I'd like to be able to see the romance in this film as some other reviewers seemed to, but I thought it was just a bit creepy. I didn't mind the premise of the story, but as it progressed I was disappointed with aspects of the characters and the way the picture played out. The voice of 'Shadow Death' when he first revealed himself to Duke Lambert (Guy Standing) sounded like a caricature of someone speaking and not realistic at all. And after making Lambert promise not to reveal his true nature, Prince Sirki as 'Death' (Fredric March) began freely dropping hints as to what he was all about. To one of the Villa's guests, Death remarks "I have been known to inspire fear", which isn't exactly the type of statement one would make to put others at ease. And then, contrary to Death's initial caution to Lambert not to tell his guests who or what he was, when Lambert did state the truth, there were no consequences. So that inconsistency in the story bothered me somewhat.
But the biggest problem I had with the story was the character of Grazia (Evelyn Venable). All throughout the film she maintained a conflicted personality regarding her fiancé Corrado (Kent Taylor), son of Mr. Lambert, and wasn't able to fully articulate her ambivalent emotion toward him. Yet she fell completely under the spell of Sirki who she had just met and felt some sort of connection with. I hate to say it, but her response at the end to choose actual death in order to accompany Sirki back to his unearthly realm suggested that there might have been a degree of mental illness involved on her part. The staging of that finale made it look like they were both about to experience some sublime majesty, while if you think about it, Grazia was happily willing to commit suicide for no apparently good reason.
But the biggest problem I had with the story was the character of Grazia (Evelyn Venable). All throughout the film she maintained a conflicted personality regarding her fiancé Corrado (Kent Taylor), son of Mr. Lambert, and wasn't able to fully articulate her ambivalent emotion toward him. Yet she fell completely under the spell of Sirki who she had just met and felt some sort of connection with. I hate to say it, but her response at the end to choose actual death in order to accompany Sirki back to his unearthly realm suggested that there might have been a degree of mental illness involved on her part. The staging of that finale made it look like they were both about to experience some sublime majesty, while if you think about it, Grazia was happily willing to commit suicide for no apparently good reason.