Wonderful Movie

Absolutely Brilliant!

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

In my teenage years I discovered this film by my vampire aficionado Corinne Muller. Corinne lived a few house's over from me and our relationship was strictly horror movies. My friends and younger sister would pile into Corrine's den and watch the popular soap opera "Dark Shadows" which aired daily every afternoon on the ABC network. I remember the enormous popularity of that program especially with young kids who ran pell-mell from school to catch the half hour macabre themed saga. When I was 7 years old I also watched the original Bela Lugosi version of Dracula which scared me so much that I ran out of the room at top speed and hid under the covers in the safety of my bedroom. In the 1960's there came a large influx of foreign versions of horror films coming out of the United Kingdom and Italy. Castle of Blood or Castle of Terror is a perfect example of fine Italian cinematography and direction. At first glance I was sort of scared. Our film is shot in Black and white which by no means diminishes the visual quality of the movie. This film takes place in the nonindustrial era in London, England around 1860. Our story starts with two writers named Foster and Poe, Edgar Allan to be exact,in a tavern discussing a possible bet. The terms of the bet explained by Poe are the following...Going to a nearby haunted castle and spending the night on "All Souls Eve" and stay alive the next day to collect. This castle has a litany of horrible deaths through the years of prior guests and inhabitants. Obviously this film is clearly dubbed in English but not noticeable enough to hurt the continuity of the movie. Writer Alan Foster (George Riviere) the male lead in this evening of meeting departed people, enters the castle and is instantly locked inside. He meets to his delight, an attractive Woman, Elisabeth Blackwood (Barbara Steele) wearing a lovely white negligee. The lovely centerpiece in this musty old mansion. To avoid spoilers Alan witnesses and interacts with ghosts in solid human form all night witnessing the previous ghastly murders in chronological order. I personally enjoyed the romantic scenes Alan had with Elisabeth. The movie does contain violent scenes but balanced with the lovely Barbara and her jealous low-cut rival Julia (Margrete Robsahm) kind of makes you forget your watching a horror genre type film and instead more of a romance and lust based movie. There is a lesbian theme here which is sutle but it's apparent that Julia wants Elisabeth's affections. There is nudity in the film depending on which version you purchase which makes the horror scenes more except-able. The wardrobe department gets high marks for this film as all our characters are impeccably dressed for that time period. Barbara Steele in her fancy hoped gown wants you to come a courting. This movie had two directors Sergio Corbucci and Antonio Margheriti and it payed off as the movie was shot in two weeks time and under budget. Barbara Steele and Sylvia Sorrente captured my fancy and some 40 years later I never get tired off watching them on the screen despite the bloodshed. This opened my interest in Barbara Steele movies and I love them all. Just remember if your going to spend the night in a haunted house, spend it with Barbara and she'll share her bed with you. I guess Ghosts don't snore.

The movie begins with a journalist named "Alan Foster" (Georges Riviere) walking into an English pub on a cold, foggy night to hopefully get an interview with the renowned American writer, "Edgar Allan Poe" (Silvano Tranquilli). As luck would have it, he gets an opportunity to speak with him and during this course of events another person at the table named "Lord Thomas Blackwood" (Umberto Raho) offers the journalist a wager of 10 pounds that he cannot last the night in his castle an hour or so away. Intrigued by the prospect of not only getting his interview with Edgar Allan Poe on the way to the castle but also having another interesting story to write the young journalist whole-heartedly agrees. Little does he realize the role he is about to play in a strange and dark story that is destined to continue one night a year in an endless cycle. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this movie was a decent enough horror film all things considered. I especially liked the Gothic atmosphere and the somewhat bizarre twist at the end. In short, although this film certainly wouldn't win any awards in this day and age, it wasn't too bad overall and I have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.

I originally saw this movie as a boy at the old Rialto Theatre as part of a Saturday afternoon matinée triple bill which also featured Vincent Price's "Last Man on Earth" and Mario Bava's "Nightmare Castle." I had nightmares about blood lusting ghosts for a week afterwards! Though I didn't know it then, all three movies would prove to be classics of the genre. No wonder I was so scared! Though all three films frightened me, it was Castle of Blood that had the most profound impact.It was the first on the bill. I didn't even get to see it from the beginning as we were late getting to the cinema and missed the first 20 minutes of the movie. That's lot to miss since the edited print only ran about 79 minutes (the unedited runs 87minutes). But despite this, the dark creepy atmosphere (complete with ruined castles, fog enshrouded cemeteries, shadows and cobwebs), Gothic set design, strong acting, and suspense (especially the last 20 minutes) scared the bejeepers out of me and made a lasting impression It took me years to finally get a copy of the film for my collection. Since it was a French - Italian import, it wasn't a movie that showed up on the late show in Winnipeg. I couldn't quite remember the title (remember I didn't get to seen the beginning of the film and was scared witless), and to make matters worse, the film had been released under literally a dozen different movie titles (aka Danze Macabre, Coffin of Terror, Castle of Terror, Long Night of Terror, etc...) and the USA/UK working title "Castle of Blood" was very generic, similar to dozens of other "b" horror and suspense films, making it illusive. But thanks to the internet and perseverance, I found it at last! What a treat to finally watch the film in its entirety after so many years! It may not have had quite the sheer emotional impact that it did when I was a boy, but as haunted house movies go, it's stands up well and compares favourably to similar iconic films of the period such as "The Haunting," "The Innocents" or "Black Sunday," The film is a fine early effort of Italian director Antonio Margheriti. It stars 60's scream queen icon Barbara Steele and features a well written screenplay by Sergio Corbucci about a sceptical writer (Georges Riviere) who, on a bet, spends the night in haunted house and unsuspectingly becomes part of an annual ongoing ghostly story. The hypnotic Steele is well cast as the ghostly love interest - as is Arturo Dominici as Dr. Carmus, and Margarete Robsahm as Julia.Many of the tricks Margheriti employs to create the film's eerie atmosphere (cobwebs, creaking doors, fog, etc) are bound to seem cliché to a modern audience, but they work far more effectively in black and white than they ever could in modern day colour. Rather than using body counts and special effects, the film creates scares the old fashion way, relying on a good story, stylish direction, fine set production, interesting camera work, and strong acting performances. Margheriti does a marvellous job taking these elements and building the film's suspense as the horrifying paranormal secret of the house gradually reveals itself to the unwitting writer.The film is not without faults. The pace drags at the beginning of the film (ironically, the 20 minutes I originally missed). This is probably worsened by Synapse films effort to restore the film to its original length. Though fans will likely appreciate the chance to see the film restored - in terms of the intro - it may have been more of hindrance than a help. The English voice dubs are merely passable and, in the restored scenes, the language shifts from English to French (English subtitles provided) which is sure to be annoying to some viewers.However, Synapse Films deserves kudos for the quality of the print. Clearly some effort was put into its restoration and deservedly so.I enjoyed the film immensely and highly recommend it to aficionados of 60's Italian Goth films, or anyone who enjoys a good ghost story.Rob Rheubottom Winnipeg, MB Canada

I've watched this movie a number of times, and found it to be very good. This movie is also known as "Castle Of Terror", "Coffin Of Terror", and "Dance Macabre". Barbara Steele, is her usual beautiful/creepy self. George Riviere, the male lead, does a good job with his role. The whole movie is dripping with atmosphere, and there is a good deal of tension throughout. The camera angles are good and the acting, for the most part, isn't bad. This film is quite suitable for a rainy day or evening. I have the DVD uncut version, which is far superior to the edited TV version. Grab some popcorn, turn out the lights, settle back and enjoy. John R. Tracy