The Italian title of the film known in english as Tragic Ceremony (1972), Estratto dagli archivi segreti della polizia di una capitale europea, is by far a more apt and fitting description of the movie. Estratto dagli archivi segreti della polizia di una capitale europea is a supernatural thriller that intentionally alludes to the murders committed by the Manson Family multiple times; evoking a specific fear of satanism tied to hippie culture. The popularity of Eastern mysticism and the occult within hippie culture made the entire demographic into potential Charles Mansons for the more conservative. Estratto dagli archivi segreti della polizia di una capitale europea exploits that paranoia.
But even by tapping into the paranoias of its day Estratto dagli archivi segreti della polizia di una capitale europea cannot elevate its lackluster material. Basically the film tells the familiar story of a group of well off young people on holiday who, through the misfortune of car trouble, find themselves at a Gothic villa in the middle of the night where they become entangled in a macabre satanic rite. Jane (Camille Keaton) is meant to be sacrificed to satan when her three gentleman comrades burst into the sacred hall of the villa and interrupt the ceremony. With the human sacrifice averted, the satanists break out into a murderous franzy, annihilating themselves. But unknown to the hippie youngsters, the evil soul of Lady Alexander (Luciana Paluzzi), high priestess of the coven, has possessed Jane’s body and hungers for vengeance.
Estratto dagli archivi segreti della polizia di una capitale europea is by all means boiler plate horror movie stuff that is derivative of the youth oriented drive-in movies of the late fifties and early sixties like Ghost Of Drag Strip Hollow (1959). Journeyman director Riccardo Freda, who came to some prominence in the thirties, does his best to imbue the film with a gothic atmosphere but fails to hit the mark. The scene of mayhem at the titular ceremony is the most effective scene in the picture, and it replays multiple times at the end of the film. The kinetic camera moves and rapid cuts of that bloody scene are never matched in Estratto dagli archivi segreti della polizia di una capitale europea, rendering all the subsequent murders as visually commonplace within the context of the wider genre.
Camille Keaton, who appeared in a number of cheaply made Italian genre pictures, is, as usual, the best part of the film. Keaton’s porcelain complexion, mysterious pale eyes, and youthful energy make her the perfect gothic heroine. Her on screen charisma and beauty outshines the presence of all of her co-stars. It is in her reaction shots that Estratto dagli archivi segreti della polizia di una capitale europea derives its ability to frighten and to creep. Keaton sells this rather tepid affair in every scene she is in so that when she is off screen, the film begins to drag.
Estratto dagli archivi segreti della polizia di una capitale europea is included in Vinegar Syndrome’s boxed set “Camille Keaton In Italy” under the Tragic Ceremony title. The set, featuring a total of three films, makes the case that Keaton is one of the great, unsung scream queens of her generation. Even in the good films in this set it is Keaton who steals the show, so the tepid or outright bad films make her presence even more appreciated. It’s a terrific collection that corrects the assumption that Camille Keaton’s defining role is in the iconic I Spit On Your Grave (1978).
