The vagaries of archeology are a well-known theme of modern horror. Take the work of Professor Lasky (Donald Pleasance) as an example: Excavations in the catacomb system below Rome lead him to the exciting discovery of an up to this point undiscovered part of the necropolis. It seems to have been sealead off from the rest of the tunnels for some reason. Lasky thinks this tomb is part of the legend about bloodthirsty pagan deities that are resting inside of the catacombs, cut off from sustenance by their own former worshippers.
Might it be possible that Lasky's excavations are awakening an Ancient Evil? Well, to be fair, the Evil is already starting to make itself known before the Professor even unseals the tomb. Typical demonic manifestations like strange lights, fog, exploding champagne bottles and ghastly wind in closed spaces are breaking through from the underground, even costing a life or two. Especially Lasky's assistant Marcus (John Pepper) and his girlfriend singer/actress Alice (Trine Michelsen) are haunted by strange occurrences that start to seem rather minor when the thing down in the tomb starts to take corporeal form and slaughters the archeologists one by one.
Specters is a minor but fine Italian horror film that mostly works through mood and a very long built-up that turns out to be a lot more interesting and effective than the thing it is building up to.
The first hour is a nice enough example of some of the virtues that make Italian horror fun: A sense of rhythm, color and very neat sets, as well as a very appropriate disregard for those pesky things called coherence or logic. The final third of the film is less effective - for the gore hound it lacks in tempo and exploding guts, while the friend of more subtle charms will find the usual slaughter just a little bit boring. Until it comes to the obvious (and of course nonsensical) end, that is.
At that point the film has already earned itself a lot of slack through the atmospheric parts before, though, and it still has a few neat moments to offer. When was the last time you saw a film in which someone dies of looking evil in the eye(s)?
While lighting, camera work and synthie droning are of the highest Italian standard, the acting isn't much to talk about here. Most of the actors are there - no more and no less. Only Donald Pleasance gives an expectedly good performance; from time to time I could even talk myself into seeing psychological nuance in his character.
The devil suit is a rather dire looking thing - there is a reason why we are mostly seeing its hands and a lot of coloured fog when it appears.
All in all Specters is far from being a masterpiece, but as a friend of cheap and terrible films, one should be able to appreciate its finer points.
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