"My heart isn't
beating. It hasn't beaten for 10 years.
I'm dead, Alan. Dead."
Elisabeth Blackwood
Aka The Castle of
Terror, Coffin of Terror, Tombs of Terror, Tombs of Horror, The Long
Night of Terror, Dimensions of Death,
Dance of Death, Danse Macabre, Danza Macabra
and….
Trailer to
Castle of Blood:
Many, many years ago, as a wee, peach-fuzz lad in
Alexandria, VA, we caught a version of this movie late one night on the local Creature Feature hosted by the great Count Gore de Vol (he who also introduced us to the uncut
version of Night of the Living Dead
[1968 / trailer]).
As of today, we now know that the version we caught must have been a version of the
color remake, Web of the Spider (1970 / trailer),
which, like this movie here, was directed by that master of multiple genre
forms, Italian director Antonio
Margheriti (19 Sept 1930 – 4 Nov 2002) aka Anthony M. Dawson. Margheriti was inspired to do the remake because he
always felt dissatisfied with the original version, entitled Danza Macabra in Italy, but he also
later admitted that doing so was a mistake. Whatever.
Castle of Blood
has long been in the public domain in the US, and probably exists in as many
(mostly butchered) versions as it has titles. Our version was a cheap-ass and
seemingly cut DVD release — 82-minute
running time compared to imdb's
listed 87 minutes — from Westlake Entertainment, which, interestingly enough, claims
that the movie is based on Edgar Allan Poe's Night of the Living Dead. In the credit sequence of the movie
itself, however, it is claimed that the movie is based on Edgar Allan Poe's Dance Macabre. In turn, the credits of
the 1970 color remake Web of the Spider claim the tale
to be based on Poe's story Night of the
Living Dead. In real life, however, Poe never wrote a tale entitled either Dance Macabre or Night of the Living Dead, nor is this film based on anything he
ever wrote. Poe's name, in all likelihood, was used only for the commercial
drawing power it had gained by all the Roger Corman Poe films. (See, for
example, Corman's The Masque of the Red Death
[1964].) And what does that prove?
Well, it is all yet more proof that the Rothschilds,
together with the Illuminati, the Masons and the Knights Templar, were the
secret financers of Lenin and Adolf
Hitler and also planned and financed the Russian Revolution, WWI, and the
subsequent rise and activities of the National Socialists so that the gold
standard would be dropped and the American Democrats could open pizza parlors
as fronts for a child-sex ring and thus distract the general public from the
irrefutable fact that the world is flat. (You're blind if you don't see the direct
links. In fact, to hide the fact that the moon landing never happened, they had
JFK assassinated because he planned to reveal the truth and reintroduce the
gold standard. Take that goddamned red pill, why don't you?)
The DVD release we watched — bought 2nd hand, natch — had crappy sound, was bleached
and scratchy, and was shrunk to fit the screen. In turn, however, the image
appeared to be un-cropped at any side and, although there were obvious cuts in
the movie, the "lesbian scene" was seemingly there as was a discreet and quick
semi-nude scene (and we're not talking about the breathing, topless skeletal
corpse that is seen in one scene — that corpse was very much that of a muscualr, shirtless and dead male).
Seen on a small screen, Castle
of Blood screamed the need for a large screen — and, at the same time, wailed
the fact that even if the screen were large, the bleached and scratchy B&W
photography of the movie probably was not as masterfully used as in the
unarguably superior Barbra Steele film, Mario Bava's almost expressionistic Black
Sunday (1960 / trailer).
Which is not to say, however, that Margheriti's
Italian gothic horror lacks mood and atmosphere; just not quite as much,
and what there is was greatly hampered by the quality of the print we watched.
Castle of Blood is
entertaining in its own way, but for all its B&W cinematography, great
sets, relatively bloodless violence, racy sexuality, and horror elements, it
was and is a flawed movie that most adults of today will probably find far less
satisfying or entertaining than, say, a wee, peach-fuzz lad (or training-bra
lass).
But then, the pubescent might also be less than impressed: while, in the
days prior to the Internet and Smartphone, the movie would have been a great
introductory flick for kids to Italo Gothic horror, nowadays, inured on a diet
of instantly available WWW distractions, even the supposed young and tender might also find this
movie slow. Indeed, it is entirely possible that even fans of old movies — as
we are — might likewise find the 82-minute running time a noticeably slow 82
minutes. And that is due to more than just the quality of the print: Castle of Blood's somewhat loopy script
is blemished by one too many long dry spell, an inconceivably quick and
underdeveloped love story, and a lead character with the seeming intelligence of
a brick.
The basic plot of the version we saw* sees Alan Foster (Georges Riviere of The Virgin of Nuremberg [1963 / trailer]),
an erudite and impoverished and exceedingly practically-minded writer of The London Times in desire of an
interview with the touring American author Edgar Allan Poe (Silvano Tranquilli [23 Aug 1925 – 10 May 1997] of The Horrible Dr. Hichcock [1962 / Italo trailer],
Smile Before Death [1972 / music],
The Legend of Blood Castle [1973 /
trailer]
and so much more), ends up entering a 10-pound-sterling wager with Lord Thomas
Blackwood (Umberto Raho [4 June 1922 – 9 Jan 2016] of The Long Hair of Death [1964 / trailer],
The Last Man on Earth
[1964 ], The Night Evelyn Came Out of
the Grave [1971 / trailer, Satanik [1968 / trailer]
and so much more) to spend the night at his haunted castle. Once alone in the
castle and following a few spooky incidents, Foster is surprised to learn that the
decrepit and dirty manor is seemingly inhabited after all, and not just by Lord
Thomas Blackwood's beautiful sister Elisabeth (the exquisite Barbara Steele, seen
below from one of Quentin Tarantino's favorite websites, Wikifeet)…
* It should perhaps be noted that these basic narrative
elements change in the given version of the film you watch. Cf.: All Movie, which says: "Alan Foster (Georges Riviere), an
American tourist visiting England, takes a bet from a Lord Blackwood and his
guest, Edgar Allan Poe, to spend the night in a haunted mansion. […]"
As mentioned before, Alan Foster, the main hero, is pretty
much an idiot. He enters the castle that he knows to be deserted, is confronted
by a variety of minor supernatural events — a clock that ticks and chimes and
then doesn't, a dance party in the next room that disappears, etc. — but
doesn't bat an eye when suddenly the house is populated not only by Elisabeth,
but the coldly beautiful Julia (Margaret Robsahm* of The Young Racers
[1963 / trailer],
with William Campbell)
and, soon thereafter, a long-missing scholar, Dr. Carmus (Arturo
Dominici [2 Jan 1918 – 7 Sept. 1992] of Hercules [1957 /
trailer],
Caltiki, The Immortal Monster[1959 / trailer] and more).
* From Wikipedia (Date: 08.15.2018): "Margarete Robsahm (born 9
October 1942) is a Norwegian model, actress and director. […] To an
international audience, she is best known for her role in Castle of Blood […], but she has also starred in Norwegian movies,
among these Line [The Passionate Couple] from 1961 (full movie). The movie was based on a novel by Axel Jensen [12
Feb 1932 – 13 Feb 2003] and caused a minor scandal in Norway at the time, as
Robsahm was the first actress ever to expose her breasts in a Norwegian movie.
In March 2008, Robsahm came in the media's spotlight for having received NOK
2.3 million over sixteen years in government funding for the arts, without
having produced a single movie. Though no criticism was levelled at Robsahm,
questions were raised about the government stipendiary system."
Worse, even after Foster realizes Elisabeth has no
heartbeat, and she says she is dead, and he sees a dead man disappear into thin
air, he still continues to deny the existence of ghosts instead of saving his
skin by hightailing for them-thar' hills, 10 pounds sterling be damned.
Indeed, his continual denial of the obvious truth throughout the film transcends believability — unless, of course, you keep something in mind like the number of people who actually think Trump is a good president, and then his inconceivable idiocy achieves a level of veracity and is easier to swallow. Still, it does take some difficulty to accept how Foster, time and again, simply denies the obvious: that the ghostly — if extremely tangible — reenactments transpiring before him of the past deaths in the castle are indeed ghostly.
Then lets talks about the love angle, which is integral to the entire resolution of the movie. Foster has a mouth of honey, one which drips compliments and smoothly pleasing phrases as quickly as a Republican approves tax cuts for the rich or is willing to accept a fellow Republican's denial of past sexual transgression. Indeed, he verbally oils Julia as much and quickly as he does Elizabeth, which severely undermines the believability of the concept of him falling head over heels in love with Elisabeth in a matter of minutes. And while the love between the two, which is integral to the narrative, proves sincere, the flashback to the events leading to Elisabeth's death* reveals her to be a capricious, sexually active woman of little common sense who above all simply wants her fickle whims and short-term desires satisfied. (Hmm — sounds like almost everyone we know.) Thus, one is initially tempted to view Foster as little more than yet another plaything for her — it is only towards the end, when she tries desperately to save him, that her professed love finally achieves total sincerity.
Indeed, his continual denial of the obvious truth throughout the film transcends believability — unless, of course, you keep something in mind like the number of people who actually think Trump is a good president, and then his inconceivable idiocy achieves a level of veracity and is easier to swallow. Still, it does take some difficulty to accept how Foster, time and again, simply denies the obvious: that the ghostly — if extremely tangible — reenactments transpiring before him of the past deaths in the castle are indeed ghostly.
Then lets talks about the love angle, which is integral to the entire resolution of the movie. Foster has a mouth of honey, one which drips compliments and smoothly pleasing phrases as quickly as a Republican approves tax cuts for the rich or is willing to accept a fellow Republican's denial of past sexual transgression. Indeed, he verbally oils Julia as much and quickly as he does Elizabeth, which severely undermines the believability of the concept of him falling head over heels in love with Elisabeth in a matter of minutes. And while the love between the two, which is integral to the narrative, proves sincere, the flashback to the events leading to Elisabeth's death* reveals her to be a capricious, sexually active woman of little common sense who above all simply wants her fickle whims and short-term desires satisfied. (Hmm — sounds like almost everyone we know.) Thus, one is initially tempted to view Foster as little more than yet another plaything for her — it is only towards the end, when she tries desperately to save him, that her professed love finally achieves total sincerity.
* Here, the version we saw was obviously cut: while all
those around her die, the scene abruptly cuts away as a crazed, screaming
Elisabeth pulls at her hair. How she actually dies is not shown.
Speaking of the ghostly (if extremely tangible) reenactment
of Elisabeth's demise, it does reflect a doozy of a sex crime: not only does
Elisabeth's hunky and possessive lover Herbert (Giovanni Cianfriglia*) kill her husband William (Benito
Stefanelli [2 Sept 1928 – 18 Dec 1999] of A Fistful of Dollars [1964], Transformations [1988 / love theme]
and so much more) and then try to rape her, but after Julia saves Elisabeth by
killing Herbert, Julia promptly goes all aggressively scissor sister on her.
(In the world of this movie, murdering men seems to turn lesbians on.)
Unluckily for Julia, Elisabeth is less than turned on and a knife lies close
by….
* The hunky and handsome Giovanni Cianfriglia — see image below, from the great blogspot Pleplum — who had begun his film career six years earlier as the body double for the delicious Steve Reeves (21
Jan 1926 – 1 May 2000) in Hercules (trailer), was still in full, hot muscular prime when he played
this movie's kill-happy bad guy. Indeed, the combined hotness of he and Steele
and Robsahm and the soon-to-be-mentioned Sylvia Sorrente, are the stuff that
fantasy orgies are made of…. Hand us that box of Kleenex, please.
The twist to the ghosts that inhabit this movie is that they
are, in a way, dead-alive. They only appear once a year, on All Hallows' Eve, and
to survive another year until their next appearance, the vampiric ghosts
require the blood of the living, which is why Lord Thomas Blackwood sends a
poor sucker to the castle every year. It would seem, however, that the urge to
drink blood only truly arises as the night draws to a close, for throughout
much of the movie the ghosts either leave Foster completely alone (as do William,
the newlyweds Elsi [the pulchritudinous Sylvia Sorrente, below] and her husband
and, for the most part, Herbert); are friendly and informative, like Dr.
Carmus; or initially actively suggest Foster should leave, as does Julia. But
as the night ends, and their ghostly mortality increases, so does their bloodlust
— perhaps beyond their control. But for Elisabeth, whose love conquers all…. except for the threshold to the world outside.
In that sense, as Dr. Carmus flatly states at one point, and
as is underscored by the way Lord Thomas Blackwood unflinchingly and coldly
collects the debt due at the end of the movie, Lord Thomas Blackwood is perhaps
the most cold-hearted and evil entity found in Castle of Blood. Even the murderous Herman — while alive, at least
— was driven more by passion and a lack of control than evilness, and the
ghosts themselves merely want to survive another year and only truly give in to
their bloodlust as the night draws to a close. Blackwood, on the other hand,
sends a new sacrificial victim to the castle once a year, and not even because
he is forced or has to, but simply because he can.
Somewhere along the way
in Castle of Blood, it is even revealed
that the ghosts, who cannot leave the castle, need blood to survive another
year, and that without it they would be no more. Were Blackwood not evil, he
would merely make sure that no one goes to the house one All Hallows' Eve — two,
if he really wants to play it safe — and then the ghosts would be gone. One
need not be a capitalist to see that, financially, the return from the rent or
sale of the castle would surely bring more money than an annual wager — ergo:
Blackwood does his annual wager for the hell of it, making him the real amoral
killer of the movie.
OK, so after all that is written above, one might assume
that we don't find Castle of Blood a
good movie. That, however, is wrong. We think it a great film, a fantastic
film, and will surely watch it again someday (though hopefully a better
transfer). It is, however, a flawed film and age has not been all that kind to
it, and in today's Smartphone-driven world in which western society has the
patience and attention span shorter than Trump's Mario toadstool, it is not a movie that will
appeal to many.
Castle of Blood is, perhaps, comparable to some of the more subdued baubles in your grandmother's jewelry box: it is a real jewel, a beautiful jewel, but it looks and feels of another age. If you are one who can appreciate such beauty, then you will surely find this movie worth watching. If, on the other hand, you need the speed and superficiality of today's perfected flashiness, you won't be able to appreciate the beauty that this B-film offers.
Castle of Blood is, perhaps, comparable to some of the more subdued baubles in your grandmother's jewelry box: it is a real jewel, a beautiful jewel, but it looks and feels of another age. If you are one who can appreciate such beauty, then you will surely find this movie worth watching. If, on the other hand, you need the speed and superficiality of today's perfected flashiness, you won't be able to appreciate the beauty that this B-film offers.
The Castle of Blood —
full movie:
3 comments:
I really loved this film. Enjoyed reading your thoughts on it. Thanks for posting.
Someday, when and if I ever do a review that you completely disagree with, I invite you to do a counter-review... we could cross-publish them, even. BTW: Coming up soon (2-3 weeks), a review of Steele's last film in which she plays the lead, The Butterfly Room.
Cianfriglia still around @ almost 90, hundreds of credits on IMDb, moved on to Spaghetti Westerns (rancher Reeves taught him how to ride when they worked together).
Post a Comment