La bambola di Satana (1969) follows Elizabeth, who inherits her late uncle’s castle only to discover ghostly whispers, hidden motives, and a sinister plot beneath its ancient walls. As murders and nightmares stalk her nights, she and her fiancé must unravel the mystery behind her uncle’s fortune—and the castle’s deadly secrets. This Italian gothic horror fuses haunted-house atmosphere, inheritance intrigue, and supernatural dread in a mesmerising if eccentric tale of greed and the occult.
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Partway Gothic horror and partway giallo, La bambola di Satana is an all-round bad movie. No clichés are left untouched as this listless and poorly-paced film lumbers from one half-hearted surprise to another. That the film is so obscure is unsurprising; it is hardly destined to be celebrated as a lost classic in the event that it is ever “rediscovered.” … With its over-lit interiors, unconvincing day-for-night exteriors, bad acting, choppy editing and appalling score, La Bambola di Satana is a strong contender for the worst giallo of the 1960s.
Troy Howarth, So Deadly, So Perverse: 50 Years of Italian Giallo Films, Volume 1, 1963-1973 (Midnight Marquee Press, 2015)
Selected disc options for La bambola di Satana
| Extras | Twilight Time BD-ALL/US 2016 | 88 Films BD-B/UK 2021 |
|---|---|---|
| Audio Commentary by David Del Valle and Derek Botelho | has extra | |
| Audio Commentary by Derek Botelho and David Del Valle | has extra | |
| My Life with Emma - Interview with Actress Erna Schürer | has extra | |
| Remembering Franco Potenza - Interview with Pierpaolo De Sanctis | has extra | |
| Emma and I - Audio Interview with Uncredited Co-Director/Writer Marcello Avallone | has extra | |
| Isolated Score | has extra |
Blu-ray comparison available on 
Notes
- Twilight Time’s Blu-ray includes an 8-page booklet with writing by Julie Kirgo.
- 88 Films’ “The Italian Collection” Blu-ray includes a 20-page booklet with writing by Andrew Graves (“You Had Me at Giallo...”) and Francesco Massaccesi (“Rustic Terror: The Many, Flawed Souls of ‘The Doll of Satan’”); and a fold-out poster.
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Ultimate Edition
Combine the best digital presentation with a selection of choice extras for the ultimate edition.
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My Life with Emma (25:18) -
Remembering Franco Potenza (33:09) -
Emma and I (15:16)
| Presentation | |
|---|---|
| Extras | Audio Commentary by Derek Botelho and David Del Valle Twilight Time BD |
| My Life with Emma - Interview with Actress Erna Schürer 88 Films BD | |
| Remembering Franco Potenza - Interview with Pierpaolo De Sanctis 88 Films BD | |
| Emma and I - Audio Interview with Uncredited Co-Director/Writer Marcello Avallone 88 Films BD | |
| Isolated Score Twilight Time BD |