the sister of ursula

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The Sister of Ursula

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THE SISTER OF URSULA (1978)

THE SISTER OF URSULA (1978) Written and directed by Enzo Milioni Italian language with English subtitles

Ursula and her older sister Dagmar book into an Italian hotel on the coast whilst on a trip to search for their estranged mother. Ursula, a psychic type, is not keen on staying at the hotel, convinced there’s an evil about it and that their stay will culminate with her own demise. Ursula’s predictions of the hotel’s sinister edge prove true when a spate of murders occur in and around the luxury hotel. With staff and guests with secret agendas of their own, anybody could be the culprit but whoever it is has a taste for blood and voyeurism, choosing to kill after watching couples copulate.

Sleazy self-proclaimed porno-giallo THE SISTER OF URSULA puts its own spin on the genre by taking the mysterious killer shrouded in shadow and putting him to work on the naked female beauties throughout the film with a curious murder weapon of his own!

Set in the stunning location of Amalfi, Italy, the hotel looks the ideal place to spend a holiday, particularly to Austrian Dagmar, even if her sister is reluctant and pessimistic about the whole thing. Run by the charming and attentive host Roberto Delliri and featuring entertainment in the hotel’s nightclub from singer Stella Shining, the hotel certainly lives up to its high reputation. Dagmar is also pleased there’s some eye candy staying there in the shape of Filippo Andrei, even if he has the hots for Stella and a secret heroin addiction. Even when the murders begin to occur, Dagmar isn’t too worried but her sister’s reaction and unwillingness to partake in any activity means Dagmar is forced to choose between staying and enjoying Filippo’s company or leaving with her sister.

For a giallo film, there’s not much blood or gore on show with most of the murders occuring off camera and the results shown in the aftermath. There is, however, a plentiful supply of nude shots with the lead female characters often getting their kit off. The film isn’t shy about displaying intimacy, showing off lesbian scenes, straight scenes, oral, masturbation, full frontal and genital. Though it’s classed as a porno giallo, the nude scenes are rather tame compared to the output from Italian erotica director Tinto Brass.

THE SISTER OF URSULA isn’t a strong film, especially considering its genre, and struggles to create a threat with its mysterious killer, their eyes shown glaring through the shadow. Maybe its due to the fact that most of the victims willingly invite the killer into their space to secretly watch their sexual acts or the lack of violence displayed on film, but nothing seems to create the tension or fear as seen in other giallo movies such as Tenebrae. Even the main characters and their complicated lives aren’t enough to keep the viewer entertained nor gripped throughout the running time, with the viewer left expecting and wanting that bit more than what is delivered.

Giallo completists and fans will probably want to add this to their collection, but unfortunately it’s a weak example for film fans as a whole.

Shameless Screen Entertainment, known for their dedication to giallo, Italian, horror and sleaze cinema, present THE SISTER OF URSULA on region 2 DVD complete with a 30 minute interview with writer and director Enzo Milioni which is subtitled in English.

• Shameless Screen Entertainment
• The Sister of Ursula

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The Sister of Ursula

Audience reviews, cast & crew.

Enzo Milioni

Stefania D'Amario

Barbara Magnolfi

Vanni Materassi

Yvonne Harlow

Stella Shining

The Sister of Ursula (1978)

Not Rated | Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller

The Sister of Ursula

Where to Watch

Barbara Magnolfi (Ursula Beyne) Stefania D'Amario (Dagmar Beyne) Anna Zinnemann (Vanessa) Vanni Materassi (Roberto Delleri - Hotel Manager) Yvonne Harlow (Stella Shining) Marc Porel (Filippo Andrei) Antiniska Nemour (Jenny) Giancarlo Zanetti (The Psychologist) Alice Gherardi (Young Fiancée) Roberto De Ruggeriis (Young Fiancé)

Enzo Milioni

Still mourning the passing of their father, two Austrian sisters, Dagmar and Ursula, arrive at a luxurious Italian seaside hotel. At the same time, a mysterious killer starts murdering promiscuous women in the area.

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Product Description

EXTRAS: "The Father Of Ursula" - Interview with Director Enzo Milioni Theatrical Trailer

"DELICIOUSLY SORDID SEXPLOITATION... Stefania D'Amario Is High On Our List Of Lusty Ladies And Barbara Magnolfi Is Gorgeous!" -- Mr. Skin "DELIGHTFULLY SLEAZY... With One Of The More Unusual Weapons In Giallo Cinema!" -- All Movie Guide

Product details

• Aspect Ratio ‏ : ‎ 1.85:1
• Is Discontinued By Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ No
• MPAA rating ‏ : ‎ NR (Not Rated)
• Product Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.5 x 0.7 x 5.4 inches; 2.72 ounces
• Item model number ‏ : ‎ SRVN1127DVD
• Director ‏ : ‎ Enzo Milioni
• Media Format ‏ : ‎ Multiple Formats, NTSC, Widescreen, Dolby, Color, Subtitled
• Run time ‏ : ‎ 1 hour and 35 minutes
• Release date ‏ : ‎ March 25, 2008
• Actors ‏ : ‎ Barbara Magnolfi, Stefania D'Amario, Vanni Materassi, Marc Porel, Anna Zinnemann
• Subtitles: ‏ : ‎ English
• Studio ‏ : ‎ Severin
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00118SUJI
• Number of discs ‏ : ‎ 1
• #4,193 in Horror (Movies & TV)
• #18,461 in Drama DVDs

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Watch The Sister of Ursula

• 5.1   (1,302)

The Sister of Ursula is a 1978 Italian horror film that centers on two sisters, Ursula and Dagmar, who go on a vacation to an Italian seaside resort. They arrive at the resort during the off-season, finding that the place is practically deserted. It's soon revealed that the two sisters have different personalities, with Ursula being more reserved and introspective and Dagmar being outgoing and flirtatious.

One day, Dagmar encounters a group of young people who are staying in a villa on the opposite side of the bay. She becomes attracted to the group, particularly to the charismatic leader, and begins to spend time with them. Ursula initially tries to discourage her sister from getting involved with the young people, but she eventually decides to join them.

As the days pass, strange things begin to happen in the resort. People start disappearing, and Ursula becomes increasingly concerned for her sister's safety. She begins to investigate the villa where the young people are staying and uncovers a dark secret that puts both her and Dagmar's lives in danger.

The film's director, Enzo Milioni, skillfully creates a sense of unease and suspense throughout the movie. The ambiance is eerie, with the deserted resort and the sound of the waves crashing on the shore adding to the overall feeling of isolation and danger.

The performances of the leading actresses, Barbara Magnolfi and Stefania D'Amario, are exceptional, particularly in their portrayal of the conflicting personalities of the two sisters. Magnolfi delivers a nuanced performance as Ursula, who is torn between her desire to protect her sister and her own sense of curiosity. D'Amario, on the other hand, plays her character with the right amount of charm and sensuality that makes her character appealing, yet also puts her in danger.

The supporting cast, particularly Anna Zinnemann as the mysterious and enigmatic Mrs. Holden, also delivers strong performances. The cinematography by Giancarlo Ferrando is stunning, with the camera work capturing the beauty of the Italian coast while also emphasizing the ominous atmosphere of the film.

The Sister of Ursula is not your typical slasher film. It's a slow-burn horror movie that relies on building tension rather than cheap jump scares. The film's suspenseful music score, by Francesco De Masi, adds to the overall feeling of unease.

Despite being almost 40 years old, the film still holds up well and is worth watching for horror fans who enjoy the classic Italian horror movie genre. The Sister of Ursula is a well-crafted thriller that is both chilling and thought-provoking.

The Sister of Ursula is a 1978 drama with a runtime of 91 hours. It has received moderate reviews from critics and viewers, who have given it an IMDb score of 5.1.

• Genres Drama Thriller Horror
• Cast Barbara Magnolfi Stefania D'Amario Anna Zinnemann
• Director Enzo Milioni
• Release Date 1978
• MPAA Rating NR
• Runtime 91 hr
• Language Italian
• IMDB Rating 5.1   (1,302)

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The sister of ursula, la sorella di ursula.

Directed by Enzo Milioni

While searching for their estranged mother, two beautiful sisters, Dagmar and Ursula, arrive at a luxurious seaside hotel. At the same time, a mysterious killer starts murdering promiscuous women in the area.

Barbara Magnolfi Stefania D'Amario Anna Zinnemann Antiniska Nemour Yvonne Harlow Vanni Materassi Giancarlo Zanetti Marc Porel Alice Gherardi Danila Trebbi

Director Director

Enzo Milioni

Producers Producers

Francesco Bertuccioli Armando Bertuccioli

Writer Writer

Editor editor.

Francesco Bertuccioli

Cinematography Cinematography

Vittorio Bernini

Production Design Production Design

Natalia Verdelli

Composer Composer

Costume design costume design.

Patricia Merluzzi

Makeup Makeup

Carlo Sindici

Releases by Date

18 oct 1978, releases by country.

91 mins   More at IMDb TMDb Report this page

Popular reviews

Review by Ian West ★★½

Probably the most well known film from the recent Forgotten Gialli boxset and one that I’ve seen before,  The Sister of Ursula  is solid Jes Franco-esque giallo sleaze that leans more into the erotic side of things… it looks great, has a solid score, and features Barbara Magnolfi (who I love) doing her thing (and doing it well) but i dunno… it just doesn’t have enough pizazz to launch itself into the upper echelons of euro sleaze thriller royalty.

It’s ok—definitely has its moments but I’d probably only recommend it to giallo diehards.

Review by Slig001 ★★★

This is a late entry Giallo, released after the genre had peaked and producers obviously thought there was more craving for sleazy sex films than murder mysteries. Hence, Sister of Ursula has more sex than murder. The plot focuses on two sisters who travel to a hotel looking for an inheritance, but there is a murderer picking off the various women in the area. This film is most memorable for the murder weapon - a huge dildo - althpugh the murders themselves are not particularly memorable. On the plus side, the film is absolutely gorgeous to look at. The locations and most of the cast are absolutely beautiful and there's a lovely soundtrack too. The plot is wafer thin really,…

Review by theironcupcake ★★★★ 11

"If you're passionate about someone, losing them is like losing your own life."

Ideal for a double bill with Lucio Fulci's The Devil's Honey, first-time director Enzo Milioni's The Sister of Ursula is a giallo overflowing with just as much sex, sax and bloodshed for a tale of freakery to make even the most open-minded viewer squirm just a little. With a lovely setting reminiscent of Radley Metzger's Score - the story takes place at a hotel on the Italian coastline, making the presence of an Italian-language soundtrack much more reasonable than an English dub would have been - the idyllic atmosphere is a perfect counterpoint to the series of murders on display, gruesome slayings in which a considerable phallic…

Review by Tony the Terror ★★★½ 2

This was really more softcore porn than giallo, but I still enjoyed it for being so outrageously sleazy I had flashbacks to my youth where much of my time was spent watching things I shouldn’t be watching!

I think Italy really liked to blur the lines between soft and hardcore porn. I haven’t done any reading on this one, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a hardcore version of this out there. There is vagina in abundance and I’m talking open leg shots. There is penis although like all of these movies, vajeen is practically a co-star. Not complaining at all, just giving you the facts and the facts are vajajay.

I did love seeing Babs Magnolfi in…

Review by Adrian 🥐☕ ★★★★ 9

1st rewatch --- I say it right off the bat. If you like sexploitation movies and Gialli you'll probably like this film. If you just like one of those genres don't even bother with it. The general position towards this movie seems to be negative. I'm totally on the other side of the fence of the argument. I think that La Sorella di Ursula is actually one of the most unique Gialli out there ... for multiple reasons. First, I'd like to mention the look and feel of the film. The locations are among the most beautiful places I've ever seen in a movie. The pebble beaches, corniches, old architecture, a patio that overlooks the bay, a church, and the…

Review by Ian Kemper ★★ 10

Giallo. The nebulous Italian film sub-genre can be hard to pin down sometimes but it has some basic tenants; a killer, graphic murders, non police person trying to solve said murders, jet setting, attractive people, convoluted plots, nudity, and people being sleezebags. Now sometimes you get all these things, or some of them, or just a few but you generally know one is a giallo when you see it.

This film has most of these things and yet.... it's basically soft-core porn in a giallo dress.....a dress that keeps slipping off its shoulder and showing its tit. It has a cool hotel location....that people fuck in. It has a murder mystery....that is an afterthought because people are busy fucking. It…

Review by Gentry ★★★★

"Where are your eyes? Did we gouge them out? Did you remove them so you wouldn’t see us fall into the abyss?”

I can see where the Jess Franco comparisons come from. A seaside resort, a spotlit nightclub, sleeping gowns that are fighting a losing battle to cover nipples, a slow, maudlin mystery and softcore sex beneath a Donald Duck poster.

I would probably slot this more into the “art giallo ” subgenre. It’s more interested in shooting the ocean and the cobblestone streets and the catacombs and the strangely decorated hotel than the actual murders (though you do see the grisly aftermath). And like the best Franco, it has a way of sort of burrowing its way into your psyche…

Review by Tony the Terror ★★★½

Well I went to log this after watching and apparently I watched it, reviewed it, and forgot about it 4 months ago! I don’t know why because it’s not boring at all. I guess it’s cuz I got high.

Hey, at least I was planning to give it the same rating? And it is just one of the sleaziest gialli I’ve seen. There’s a scene where a girl is giving a guy head and for a split second you can see her with a mouthful of actual penis. And that scene where the guy just buries his face in the girl’s ass after some vigorous cunnilingus? Good for him!

The whole thing was supposed to be a psychological thriller but…

“This is an exploitation film. This is what they do and you can take it or leave it.”

🗣️ Watched with audio commentary by author and critic Alexandra Heller-Nicholas.

The Eyes of Ursula Beyne. Heller-Nicholas is an admitted Barbara Magnolfi superfan (as all the best people are) and refuses to call the film “problematic,” so good 👏 for 👏 her 👏. She touches on the “spectacle of sexual violence…daddy issues and internalized misogyny” within the film, but never too deeply. To be fair, the film isn’t that deep. It’s a film about deception and voyeurism and a thick monk statuette murder weapon that resembles a dildo. As of 2008, when the video interview with writer/director Enzo Milioni was recorded, he still had said statuette on his office desk.

➡️ Giallo | Forgotten

Review by Gentry ★★★★ 4

“Don’t come now, dad.”

A tale of two sisters. A black triangle, father-haunted, clairvoyance-themed Amalfi coast erotic giallo . I love that droning, evil, wooden dildo killer theme song. I love all the themes , to be honest. I love this sickly beautiful film.

📷: Don’t miss the very good dog at 54:05.

Review by Genesio De Rosa ★★★★ 2

“Where are your eyes? Did we gouge them out? Or did you blind yourself to not observe humans fall more and more into the abyss? What else can we do other than be guided by our blind eyes? We walk on a trail of selfishness, yet we believe it's the path of love. We ind strength in our mediocrity, Yet we're convinced we speak the language of compassion. Our feelings become confused and they blend into each other like the colours of the rainbow. We have no answers. We've substituted our eyes for yours. All we have left is fear, insanity, and many miserable excuses.”

Review by 13beersl8r ★★

"If you could turn your sorrow into heroin I'd be really grateful, you know." More appendectomy scars than the dayshift crew at the Clermont Lounge. An adolescent dumpster dive of elevator music, late 70s softcore sleaze and some ass munching fellatio all juxtaposed with shots of the gorgeous Italian coastline and some pretty lackluster kills. Everybody smokes Marlboro reds, the editing is bewildering, and everywhere you look there's an assortment of nipples. Which reminds me, I need to renew my passport.

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The Sister of Ursula

Original title: la sorella di ursula.

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While searching for their estranged mother, two beautiful sisters, Dagmar and Ursula, arrive at a luxurious seaside hotel. At the same time, a mysterious killer starts murdering promiscuous women in the area.

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The Sister of Ursula & the Terza Visione

PS: This analysis of the film/DVD contains spoilers.

In his excellent essay “A forkful of westerns: industry, audiences and the Italian western,” Christopher Wagstaff defines the particularities of the Italian film industry during the heyday of popular genre in Italy: the 1960s, and 1970s. During this period Italian theatres were broken down into the prima visione , seconda visione and terza visione (first, second and third run). The A pictures in Italy played in the prima visione (first run) which meant a larger number of prints playing in the best theatres across the major cities. The seconda and terza visione played in less prestigious theatres in major cities, or theatres in less populated areas, with lower ticket prices, and (usually) with much longer playing runs than in the prima visione . Wagstaff notes that the terza visione audience was more like a television audience, going to the theatre after dinner, without any particular film in mind, arriving without respect to start time, and often using the outing as a social event, to talk during the screening, meet with friends, etc. Whereas the audiences for the prima visione were middle-class, and, generally speaking, more sophisticated in terms of selecting a particular film, the terza visione audience went out to go to a theatre (253). The viewing culture also reflected the films that screened in these theatres, with the more formulaic and popular films playing at the second and terza visione . The popular filone (though there is no direct English translation, genre comes closest), such as peplum, mondo, spaghetti western, giallo, comedy, poliziesco (crime), and horror are the sort of films that played at the terza visione , films which relied on more of an exploitation angle (sex, violence, sensationalist subject matter) to draw in their spectators. Wagstaff describes the type of emotions that were normally elicited in the more successful films at the terza visione as follows: “The peaks in the electrocardiogram of the terza visione viewer’s attention and gratification were supplied by the three ‘physiological’ responses (sex, laughter, thrill/suspense) that were interchangeable as plot lines, and that a cinema would dose according to the cultural expectations of its audience: in the south, comedies were more common that erotic films” (254).

Hence films that played in the terza visione understood that to gain the full attention of their audience often required scenes that stimulated these psychological responses. The best way to get the attention of a person on a full stomach with a few glasses of wine in them, chatting with his or her friend, was to show a woman undressing, or a knife penetrating a body. In the giallo this meant that violence, sex, nudity (mainly female), and perversion of all colors (sexual, psychological) became staples. Hence if a woman was to be victimized, the director would be sure to include a scene of her undressing, showering, and readying for bed before she was killed. A little sexual titillation before murder went a long way. For many North American viewers these scenes of women undressing appear gratuitous, and in some cases misogynist, but they are merely mechanisms to regain (or ensure) an audience’s attention. Of course not everyone attending these films were men, but Laura Mulvey’s reading of the ‘visual pleasures’ of classical Hollywood cinema being geared toward a patriarchal, male gaze is in evidence here. Which does not mean that certain enterprising directors did not take advantage of this ideological nature of terza visione spectatorship and challenge, question or subvert these very same mechanisms and the emotional pleasures involved.

The Sister of Ursula is one of the most transparent terza visione films on offer, a textbook recipe in such mechanisms, but with an irony that suggests a certain reflexive awareness of the conditions. As the pull quote states on the cover of the Severin DVD box, “Delightfully sleazy. With one of the more unusual weapons in giallo cinema.” The later point –unusual weapons– reflects a play on words which brings to the forefront the prime values of sex and violence to the terza visione . The killer’s ‘weapon’ in question is not the archetypical knife, or a rope, or chainsaw, but a penis of huge proportion. Although the said weapon is revealed at the end to be a large penis-shaped medieval wooden sculpture, the die has been cast. The murder weapon actually makes an innocuous introduction ten minutes into the film, seen on the night table in the hotel room of the two central characters, sisters Ursula (Barbara Magnolfi) and Dagmar’s (Stefania D’Amario). Hence it is a clue to the killer’s identity, though impossible to know at this point in the film.

Barbara Magnolfi (who appeared in Argento’s Suspiria as one of the hissing ballet students) and Dagmar Beyne (Stefania D’Amario, pictured above, who also appeared in Lucio Fulci’s Zombie , Gates of Hell , and the nunsploitation flick Behind Convent Walls ) star as two Austrian sisters, Ursula and Dagmar Beyne, who travel to a beautiful seaside Mediterranean vacation resort to get over the recent suicidal death of their father. While Dagmar seems hell bent on a relaxing vacation with the possibility of romance, Ursula is a neurotic mess. Not only does she suffer from religious delusion but experiences traumatic violent visions which may be either from her past, or prophecies of the future. Once in their hotel room Dagmar strips in front of her sister, in a purely exploitative moment meant for the sheer titillation of her amazingly lithe body. Director and writer Enzo Milioni ‘aestheticizes’ the proceedings with his harmonious mise en scene, with the beautiful clear blue color of the Mediterranean sea invoked by the blue interior colors of their hotel room, the hotel veranda, and the deep blue sky.

The owner of the hotel nightclub is a suave middle-aged man named Roberto (Vanni Materassi). In the first nightclub scene we are introduced to the blonde performer, Stella Shining (Yvonne Harlow), and a young stud, Filippo/Gianni Nardi (Marc Porel), Stella’s drug addicted former lover. Roberto’s estranged wife Vanessa wants to divorce him in favor of her new flavor of the month, a female lover, but Roberto, who has designs on Stella, fears that losing Vanessa (who is the couple’s main source of income) would also mean losing the hotel which, based on how sparsely populated the nightclub was, is doing poor business.

The first murder scene begins as a soft-core sex scene. A prostitute picks up a client with a preference for voyeurism, so to appease his fetish she calls on a lover and the client watches them make love secretly (for the man) through a peephole. The sex scene goes on for several minutes, including implied oral sex and intercourse. The sex is intercut with close-ups of the ‘watcher’s’ eyes, framed as if peering from behind a hole or mask. This inclusion of the killer’s ‘third’ gaze (in addition to the viewer’s and the camera’s) that prefers to secretly watch the lovemaking before killing one (or both) of the lovers becomes an important motif that is cleverly punctuated in the scene where the killer’s identity is revealed. After sex the prostitute tells her lover to leave, at which point her client enters the room from behind a curtain. The scene assumes the killer’s POV , framing the woman’s shocked expression as she looks in the direction of his groin. The romantic music gives way to a frenetic, agitated ??Halloween??-esque score. The shot cuts to what looks like the shadow of a huge erect penis cast onto the room’s television screen. The black-gloved killer knocks the prostitute onto the bed, then attacks and suffocates her. The scene cuts to a brief close-up of the killer’s (?) disfigured face (an image which is never shown again or explained). A clever sound edit on a woman’s scream shifts the location back to Ursula in her hotel room, waking up from a terrible nightmare. Did she ‘see’ the murder? Or was it just a bad dream?

The next murder occurs about twenty minutes later, with the same set-up: a protracted soft-core sex scene between a young vacationing couple stopping for a sexual liaison in a castle. Like the first sex scene/murder there is a person watching the lovers –we get the same close-ups of the voyeuristic eyes– only now the people involved are unaware of the gaze. The killer murders the young man with a knife, but reserves the woman’s death to a more misogynist and sexually provocative method: death by his huge member. The murder of Vanessa’s lover Jenny is edited in the same way as the first death of the prostitute, with Jenny accepting money to arrange her lesbian lovemaking for the voyeuristic gaze of the unidentified paying customer, who in turn murders Jenny after Vanessa leaves the bedroom. The murder occurs off-screen, but when her body is discovered by Roberto (who had intended to pay her off to leave his wife) the splattered blood around her groin area indicates the sexual (misogynist) nature of the attack (Stella’s murdered corpse is later discovered in a similar state, laying on the floor of her bedroom).

At the seventy-five minute mark a doctor discusses Ursula’s psychological state with Dagmar. We learn that the suicidal death of their father may have triggered Ursula’s telepathic/psychic powers as a defense mechanism against the trauma. Dagmar claims that the circumstances behind their father’s suicide –their mother leaving him for another man– was withheld from her, but that Ursula somehow still seemed to understand what had happened (her psychic powers?). It also provides a clue to the identity of the killer, which is revealed a few minutes before the end when Dagmar sees Ursula standing in her room dressed like their father, wearing black from head to foot. Taking a cue from Psycho , the twist is that Ursula suffers from a split identity, imagining herself to be her father, and Dagmar his wife (their mother) Martha. The murder weapon is revealed to be a gift that Martha gave her husband as a final gesture of contempt before she left him. The scene provides a psychological justification for the murders: Ursula has internalized her father’s pain (which led to his suicide) over his wife’s infidelities and enacts vengeance by ‘killing’ all of her wife’s imagined lovers, before attempting to kill Martha, who she continually refers to as a ‘whore.’ Director Milioni even interjects a possible reference to Peeping Tom when Ursula says, “I saw terror in the other women’s eyes too, before I killed them with this” (the phallic wood sculpture she holds in her hand). Filippi hears Dagmar’s screams and comes to her rescue; after a brief scuffle, Ursula backs away from Filippi, yelling “don’t touch me, don’t touch me,” and accidentally falls out of an open window to her death.

What is odd about this final scene is that we still get the coded intercuts to the voyeuristic ‘third gaze’ eyes, but in this scene they can not be assigned to any point of view in the narrative space, as they were in the previous murder scenes (where the killer, Ursula, was hiding somewhere in the narrative space, looking at the lovemaking). In this case there is no ‘watcher’ observing the lovers. Which suggests that by leaving in this unassigned point of view, director/writer Enzo Milioni is making a reflexive commentary on horror/thriller spectatorship –aren’t we also watching without being seen? (Which would also give some credence to the Peeping Tom allusion.)

With every murder (the prostitute, the tourists, Jenny, Stella) the victims die immediately after sex (Stella dying a few scenes after having had sex with Roberto), which foreshadows the stalker film convention which connected promiscuity with victimization. Only in this case, like the phallic murder weapon, the connection between female sexual expression (of any kind) and violent death has the stench of a misogynist morality to it.

The Sister of Ursula earns its designation as being ‘sleazy’ largely because the number of sex scenes outnumber the murders, and director Milioni places more screen time on sex (or erotic) scenes which have nothing to do with advancing the plot (which the sex scenes leading to the murders do nominally). An example is the ludicrous scene where Dagmar masturbates with a gold chain while lying in bed next to her sleeping sister (complete with breezy porn style music). Milioni makes sure to include a broad range of sex scenes: straight sex, lesbian sex, and female masturbation, with both male and female full frontal nudity. On top of the outright sex scenes, there are many scenes where a woman simply undresses for the camera, like the scene leading to the lesbian encounter between Vanessa and her new lover Jenny (Antiniska Nemour). While waiting for Vanessa, Jenny undresses in front of a mirror, joyfully dancing to music playing in her room while applying perfume. With no one in the room, her nudity plays directly to the viewer’s gaze, one which in the initial terza visione setting would have been predominantly male.

Like most gialli, there is always something of interest on hand, whether it be stylistic flourishes, music, or general mise en scene. In this case the music by Mimi Uva is particularly engaging for how it alternates between languid, forgettable muzak for the sex scenes, and more offbeat, abstract music for the exposition and murder moments.

Though not a classic giallo by any means, Eurohorror and Eurocult fans will be happy that Severin has made this unique film available in such an excellent transfer. The 16×9 anamorphic, 1.85 transfer showcases the lovely coastal, mountain-side location, including many picturesque wide shots of the hotel’s cliffside vantage. The print source is strong, with good color and contrast and little dirt or scratches in evidence. Also a plus is the choice of Italian language with English subtitles. Along with a trailer, the main featurette is a 30 minute piece entitled “Father of Ursula,” an interview with writer/director Milioni. The film’s terza visione heritage is confirmed by Milioni’s statement that the film played for three months at the Tiffany theatre in Rome. The Tiffany Cine was built as an adult cinema in the 1970s, and closed in around 2003-2004. [1] Milioni also identifies the prop that served as the film’s phallic weapon as a 17th century Magellano sculpture of a monk, which he proudly holds up to the camera. The irony of selecting a valued art object as such a vile murder weapon is not lost on this viewer!

1 Cinema Treasures .

Bibliography

Christopher Wagstaff. “A forkful of westerns: industry, audiences and the Italian western,” Popular European Cinema . Eds. Richard Dyer & Ginette Vincendeau. London, New York: Routledge, 1992, 245-261

Donato Totaro has been the editor of the online film journal Offscreen since its inception in 1997. Totaro received his PhD in Film & Television from the University of Warwick (UK), is a part-time professor in Film Studies at Concordia University (Montreal, Canada) and a longstanding member of AQCC (Association québécoise des critiques de cinéma).

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The little mermaid remake’s ursula change better explains her motivations against ariel.

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Warning: This post contains spoilers for The Little Mermaid live-action

The Little Mermaid remake altered Ursula’s backstory, and the change actually better explains her motivations against Ariel throughout the film. The live-action adaptation of the 1989 animated movie sticks to the original story beats for the most part, but it includes a crucial change to Ursula that gives the villain a bit more edge.

The Little Mermaid is Disney’s latest live-action adaptation, following the title character on her journey to be a part of the surface world. The film has received a mostly positive reception from critics , with much of the praise being given to Halle Bailey for her portrayal of Ariel. Melissa McCarthy’s version of Ursula is revealed to be King Triton’s sister. The sea witch was banished and wanted power and revenge on her older brother, as well as his trident. Ursula is a one-of-a-kind nemesis to Ariel, but the fact that The Little Mermaid live-action altered her connection with Ariel and Triton changes the way their relationship is perceived.

Ursula & Triton Being Siblings Makes Her Little Mermaid Motivations Darker

Ursula being Triton’s sister greatly changes her motivations, making them far darker than in the original animated film. Whereas Ursula wanted the same things as her animated counterpart, the live-action iteration’s actions make her more dangerous and petty. In The Little Mermaid remake, Ursula is actively seeking revenge on her own family. It deepens her character and turns her choices into something far sinister than before. If Ursula can treat her brother and niece in such a wicked way, it’s an indication of the kind of merciless ruler she would have been, wreaking havoc across the seven seas.

Ursula luring Ariel into a trap showcases the lengths she would go to get what she wanted regardless of the family members she was throwing under the bus. Ultimately, Ursula didn’t care about family ties, and her hatred for Triton extended to his daughter, giving her reasoning a personal slant that wouldn’t have been as greatly felt if not for the family angle. Her nefarious actions are an example of the blatant disregard she has for her family, which makes everything Ursula does throughout The Little Mermaid worse, adding an evil layer to her already dark machinations. Her vengeful motivations are twisted, becoming something far more perverse due to her and Triton being siblings.

Ursula’s Backstory Change Is Better For The Little Mermaid Remake

Ursula’s backstory is one of the primary things The Little Mermaid changed when being adapted to live-action. She and Triton being siblings makes her story better, and turns her showdown with Ariel and Triton into a more compelling one. Ursula being related to Triton and Ariel gives the character more dimension, and her motivations make more sense within the context of wanting revenge on family. It explains why she was so persistent in pursuing Ariel to begin with.

Without the sibling angle, Ursula would have been just a regular villain wanting to do terrible things for power; it’s a story that has been told many times before. To be sure, that wouldn’t have made Ursula any less enthralling as an antagonist, but screwing over her family members to obtain power and control over the sea makes her backstory more riveting and exciting, even if The Little Mermaid only scratches the surface surrounding her history.

• The Little Mermaid (2023)