Horror Extreme Movie Catalog

"Tragic Ceremony" is a little known film by Riccardo Freda (the title doesn't even appear in recent filmographies of the director). This edition on DVD has allowed me to discover a genuine masterpiece of a great italian director.

This somehow odd film from Italian Cult Gothic Horror director Freda ("Dr. Hichcock") is almost unknown. Made a year after his rough Giallo "L'Iguana Dalla Lingua di Fuoco" the title suggests yet another Giallo. But, in fact, this film is not a Giallo at all - but a Gothic horror story about a cursed pearl necklace and a strange Satan's Cult which gets confronted by a hippie quartet on a day out. The story sounds unique.

Made on a very low budget, Freda made more than the best out of it and created a strange movie with all the classic Gothic elements, and also boosts a handful of astonishing gore effects that echo the rude sequences of his Giallo a year before.

The cast is lead by Camille Keaton of "I Spit on Your Grave" fame, while Luigi Pistilli delivers another neat performance as the leader of the strange Cult. The soundtrack is composed by Stelvio Cipriani and is cool as usual. A film worth looking for despite its rarity.