group that he and his father had come to the island because they had not heard from his sister-in-law (who lived there isolated with her crazy husband) for a couple weeks and discovered the dead kids. As night falls, the men (including Mark Edwards of BLOOD FROM THE MUMMY'S TOMB and YES, MINISTER's Derek Fowlds) set about investigating the usual strange noises while Brom beds Nora (Palk). Brent goes missing and the boat explodes and it becomes apparent that Hamp's brother is somewhere on the island.
The Phoenician tomb and treasure are of course a red herring (the Italian title translates as WHY DOES THE PHOENICIAN GOD CONTINUE KILLING?) but the film is an enjoyable stalk-and-slash prototype (other reviews mention that it may have influenced Joe D'Amato's ANTHROPOPHAGUS/THE GRIM REAPER [1980]) with some good gore (and more sex and nudity than you would see in many of the eighties slashers). Haworth and Palk play off each nicely and Fowlds is more interesting as the weak-willed husband of Palk than the heroic Edwards. Hamilton is Askwith-level annoying and Halliday is the same in every movie but it works here. Watson is the only actor whose character is given much depth and does well with the role (he wasn't particularly sinister in Pete Walker's SCHIZO). Desmond Dickinson's cinematography is excellent (the film was shot mostly in studio with the lighthouse as a rather obvious miniature which is perhaps why it lacks the grittier feel of similarly horror/slasher films shot on location and making due with what's available). There's a PSYCHO-influenced bit with a corpse in a rocking chair and the killer's fleeting appearances are creepy (though the script manages in a scene with Haworth and Palk to rustle up some sympathy for the killer).
Elite's DVD is letterboxed at around 1.85:1 and looks fine for a non-anamorphic disc but its now OOP. I was hoping that the British DVD from DD Entertainment would have extras and a new transfer but I've heard its also non-anamorphic and missing footage so I'll stick with my R1 disc. I doubt the film will be revisited any time soon but its an enjoyable British horror film.
