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The Possessed (Italian: La donna del lago, lit. 'The Lady of the Lake') is a 1965 Italian mystery film written and directed by Luigi Bazzoni and Franco Rossellini and starring Peter Baldwin, Virna Lisi, Pia Lindström and Philippe Leroy. It is based on the novel La donna del lago by Giovanni Comisso. The film was years later released on U.S. television as Love, Hate and Dishonor.

Plot

Bernard (Peter Baldwin), a well-known writer, arrives in a small Italian town near a lake to spend his winter vacation. He checks into an old hotel owned by Enrico and his daughter Irma (Valentina Cortese), secretly hoping to become reacquainted with their maid Tilde (he had developed quite a crush on her the last time he stayed there, and had even stalked her a few times). He is shocked to hear that Tilde (Virna Lisi) committed suicide the previous winter, and then learns that she was pregnant. Apparently she not only ingested poison, but she also managed to slash her own throat.

Bernard refuses to believe that Tilde committed suicide and decides to discover what really happened to her. When Enrico's son Mario (Philippe Leroy) and his wife Adriana (Pia Lindstrom) arrive at the hotel, the two begin acting suspiciously, silently walking around the lake at night. Enrico isn't too happy about Bernard snooping around the hotel either. Bernard becomes obsessed with learning what happened to Tilde and begins to experience daydreams, flashbacks, and hallucinations.

Source: Wikipedia

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