Eleonore - Der gläserne Tod

This film is a fairly faithful adaptation of the Gothic short story "Wake Not The Dead" by Ernst Raupach (which is misattributed to Ludwig Tieck in many sources, including the opening credits of this film). Definitely read the source material before you watch the film, and your enjoyment of the film will be much greater. Of course, as is often the case, the short story is better, and the few ways in which this film diverges from the original story are detrimental to the film. Nevertheless, it is overall very faithful to the tone and message of Raupach. It has a lovely Medieval setting and Gothic tone.

There are no vampires here, the synopsis given here is incorrect. What you get is a devastating film that details a love lost but never forgotten, and what happens when that lost love returns 10 years later resulting in murder, chaos and violence. Even more impressive, the film does not resort to nudity or gore to keep the viewer's attention. The cast is excellent, the script and story are fresh and inventive, and the direction hits all the right notes. Truly a one of a kind horror film, absolutely NOT for the slasher / torture porn crowd. The Magnetic video from 1980 contains the 85 min English dubbed version. The IMDb lists 100 min for the Spanish version, which is set for DVD release in June 2008. The dubbing is above average and nothing seems missing from the 85 min version, but I'm curious about the Spanish DVD when it comes out. This could be the ultimate art house horror!

If anything, LEONOR is a very Grimm fairy tale of love, loss, sorrow, and horror set in the Middle Ages during the time of the black plague but unfortunately, it's also less than the sum of its parts. Feudal lord Richard (Michel Piccoli), mad with grief over the death of his beloved wife Leonor (Liv Ullman), tries to assuage his torment by marrying a village girl (Ornella Muti) who eventually bears him two sons. Ten years pass but the pain doesn't ease and when Richard gets the chance to bring his lost love back, he takes it. His dream comes true but soon animals can't be tamed, crops won't grow, and children begin disappearing from the village...

Filmed among the mountains and crumbling castles of Spain by Luis Buñuel's writer/director son Juan (who worked mostly in TV after this), LEONOR is a vampiric variation on "The Monkey's Paw" and "could have been a contender" since dark romantic horror can be just as potent as erotic horror in the right hands. The sweeping vistas and medieval tableaux by Dario Argento's SUSPIRIA cinematographer Luciano Tovoli and the moody Ennio Morricone score both serve the story well but the Gothic, Poe-like tale (based on a 19th century work by J. Sheridan Le Fanu contemporary Matthew Gregory Lewis) is slow moving and the horror implied rather than explicit. Both factors work against the film but the casting of Liv Ullman in the role of "Leonor" is the final nail in the coffin, so to speak. Ingmar Bergman's muse may be a very good actress but as someone quipped to Katharine Hepburn when she said she wanted the part of Scarlett O'Hara, "I can't see anyone chasing you for ten years" and if Liv and ravishing Ornella Muti had switched places this would have gotten a 8/10 from me. As is, it's a 7.

When his beloved wife Leonor (Liv Ullmann) is crushed by her horse, medieval nobleman Richard (Michel Piccoli) rushes to be by her side, the woman dying shortly thereafter. Richard attempts to assuage his grief by 'getting back in the saddle', so to speak, immediately marrying local beauty Catherine (the stunning Ornella Muti, of Flash Gordon fame) - and by 'immediately', I mean the very same day that Leonor carks it. That should take his mind off things!

Of course, some guys are never happy...

Catherine bears Richard two sons, Matthew and Gregory, but even after ten years, the wealthy lord still longs for the companionship of his first wife. So when a mysterious stranger tells Richard that he can reunite him with his long dead Leonor, he jumps at the chance. Sure enough, Leonor is resurrected, leaving Richard to make Catherine disappear - by stabbing her in the guts and chucking her down a well (divorce clearly not an option in medieval times).

This being a dark, tragic, gothic love-story/horror with strong art-house leanings, Richard's happiness is short-lived, as his undead wife begins to feed on local children, the black death approaches his castle, his livestock becomes uncontrollable and nothing grows in his garden. The atmosphere is one of morose futility, with death and decay always lurking around the corner - not exactly a barrel of laughs. Director Juan Luis Buñuel (son of cinematic surrealist Luis Buñuel) conducts proceedings with an eye for an interesting shot, but employs a languorous approach that I imagine will alienate many modern-day viewers - let's be honest, not a lot happens for much of the film. For a '70s Euro-horror, there's also a distinct lack of nudity and gore.

That said, I still found Leonor interesting enough to stay the course: there's a lyrical, haunting quality to the film, the cinematography is impressive, Ennio Morricone supplies the score, there's a scene where a young girl is burnt alive with a container of gunpowder around her neck, and the film kicks off with gang of bandits attacking Richard, one of whom is a dwarf (naturally, Richard makes short shrift of him!). I also like that the ending is totally bizarre: Richard and Leonor escape from the castle only to ride their horse off a bridge and into a ravine.

5.5/10, rounded up to 6 for IMDb.

Michel Piccoli plays Richard, a nobleman whose wife Leonor (Liv Ullmann) dies fairly young. Some years later (although the film doesn't make this clear), he impulsively marries a much younger woman, Catherine (the luscious Ornella Muti). But he simply cannot get over the memory of Leonor, entering into a forbidding bargain with a charismatic stranger whom he meets near a bridge. The ramifications of the resurrected Leonor are chilling, as the local children start perishing. And all of this while The Plague is decimating the populace.

The fact that director Juan Bunuel is the son of the legendary Luis Bunuel will ensure that curiosity is raised among many interested viewers. The result here is one of those slow, stately foreign films that straddles the line between art house cinema and (not so traditional) horror stories. It has plenty of atmosphere and a very melancholy feel, so it's not something that one can just easily dismiss. Its wonderful international cast is very easy to watch, especially the enchanting Ms. Muti, whom many people will likely know best for the 1980 "Flash Gordon" feature film. Antonio Ferrandis is also excellent as the despairing Father Thomas.

"Leonor" is provocatively designed (by Enrique Alarcon), photographed (by Luciano Tovoli), and scored (by the great Ennio Morricone). It makes for rather potent entertainment, but people should be aware that the cheesy poster art does not really indicate the nature of the story. This is something far more serious and portentous. The bottom line is that if one admires the European art / horror films of the 1970s, they will find much to enjoy here. Leonard Maltin may have saddled it with his bottom-of-the-barrel "BOMB" rating, but in no way does it deserve that level of scorn.

Eight out of 10.