Good concept, poorly executed.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

It was only recently that I discovered the wonder of the Italian Gothic genre, and I'm happy to say that this film is indeed one of the best. The crisp use of black and white photography makes the events portrayed appear stark and effective (Bava would have been proud), and the tone too is genuinely nasty. By the end of the film, the viewer is left unsure of what has occurred, only that in some way evil has won again, and will go on winning and winning for eternity. Added to that, it also manages to be extremely unsettling and very frightening in some moments.Director Antonio Margheriti (who later turned to adventure flicks like THE LAST HUNTER) keeps things moving along at a swift pace, ensuring that there is always something interesting happening on screen to keep the viewer occupied. While the plot is of the standard haunted house variety, there are plenty of neat flourishes, such as one of the actors actually playing Poe himself, researching material for a new story! The setting is excellent, a large and Gothic building full of fine furniture, layered in thick dust and cobwebs, where the stench of death is heavy in the air and terrible occurrences are played out in full.We see people die in violent ways, and although we know that they are merely playbacks and cannot harm the hero of the film, they still manage to be frightening. Especially the mysteriously half-naked muscular man, a murderer who goes around with a knife and stabs people, for what reason, who knows? The lack of knowledge about the ghosts makes it all the more frightening, as we only see what the character of Foster sees, nothing more, we are as left in the dark as he is.Georges Riviere gives a solid performance as the male lead, charismatic, romantic and heroic when the time calls for it. However it's the wonderful Barbara Steele who steals (sorry) the film as a ghost who wants to help Riviere, but in the end is unable to leave the building and crumbles away. Even darkness is thrown on Steele's apparently honourable intentions towards the living man she loves, as we hear her voice quite happily whispering "now we can be together" at the very end of the film, after the hero has been killed in a genuinely shocking way, just after we think he's safe. The rest of the cast all perform well, the actors and actresses portraying the spirits of the castle all intone their characters with just the right level of menace without exaggerating, especially the sinister Dr. Carmus character who first acts as our narrator but then turns out to be seeking Foster's blood like the rest of the castle's inhabitants.If you're in the mood for a good atmospheric chiller, then this knocks spots off even well-made competition like THE HAUNTING. Gruesome and frightening, CASTLE OF BLOOD comes across as something of a tragedy as its become lost in time to modern audiences, undeservedly so. It's a film which shows that budget and special effects aren't important, just strong camera-work and storytelling are needed to make an effective horror film, which this indeed is.

One of the greatest examples of Italian Gothic, "Castle of Blood" has everything you could ask for in a genre film and more, employing the basic elements of classic Universal Horror films with the over sexuality of 60's cinema, therefore turning the otherwise routine story into something fresh and original. Though Antonio Marghereti has something of a mixed bag career, this is one of his best achievements, whose stylish directing creates some haunting set pieces and evocative, nightmarish atmosphere that has never been bettered. Riz Ortolani's score is as darkly erotic as it's unique approach at the Gothic Horror, blending perfectly with the latter. Just as the soundtrack, Barbara Steele is perfectly cast as our protagonist's 'love interest from beyond grave', and whose awkward sex appeal is extremely representative of the film's own macabre sensuality. It would be interesting to see this back-to-back with Mario Bava's "Black Sunday", which has a similar tone as well as having Steele in the lead role. Both films are also probably the best of the dying B&W Italian horror films, before it switched to hellishly colorful efforts, starting with Bava's equally mesmerizing "Black Sabbath" in 1963. Overall, 10/10

I have never seen a Barbara Steele movie that I haven't liked, and have always been a sucker for a good haunted-house story (especially for such wonderful pictures as "The Legend of Hell House" and the original versions of "The Haunting" and "House on Haunted Hill"), so I had a feeling that "Castle of Blood" would be right up my alley. And boy, was it ever! This French-Italian coproduction, while perhaps not the classic that Steele's first horror film, "Black Sunday," remains to this day, is nevertheless an extremely atmospheric, chilling entry in the spook genre. Filmed in black and white, it manages to convey a genuinely creepy miasma. The film concerns a journalist who bets one Lord Blackwood and an author named Edgar Allen Poe that he can spend the night in Blackwood's castle on the night of All Saints Day, when the spirits of those killed in the castle reenact their fate. The viewer gets to see these deaths, and they ARE pretty horrible, for the most part. The film does indeed send shivers up the viewer's spine, and in the uncut DVD that I just watched--thanks to the fine folks at Synapse--even features a surprising topless scene and some mild lesbianism! And Barbara is wonderful in this movie; her otherworldly beauty is put to good advantage playing a sympathetic spectre. Her mere presence turns a creepy ghost story into something truly memorable. Not for nothing has she been called "The Queen of Horror."

Italy produced a lot of really great and original horror films in the 1960's - and this is certainly one of them! The first thing you will notice about Danse Macabre is the style of the film. Shot in beautiful black and white, and due to director Antonio Margheriti's use of lighting; the film almost looks like it could be a German expressionistic horror film. This, coupled with the horror-filled plot line ensures that Danse Macabre is a film that truly captures the essence of horror. Of course, the fact that the beautiful Barbara Steele appears in the film doesn't harm matters - and the good news continues as, in this film, she gets to flex her acting muscles more than she did in the films that made her famous. The plot is very aware of the time in which this was released, and so incorporates the great Edgar Allen Poe. We follow Alan Foster, a writer who accepts a bet from Poe himself and Lord Blackwood that he can't spend an entire night in the latter's creepy old castle. Everyone that has spent the night there previously has died...and our hero is about to meet the previous wager-takers! Nowadays, horror films don't tend to focus so much on each shot and the result is that there isn't much beauty left in the genre. It is refreshing, therefore, to see this film. Many of the shots here are incredibly beautiful - from the female side of the couple wearing just a see-through skirt, to my personal favourite - a shot of smoke creeping in from under a door. This my first Antonio Margheriti film, and even after seeing just this one; it's obvious that he was one of Italy's premier directors. Also interesting is the fact that screenplay was co-written by another of the Italian greats; Django creator Sergio Corbucci. The plot can meander a little too much at times, but there's always enough atmosphere on hand to make sure that the film never becomes boring - and the fact that it is always intriguing, even when the plot slows down, ensures the same thing. The way that Danse Macabre utilises the 'haunted house' theme is both well done and original, and helps to keep the story as eerie as possible. On the whole, fans of Italian and/or cult cinema will not want to miss this little gem!