Ring of Darkness

Pier Carpi (1940-2000) only directed two films (UN OMBRA and POVERO CRISTO), but had a substantial resume in the arts, with work in fumetti (comics), including the Italian versions of Mickey Mouse, Batman, and Superman. He created and wrote for the fumetti HORROR, and had a hand in the renowned DIABOLIK publication. His creative wings also embraced authorship, and he won various literary and journalism awards in his career. Carpi had an interest in esoteric, satanic and religious subjects, as exemplified by such works as LE SOCIETA SEGRETE (THE SECRET SOCIETIES), I MERCANTI DELL’OCCULTO (MERCHANTS OF THE OCCULT), RASPUTIN ULTIMO PROFETA (RASPUTIN THE LAST PROPHET) CAGLIOSTRO (which was made into a film in 1974 by Daniele Pettinari). UN OMBRA NELL’OMBRA is, in fact, based on a book of his that appeared a couple of years before the book’s filming began, although the script may have been developed first, as the IMDB mentions, accurately or not, that Carpi had tried to get the story filmed in the 1960s, without generating interest from financial backers until William Friedkin’s THE EXORCIST became a mega world-wide hit. (No doubt the popularity of THE OMEN also had a hand in the making of the Carpi film.) —myadvd.blogspot.com