The Embalmer is the English release title for Il mostro di Venezia, a 1965 Italian horror film written and directed by Dino Tavella from a story by Antonio Walter. It was filmed in Trieste and Venice. It stars Maureen Brown, Luigi Martocci, Luciano Gasper, Anita Todesco, Francesco Bagarin, Alba Brotto, William Caruso, Viki Castillo, Roberto Contero, Gaetano Dell’Era, Alcide Gazzotto, Antonio Grossi.
In the US, the film was released as a double feature with The She Beast. In the UK, it was released with Jess Franco’s Diabolical Dr. Z.
Reviews:
Despite a few creepy encounters in The Embalmer‘s lair and a fluid finale, this Edgar Wallace inspired horror-giallo is a fairly run-of-the-submerged-monastry affair. The necrophiliac theme was perhaps still shocking to Sixties audiences but the subtle way in which this nefarious activity is implied will leave modern thrill seekers cold. The filmmakers obviously had a great deal of assistance from the Venice Tourist Board because the movie is jam-packed with overt plugs for a gorgeous city that surely needs no promotion. The addition of dire comedy relief and an Italian Elvis impersonator are also unwelcome distractions.
Adrian J Smith, Horrorpedia
” … a quirky little movie, made during a respected and beloved period in Italian horror, and it’s not successful on a whole, but does have its moments. Most of those moments are saved for the climax, when the hooded and skull-masked killer is given the most screen time in his eerie, darkly lit catacombs. Director Tavello (who didn’t do much else) has him scaring the hell out of one of his victims, while a bunch of sitting hooded skeletons are scattered around as a memorable attraction. The killer even camouflages himself with the other corpses in a moment of ingenuity – the other piece of uniqueness being where the film freeze frames on the next victim, as there probably wasn’t much surprise in store anyway.” George R. Reis, DVD Drive-In
“In terms of a thriller, The Embalmer fails on almost all accounts. The plot is extremely over-the-top, the villain at times almost comical, and the music rarely fits the mood of any given scene. Yet ironically at the same time those failures are what make this film quite entertaining in an entirely different way. I loved the fact that the streets of Venice seemed to become completely deserted when it became dark.” Common Sense Movie Reviews
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“The Embalmer‘s lack of excitement (or its deadly dullness) is also a bit sad: it’s not difficult to imagine what a better director (or even someone just vaguely competent) could have made out of the same elements Tavella used to brew a sleeping draught. There’s a masked evil-doer living in a secret cellar, leaving his lair through unconventional means, there’s the promise of necrophilia and exciting hunts through catacombs or of a look into human abysses – everything that could make for a great horror film or an excellent thriller.”
