Riccardo Freda
L'orribile segreto del Dr.Hitchcock

I have always heard good things about this film by the great Riccardo Freda, a director unfortunately very underrated, who created beautiful and significant films. I personally consider Riccardo Freda a master, not on the same level as the "unrivaled" Mario Bava, but undoubtedly a great director who loved his craft and especially knew how to do his job excellently. It's said he was unbearable on set, but like all "unbearable" directors, he managed to extract a decent performance even from the most talentless actor or actress. One of these directors with a terrible character was also the immense Lucio Fulci, I mention it just for information's sake.

In any case, in this "The Horrible Secret of Dr. Hitchcock," Freda signs a beautiful film, beautifully shot, and reminiscent of the typical cinema of Mario Bava, thanks also to the cinematography and the intense colors. It features the great Barbara Steele, who had recently appeared in Bava's masterpiece "Black Sunday," and here she stars in a film that I would dare to call "very delicate" for the reasons I will explain shortly.

Let's realize that we are in 1962, at the beginning of the sixties... now, talking about necrophilia (sex with the dead) at that time was madness, let alone putting such a theme on film, it was insanity. Yet Freda incredibly manages to produce a work that doesn't shock visually as much as it does psychically. Many people "label" this film as a real horror, I don't see it that way at all. For me, this is a dramatic film because, in the end, it speaks of a real mental pathology. The doctor, in fact, is afflicted with necrophilia, invents this sedative that brings to a very thin boundary between life and death, and this boundary excites him so much that he has a sexual relationship with an "almost" dead woman. Realize at the beginning of the sixties... a film with such a theme... absolute scandal.

Freda never had the slightest intention of filming his movie with the idea of making something of B-grade, even though this is how it was defined by critics of the time. Freda filmed his movies with impeccable mastery, and this film is perhaps one of the clearest proofs. Every single scene is perfect, every single shot is perfect. The close-ups are absolutely pertinent and perfectly convey the emotional state of the characters. A terrified Steele chased by a "supposed" female ghost, the doctor sometimes hallucinated, sometimes calm, sometimes completely mad... Freda manages to capture through extraordinary shots every single aspect of these characters.

If you watch the film, you'll notice that the direction is under an American name, but the director is Freda. In those years, it was common to "give" oneself an American name to add, let's say, a touch of internationalism to the work. Even Mario Bava did it. In my opinion, these directors never realized their actual greatness; if they realized they were great directors, they had no need to disguise themselves under other names.

Let's not forget that it wasn't Mario Bava copying Fellini, but Fellini copying Bava, famously the "case" of Bava's "Operation Fear" and the episode directed by Fellini in "Spirits of the Dead." Fellini shamelessly copied Bava and admitted it!!! It's just that for the masses and critics, Fellini was Fellini, and Bava is just any director... yes, Bava just any director... what nonsense! Bava was one of the greatest geniuses of Italian cinema. I'm glad that at least in the rest of the world, Bava is recognized as an absolute genius and master. The name Hitchcock was given precisely as a tribute to Alfred Hitchcock because Riccardo Freda was a great fan of the English director.

A beautiful film, excellently shot, and I highly recommend watching it.

VinnySparrow