an elderly heiress get bump off by her husband and who in turn get bag by another mystery assailant . this spark a rash of brutal butchery with various friend and relative and total stranger all be randomly massacre in order to determine who get exclusive dibs on some valuable lakeside property . celebrate italian horror maestro mario bava deliver a bleak and dark and and blithely nihilistic meditation on how greed literally kill . bava do an expert job of create and maintain an unsparingly harsh no hold bar tone while he even have four fun love teenager serve a innocent lamb to the slaughter to further underline his grim central theme . moreover and bava stag the gruesome murder set piece with his customary stylish panache represent grisly highlight include a throat slashing and a hatchet to the face and a juicy decapitation and and and of course and the infamous impalement of two amorous adolescent in the middle of make love . in addition and bava inject a meannnasty streak of pitch black gallows humor that run throughout the entire picture and culminates in a marvelously twisted surprise shock end that the perfect startle punchline to what essentially an extremely vicious cinematic shaggy dog joke . the cast be all up to speed . former bond babe claudine auger give a genuinely chilling performance a the ruthless renata while she receive fine support from luigi pistilli a her weakling husband albert and claudio camaso a the reticent simon and leopoldo trieste a the weird paolo fossati and and lauri betti a paolo bitchy wife anna . the absolutely ravish brigitte skay a the delectably voluptuous german vamp brunhilda wear the short skirt imaginable and bar her beautiful body for a much appreciate skinny dip scene . evil brat child actress nicoletta elmi have a nice small role a renata daughter . stelvio cipriani score neatly alternate between funky and primal and throb prog rock and lush and melodic orchestral music . bava handsome and agile cinematography offer a wealth of stunning visuals . this film be wholly deserve of it substantial classic status .