|
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
5
|
|
 |
|
7 |
|
10
= Highest Rating |
|
|
Antonio
Margheriti's Castle Of Blood has
been hailed by many as a high point in black and white Italian
horror cinema. Familiar only with Margheriti's action-oriented
films from the '70s and '80s (such as Cannibal
Apocalypse), I was quite eager to finally get a chance to
see it. Positively dripping with gothic atmosphere, the film
is a candlelit tour through a ghost-world of deeply shadowed
corridors and dank, musty crypts —
a dark, cobwebbed edifice straight out of the Universal/Hammer/Corman
playbook. Typically this is exactly the kind of movie
landscape yours truly likes to inhabit 'round this time of year,
with the leaves turning colors and grinning jack o' lanterns
appearing on neighborhood doorsteps. Unfortunately Castle
Of Blood had me struggling to stay awake, my drowsiness
brought on by its deliberate, lethargic pace. More yawns than
goosebumps here, I'm sad to report.
In 1840s London journalist Alan Foster (The
Virgin Of Nuremberg's Georges Rivière) tracks down the visiting
Edgar Allan Poe, keen to interview the celebrated American author.
(Didn't fame —
not to mention money —
elude Poe during his lifetime? I doubt he could've afforded
a trip to England.) Foster locates him in a pub, where Poe (Silvano
Tranquili) is telling a macabre story to his companion, the
wealthy aristocrat Sir Thomas Blackwood (Umberto Raho). The
journalist introduces himself; he and Poe are soon engaged in
a gentlemanly debate over questions of the metaphysical —
during which
my eyelids first started to droop. Poe asserts that his tales
are based on real-life incidents. Foster politely scoffs. Eventually
Blackwood makes a startling proposal...
To test the convictions of the doubting reporter, he challenges
Foster to spend the night in a haunted castle he owns. He claims
that, one night each year, the spirits of those who died there
live again. This annual haunting happens to be taking place
that very night. At first Foster declines but Blackwood sweetens
the offer with a wager. Foster accepts the £10 bet, more
to get a lengthy interview with Poe during the coach ride than
to debunk any notions of the supernatural.
Dropped off at the castle sometime before
the Witching Hour, Foster explores the dusty, deserted pile
by candlelight, slowly but inexorably growing more nervous.
Out of nowhere he's startled by the appearance of a beautiful
woman —
Elisabeth Blackwood (Black Sunday's
Barbara Steele), a relative of Sir Thomas who claims to live
in the house. Foster is immediately entranced. In considerably
less time than it takes to walk down one of the castle corridors,
the pair hit it off and are professing love. This doesn't sit
well with some of the other inhabitants whom Foster in due course
encounters, including an icy blonde (Margarete Robsahm) with
her own odd fixation concerning Elisabeth and a shirtless, he-man
type prone to acts of jealous violence. The journalist is puzzled
to discover his new galpal lacks a heartbeat; "I'm dead,
Alan," she bluntly tells him. They're all dead, it seems
—
ghosts who can cross over to the realm of the living but for
a single night each year. And to return again in a year's time,
the blood of a living human is required...
Very strong in terms of ambiance, the film
gets the gothic horror atmosphere down to a 'T' —
so well, in fact, that it readily compensates for the thin and
inconsistent ghost story around which it's structured. The production
design and Margheriti's direction complement each other nicely.
But the pacing is terribly sluggish; there are a number of very
long sequences featuring characters simply wandering about the
castle. It was during these moments that I struggled mightily
to stay conscious. Things pick up considerably in the last 15
minutes or so as the tale winds its way towards a suitably creepy
conclusion, but it can be a hard row to hoe getting there. While
it's extremely rare for me to fall asleep watching a film (even
when very tired), damn it if I didn't find myself nodding off
during this one.
Castle Of Blood
looks great — no doubt
about that — and
the presence of scream queen Barbara Steele is a big plus. (Her
fans will definitely want to get this disc.) But those interminable
walking scenes just go on and on. Unless you're bright eyed
and bushy tailed when you sit down to watch this, I strongly
recommend some coffee, Mountain Dew, or better yet, Jolt. (Caffeine
Time Two!)
|
|
|
Synapse
Film's DVD edition represents the most complete version of Castle
Of Blood extant. Elements came from four different sources,
most notably a longer French print using the European title Danse
Macabre. English
language dialog for these additional scenes was never recorded;
consequently, they
are presented with English subtitles which automatically kick
in at the appropriate moment. The majority of the 'new'
French footage occurs in the pub scene at the beginning of the
film, with Poe embellishing his story to Blackwood in greater
detail than in the U.S. cut. There's also about 10-or-so seconds
of demure nudity courtesy of a ghost bride who died in the castle
on the night of her honeymoon.
With a transfer culled from multiple sources,
visual quality of the DVD presentation understandably varies.
Generally the entire film looks a bit dark, grainy, and soft.
Representing the best possible elements in existence, however,
this is the best Castle Of Blood
will ever look. Synapse is to be commended for the effort,
especially since the film can finally be appreciated on home video
in its proper aspect ratio (1.78:1 widescreen). The mono audio
track (whether English or French) is okay, with clear dialog and
no distortion during the louder passages of music. There's some
noticeable background noise in Chapter 6, though, sounding like
a lawnmower operating somewhere off in the distance. (A ghostly
groundskeeper, perhaps?)
Extras include informative liner notes by the
ubiquitous Tim Lucas, the U.S. theatrical trailer, the original
U.S. opening title sequence (different lettering, different music),
and a photo gallery of production stills. 10/30/02 |
•
Home
| Reviews | Top
•
|
