The Unnaturals


The Unnaturals is an Italian-West German gothic horror film directed and written by Antonio Margheriti. It is loosely based on Dino Buzzati's short story "Eppure bussano alla porta" from the collection The Seven Messengers.

Plot

Cast

Margheriti stated the shooting title of the film was Trance. The Unnaturals was aimed at a German market and stars Joachim Fuchsberger and Marianne Koch who were very popular actors with German audiences. Margheriti added other Italian actors of his choice including Luciano Pigozzi, a close friend of his.
The film was shot at Tirrenia Studios which was owned by Carlo Ponti. Margheriti used sets left over from several other films ranging from costume dramas to Westerns.
For the seance scene in the film, cinematographer Riccardo Pallottini was hung upside down from the ceiling with the camera in his hand and slowly let him descend from the ceiling. He would then bend over backwards to raise the camera to the actors' faces.

Release

The Unnaturals was shown in West Germany on May 30, 1969. It was later released in Italy on September 12, 1969, where it grossed 287 million Italian lire.

Reception

In his book Italian Horror Film Directors, Louis Paul dismissed the film as an " uneven but still interesting tale of revenge".

Footnotes