La strega in amore (1966)

Sergio, a man of about forty who has been through several failed romances, is contacted by Consuelo, an elegant older woman who lives in the city center in an enormous, ancient, somewhat dilapidated aristocratic mansion. Consuelo hires Sergio to put her late husband’s personal archive in order. During his stay at Consuelo’s mansion, he meets her beautiful niece, Aura. He falls in love with her, but the young woman seems frightened and withdrawn. She avoids going out with him and does not want to meet new friends. Aura remains shut away in Consuelo’s vast mansion. After months together, Sergio insists that they live openly, vehemently opposing a life of seclusion with Consuelo always around. One evening, while pursuing Aura, Sergio discovers the truth: the girl has taken refuge among the clothes in a wardrobe to escape, but when he finds her, she turns out to be Consuelo. Aura and Consuelo are the same person. Consuelo has mysterious supernatural powers that have enabled her to transform herself into Aura. In this way, she seduced Sergio in the hope of reliving the joys of love, which for her are a memory of a youth now long past. Driven mad by the discovery, Sergio makes one final, extreme move: he captures Consuelo and burns her alive in the courtyard of the ancient mansion.