Daniela Giordano (THE GIRL IN ROOM 2A, INQUISICION) plays the unfortunately-named Gail Bland, a New York (i.e. Cinecitta) advertising executive invited to Cairo by mysterious client Isis Cosmetics apparently on the basis of her red hair and her resemblance to the goddess Isis. She arrives in Cairo and, after a disorienting cab ride through a local market where a vendor slips her some suspicious cigarettes, finds that no one has heard of Isis Cosmetics. Charming stranger Caleb (William Berger of FIVE DOLLS FOR AN AUGUST MOON) lends a sympathetic ear and warns her off of a pair of mysterious siblings (Antonio Cantafora of BARON BLOOD and Krista Nell, attractive despite an awful black wig which makes her look like Pia Degermark’s vampire ancestress in THE VAMPIRE HAPPENING) interested in resurrecting Osiris. A visit to the address provided by Isis Cosmetics turns up nothing and Gail finds it difficult to leave the city (the line to New York is down and there are apparently no planes leaving Cairo for a few days) during which time she allows herself to be shown around by Caleb who relates to her the legend of Isis and Osiris. Apparently, one day Osiris is supposed to return to earth to find his bride (gee, I wonder where this is going). Gail runs into the siblings at a local market where their gang of Osiris-worshipping hippies cause a brawl (cue: falling tents, broken pottery but, surprisingly, no overturned fruit carts which one so often encounters in action scenes set in foreign countries). The siblings invite her to a ritual at a ruined temple dedicated to Osiris that evening. Gail arrives at the temple, smokes pot with the hippies, and witnesses their torture of a young couple caught spying on them. Gail realizes that she is to be sacrificed to Osiris and makes a run for it and is rescued by Caleb. Returning to the city, she becomes paranoid that everyone around her is in on the plot to kill her (she has also discovered that Caleb is not present in any of the photographs she took with him) and retreats to the countryside with Caleb. There, she is kidnapped and brought back to the temple to be sacrificed.

SHADOW OF ILLUSION is a Spanish-Italian co-production directed by Mario Caino (of NIGHTMARE CASTLE, not to be confused with Manuel Cano of SWAMP OF THE RAVENS and VOODOO BLACK EXORCIST though it would be easy to make the mistake as this film feels more akin to the latter films). The film works better as more of a mysterious journey of discovery and mythic parallel rather than as a horror film. As such, it is let down by the conception of Daniela Giordano’s character. So good as the innocent heroine in other films, here she is from the outset uptight and a tad whiny (“But why do I have to go,” she asked upon being told she has been invited to Cairo because her looks have charmed the client). In the English version, she is also dubbed by the familiar Carolyn de Fonseca (Barbara Steele in TERROR CREATURES FROM THE GRAVE, Mariangela Giordano in BURIAL GROUND, Daria Nicolodi in DEEP RED). Her voice is too knowing for such a conceptually naïve character as Gail Bland; try to picture SUSPIRIA’s sassy, serpentine Olga (another de Fonseca dubbing performance – “Mata Hari’s going to file her report”) in this film’s situation and you’ll understand why it’s a bit hard to identify with this character. The mysterious siblings prowl around the periphery of the story for far too long and blatantly more creepy than charming. Berger’s Caleb is suitably charming although he seems just as obsessive about Osiris and Isis as the siblings. On the other hand, the film’s only sense of momentum comes in scenes where he is guiding Giordano’s character through the ruins and the narrative. The climax is, well, predictable and anti-climactic (we do not see what becomes of the siblings) despite the requisite explosions (probably the contribution of uncredited co-producer Frank Agrama whose DAWN OF THE MUMMY ends similarly) but the film closes on a nicely ambiguous note.

Shot in Techniscope by Enrico Menczer (CAT O’NINE TAILS, HOLOCAUST 2000), my reference copy is horrendously panned-and-scanned, so much so that people are cut out of two shots and the cropped frame is sometimes focused on the out-of-focus portion of a rack focus shot long before the focus shifts. The panning (of the telecine, not the original cinematography) is jerky throughout, drawing attention to itself. Previously reviewed in Video Watchdog, this print in English with Japanese subtitles (so its really strange that it was not a letterboxed release) seems to be the only available English-language version and it does not appear to have been released theatrically in the U.S. (how about the UK?). Carlo Savina’s brass-and-Hammond organ score lacks atmosphere until the nicely choreographed and scored sacrificial ritual (drums, sitar, piano, and [I guess] Egyptian flutes). Giannetto de Rossi does the make-up but his work here seems more cosmetic than prosthetic other than some splashes of blood and a cool tattoo worn by the creepy high priestess of Osiris. While this film isn’t as deserving of restoration as some others, a letterboxed release would make more sense of the compositions and might end up being more enveloping than the off-putting cropped version. Still worth checking out.

Not to derail this into the "Carolyn De Fonseca Appreciation Thread," but I recently saw Carlo Di Palma's BLONDE IN BLACK LEATHER (1975), where Monica Vitti's distinctly alluring voice gets the Ms. De Fonseca treatment. Normally I would find that to be annoying -- since I'm a fan of the former and not of the latter -- but De Fonseca does nice work interpreting Vitti's performance, and avoids the inappropriately suggestive/slutty/airheaded quality she brings to her usual line readings.

It's also a surprise to notice just how many lines she had to dub, since the Vitti character -- a compulsive liar -- almost never stops talking (frequently spinning epic-length tall tales to her gullible sidekick, Claudia Cardinale). Indeed, Vitti seems to have so many pages of lines I think De Fonseca should've gotten equal billing above the title on English prints for the amount of work she put in.

Thanks for the review, Eric. Sounds like one to seek out if a more presentable version ever becomes available.

Which is why I thought she was the wrong choice to dub such a naive and mostly passive character.