Paganini Horror (1989)
Starring Daria Nicolodi and the great Donald Pleasence, and directed by Luigi Cozzi (probably best known for cult Italian Star Wars ripoff Starcrash). This is one of the most bonkers Italian horror films I've ever seen (which is saying something!). An all-female rock band is struggling to come up with their next hit. Daniel, one of their backing musicians, has an idea and arranges to meet a mysterious 'Mr Pickett' (played by Pleasence). Pickett sells Daniel an unpublished piece of music by the real life early 19th century Italian composer/violinist Niccolo Paganini. Daniel takes the piece back to the band, who like it and - as it's in the public domain - write a song around it. What they don't know is that the piece of music is cursed, a curse secretly invoked by Pickett as soon as the deal is done. The band's manager decides to capitalise on the legend that Paganini sold his soul to the devil for ability and fame, and shoot a horror-themed video for the song at a large manor house where - supposedly - Paganini once murdered his bride. But as the shoot gets underway Paganini's restless spirit begins to stalk the house, killing-off band members and their entourage in all manner of gruesome ways.
The photography of the whole movie looks like an 80s pop video - with visual effects to match. The girls playing the band are very attractive but can't act to save their lives. Nicolodi plays the manor house's owner and fares a little better. Pleasence - of course - gives the best performance of the film; it's a shame his scenes aren't longer, but he does appear in each of the three acts. There's quite a bit of blood and gore, although surprisingly no nudity. The story has a lot of holes and unexplained coincidences, and the (pretty unoriginal) twist needs more explanation regarding exactly how it applies to each of the characters. As for the song that the band create around the Paganini piece, it is literally the ELO song Twilight from their 1981 album Time. And I mean literally. It doesn't just 'sound like it', or 'bring it to mind'. It's the exact same tune, with a virtually identical arrangement; the only difference is the words. If you listen to the two in succession (the movie's song plays in its entirety over the end credits) you'll see what I mean. I've never heard a more blatant ripoff (then again, this is Italian cinema). Still, despite the flaws (and being an outraged ELO fan), the movie is fun in a really stupid way. 7/10
