The Story:
In the misty lakeside village of late 19th-century Italy, a drought unearths a cursed 200-year-old statue of a woman from the depths, retrieved by the enigmatic Count Montebruno (Claudio Gora), who enlists young sculptor Roberto Merigi (Anthony Steffen) to restore it; soon, the Count’s niece Harriet Montebruno (Barbara Steele) arrives from London to claim her inheritance, her striking resemblance to the statue—modeled after ancestor Maddalena—igniting an instant romance with Roberto as he uses her as his muse.
As Harriet’s demeanor twists into that of the malevolent spirit Belinda, her jealous cousin from legend, she becomes a seductive force of destruction, hypnotically manipulating the gardener Vittorio into violence, driving the schoolteacher to suicide, and terrorizing the villagers who brand her a witch; Roberto uncovers the sinister truth that Count Montebruno has been hypnotizing her to incite a mob lynching, securing his grip on the family fortune, only for the ultimate betrayal to reveal the Count’s lover and housekeeper Illa (Marina Berti), a descendant of Belinda, as the true puppeteer seeking vengeful annihilation of the Montebruno line.
Directed by Camillo Mastrocinque, this Italian Gothic horror masterpiece weaves ancient curses and psychological deceit in a web of shadows and seduction, where love battles possession and every reflection hides a devilish secret—dare you gaze upon the angel of Satan?
