This could have been some sort of weird-ass classic, if they'd actually included a satisfying ending. Spoilers ahead, even if the only spoiler is 'you'll come away from this one feeling let down'.
In Rome, rich playboy Dave or whatever has a strange dream where red-eyed naked hippy types scream wordlessly at him while a ritual is conducted. He awakes in his big rich guy villa with lots of partied-out people lay about, and orders his cockney (Spanish) butler to get rid of them all.
The dream haunts him throughout the day, and worse still, he meets a lady from out of town (Lone Fleming) who jumps at his name, saying she had a dream where Dave or whatever would kill her. Dave might be suffering brain problems, but there's nothing wrong with his balls: he puts the moves on Fleming but ends up tearing her throat out with his fist instead. Or does he?
So begins Dave's long weird journey, where nothing might be quite what it seems. His car breaks down at a house and an old woman lets him. He finds two people who claim to know him and who tell him the old woman is dead. Objects constantly move when he starts having one of his episodes. Someone who might be Dave visits an old friend and although we only get to see the back of his head, everyone treats Dave like he's Dave. Or do they?
Antony Steffen is brought in as the superstitious cop with a talisman to ward him from evil. He suffers from strange hearing loss from time to time, especially around the presence of possibly sinister brain doctor Richard Conte. He stops two men beating a woman only to find the woman grinning at him insanely before loads of rubble nearly kills him and the woman disappears. Or does she?
Dave receives blackmailing letters from someone and his butler spews up a frog. He also gets it on with Richard Conte's assistant but then she asks him if he wants to listen to either Beethoven or Tom Jones but then puts on a different record altogether which spins so fast it flies into the air. Steffen goes to see Conte who is facing him but as Steffen leaves he finds Conte isn't facing him, then tells him he knows who the killer is without ever telling the audience who the killer is. Is Tom Jones Richard Conte in disguise?
I've tried to make this review as disjointed as the film. Nothing makes any sense but the whole bizarre merry-go-round is pretty entertaining as statues move, camera angles focus on things they shouldn't, people's characters change for no reason (especially the butler), but then everything is let down as you get to the end of the film and realise that every single question the film raised goes unanswered.
Was Dave possessed or was someone driving him crazy? Don't Know. Why did Antony Steffen say he knew who the killer was, then give up when his car broke down? Don't know. I don't think the filmmakers knew either. The closest I can come to an answer is that Conte was some sort of devil type who was punishing Dave for things his father had done.
In Rome, rich playboy Dave or whatever has a strange dream where red-eyed naked hippy types scream wordlessly at him while a ritual is conducted. He awakes in his big rich guy villa with lots of partied-out people lay about, and orders his cockney (Spanish) butler to get rid of them all.
The dream haunts him throughout the day, and worse still, he meets a lady from out of town (Lone Fleming) who jumps at his name, saying she had a dream where Dave or whatever would kill her. Dave might be suffering brain problems, but there's nothing wrong with his balls: he puts the moves on Fleming but ends up tearing her throat out with his fist instead. Or does he?
So begins Dave's long weird journey, where nothing might be quite what it seems. His car breaks down at a house and an old woman lets him. He finds two people who claim to know him and who tell him the old woman is dead. Objects constantly move when he starts having one of his episodes. Someone who might be Dave visits an old friend and although we only get to see the back of his head, everyone treats Dave like he's Dave. Or do they?
Antony Steffen is brought in as the superstitious cop with a talisman to ward him from evil. He suffers from strange hearing loss from time to time, especially around the presence of possibly sinister brain doctor Richard Conte. He stops two men beating a woman only to find the woman grinning at him insanely before loads of rubble nearly kills him and the woman disappears. Or does she?
Dave receives blackmailing letters from someone and his butler spews up a frog. He also gets it on with Richard Conte's assistant but then she asks him if he wants to listen to either Beethoven or Tom Jones but then puts on a different record altogether which spins so fast it flies into the air. Steffen goes to see Conte who is facing him but as Steffen leaves he finds Conte isn't facing him, then tells him he knows who the killer is without ever telling the audience who the killer is. Is Tom Jones Richard Conte in disguise?
I've tried to make this review as disjointed as the film. Nothing makes any sense but the whole bizarre merry-go-round is pretty entertaining as statues move, camera angles focus on things they shouldn't, people's characters change for no reason (especially the butler), but then everything is let down as you get to the end of the film and realise that every single question the film raised goes unanswered.
Was Dave possessed or was someone driving him crazy? Don't Know. Why did Antony Steffen say he knew who the killer was, then give up when his car broke down? Don't know. I don't think the filmmakers knew either. The closest I can come to an answer is that Conte was some sort of devil type who was punishing Dave for things his father had done.