cautions Peter about the occult in the course of introducing Christina, “One’s obsession with it could be the real danger.” Nevertheless, as played by Rassimov, Christina is an example of a woman wholly empowered by her occult knowledge, a significant return to the authentic, all-powerful oracles of the Hercules films. Though a soli- tary soul, Christina is in no way di- minished by her solitude; indeed, she speaks as though her mind has risen above the needs of the flesh and be- come equally attuned to all points in time—past, present, and future— and her movements have a weirdly
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graceful choreography that adds greatly to the impression she makes. When Baron von Kleist enters her room (the camera curiously cutting away before we can see more than the edge of his garment), Christina sub- mits to death as serenely as Anna Fosatti did before her in Ecologia del delitto—as though she has seen it fore- told a million times. She crosses her braceleted arms above her head, en- folding herself in her black cloak, and waits for the blow to fall. Art director Enzo Bulgarelli also deserves acknowl- edgment for his contribution to Rassimov’s scenes, as the furnishings
of Christina’s dwelling are every bit as arcane as the antiques of the Korneuburg Museum. Of the film’s other performances, Antonio Cantáfora makes a fair im- pression as Peter Kleist, despite be- ing somewhat miscast; his American college student is shown smoking and drinking aboard the 747 like a debonair European man of the world. Cantáfora takes pleasing advantage of opportunities for humor, such as his reaction to Herr Dortmundt’s hope that he hasn’t inherited any of his forebear’s sadistic proclivities (“One never knows!”), and to a menu
MEXICAN lobby card, picturing the Baron stalking Gretchen outside the castle.
of those proclivities (“Sweet guy!”), offering glimpses of wit and humor that one wishes were more pro- nounced in the picture overall. Peter’s early fascination with the Baron, the amusement he takes in visiting his ancestor’s dungeon, and his unexplored obsession with res- urrecting him, hints that Peter has probably inherited some of his ancestor’s dark traits, but unfortu- nately, this aspect goes unexplored.