I've been doing a lot of reading about Nicolo Paganini recently. For those who don't know, he was a17th Century violinist who may or may not have been in cahoots with the Devil. He took violin playing to another level so naturally many critics and influencers of the day thought he got his gift from somewhere dark. Because of course no one should be able to play so well. Perhaps he sold his soul.
Yes, the roots of Robert Johnson and the Blues lay deep.
Soul selling and interplay with Satan are at the root of this low budget Italian horror. A female rock band who sound a lot like Bon Jovi are in a rut, at least according to their producer. In order to find the thing that will make their next song into a mega hit, they send their drummer to buy an ancient scroll from Dr Lumis of Halloween fame. The scroll is the sheet music of a never before played or recorded song by Nicolo Paganini, the Devil's Violinist.
Of course the girls want to play the song. Of course, their producer wants the song in a video. Of course, they pick a creepy old castle to film the video. Of course, they play the song in the castle. Of course, all breaks loose.
Slowly but surely, everyone dies in some low budget fashion or another. The ghost of Paganini has an interesting dagger that emerges from his violin that does the job to a few of the victims. One girl gets subsumed by ancient wood fungus. Another woman is killed by an invisible wall. Did I mention Satan or the Ghost of Paganini has surrounded the castle with a electro-shield that holds their prisoners on the castle grounds.
There is a fun twist at the end that I wasn't expecting. There was also a comment about trying to play the song backwards to reverse the curse. But that never happens.
Overall, I enjoyed Paganini Horror. It was cheesy. It was poorly acted. But it was low budget. But it did have an interesting premise. Stay tuned to see a similar premise in my next novel.
Grade: 3 Devilish Violins out of 5
