Das Testament des Magiers (1965)

Das Testament des Magiers: Directed by William Conrad. With Connie Stevens, Dean Jones, Cesar Romero, Parley Baer. The daughter of a psychotic magician must stay in his mansion for seven nights in order to inherit his fortune.

“Like some others whou0026#39;ve seen this film as children, I have fond memories of Two On a Guillotine when it played as a Friday night movie on network TV in the mid-1960s. The sight of a lifeless Cesar Romero being lowered into a grave in a glass coffin at the beginning sets the spooky tone for the rest of the story. His character, a famous magician, promised to one day perform his greatest feat of all by returning from the dead. His wife (identical to his daughter) died some years before when he botched the guillotine trick she was assisting with. Without giving anything away, a lot of the suspense is built on the anticipation of his re-materializing at any time, to the horror of his daughter. This is a movie which has many of the elements necessary for genuine horror. No spilled guts, no splatter. It works on a neater, more effective plane.”