It's hard for me to know for sure if DS is influencing me or not, but I did think that Joan Bennett's performance was the best part of the film. I had slightly mixed feelings about the square-built German woman; would be interesting to know if she is an actress of note (excuse my lack of knowledge)?
That was Alida Valli, who you may or may not have seen before in movies like
The Third Man and Hitchcock's
The Paradine Case. She made a few films in Hollywood and was sometimes billed as "Valli," but her primary career has been in Europe.
Here's a picture of her from
The Third Manhttp://www.german-way.com/cinema/images/cottenvalli.jpgParts of it seemed to "borrow" rather freely from "Rosemary's Baby" -- e.g., the "healthful" food that the main character was given to build up her strength, and the climactic discovery in the adjacent chambers of who the witches really were. The movie itself, though, was no "Rosemary's Baby." It seemed more like a cheap drive-in type of movie (not that I've ever actually been to a drive-in) ... and it did seem rather surprising that someone of Miss Bennett's stature would have wanted to be in it. Just what is the director's reputation?
Dario Argento? He's an interesting filmmaker really. This film was part of a trilogy based rather loosely on a piece from Thomas DeQuincey, although I don't think the third film was ever made. His films tend to be loose narratively, but rather striking visually. This particular film has quite the cult status and there tend to be two schools of thought: 1. It's genius 2. It's crap.
To the best of my knowledge, Bennett fell into the latter camp. Her husband was asked about the picture and said something like, "oh, that awful movie Joan did so we could go to Rome."
What language was the movie originally made in? The mouths and words didn't seem to match ... Was Joan Bennett speaking Italian?
From what I've read, no, Bennett, Valli, and Harper spoke English. I'm not sure about sure about the actress who played the friend there, but many of the cast were speaking all sorts of languages and the dialogue was dubbed.
This is an interview Harper did about the movie:
http://www.geocities.com/digitalcinema/jessicaharper.htmlAnd I definitely didn't hear her say "bitch" -- all she said was something about getting rid of "that American girl." 
Oh, she says "bitch" all right
I fell asleep during the Sci Fi airing so they may have dubbed it, but on my taped version, she most definitely says "We must get rid of that bitch of an American girl! Vanish! She must vanish! Make her disappear! Understand?"
(yes, I know it's cheesy, but I get such a kick out of it)
What was the deal with the coils of wire that girl fell into?
You got me. Seems like an awfully bizarre kind of a death trap to have laying around. You would have thought a group of witches would have been a bit more subtle (these after all are the same people who managed to make Harper fall ill to begin with simply so they could grab her board money and who managed to make the dog attack the blind piano player).
And the first one who was murdered, it looked like the hairy arm was plugging an electrical cord into her. And how did that black lingerie stay on the clothesline outside the apartment window with all the wind?!?
I know the hairy arm belonged to Argento. He apparently uses his own whenever there's a killer required. As for the clothes, I think we are supposed to be freaked by the supernatural aspect or something. I don't really know. The set details always nab my attention.
And didn't it seem like that girl's friend was overreacting? How did she know that her friend was being murdered?
Sarah? She drove me absolutely nuts. I think it was an IMDB review where I read one person's perplexed comments about her. She hears the footsteps every night and instead of at least considering a logical conclusion like maybe the teachers were having a meeting or coffee or something, she becomes obsessed by the notion that it's suspicious. Another Rachel Drummond, lol.
What was with the actor playing the psychiatrist -- it looked like he was reading his lines from a teleprompter.
Couldn't stand him either. It's a weird scene really. Doesn't fit with the rest of the mood of the film--brings Harper's character back into the real world, which is jarring. After all, as soon as she walks out of the airport, she's in a nightmarish universe.
Some of the commentary I've come across for this film suggests that it's meant to be a very dark fairy tale and I would agree with that assessment.
http://www.slantmagazine.com/film/film_review.asp?ID=405
