Very well executed

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

The acting in this movie is really good.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

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.

Castle of Blood (1964)*** (out of 4) Based on Edgar Allan Poe's Dance Macabre, this Italian horror film has author Alan Foster (Georges Riviere) accepting a bet to stay inside a haunted castle on All Soul's Eve. Once inside the castle he feels he is going to win the bet but soon he meets the beautiful Elizabeth (Barbara Steele) who appears to be dead.I must admit that I was really shocked by how much I enjoyed CASTLE OF BLOOD. It's not that I was expecting a bad movie since the majority of the reviews out there are very positive. It's just that I wasn't expecting to like the movie as much as I did and I found it to be incredibly effective on many levels. Director Antonio Margheriti certainly knew how to build up an atmosphere and I thought this was one of the more effective Gothic films to come from Italy.The greatest thing working for the first are the first twenty-minutes where the director manages to really make you fear the castle. I thought the opening sequence with Foster making the bet (with Poe there) was a perfect set up with what was to follow. Once we get into the castle the film has a very eerie feel to it and I thought the director perfectly put the viewer inside the castle and made you feel exactly what Foster is. There's even a sly line a comedy when the Elizabeth character tells Foster that he's trembling and he tries to play it off as being cold.The music score by Ritz Ortolani is also excellent and helps build up the coldness of the castle. The cinematography by Riccardo Pallottini is also very good and perfectly captures the various shadows. Of course another benefit is the fact that the performances are so good with Riviere leading the way in the role of the author. I thought he was certainly good enough to carry the story and he certainly made you feel the terror that the character was going through. Steele makes for a great support and delivers a fine performance. Margrete Robsahm, Silvano Tranquilli and Silvia Sorrente are all good as well.CASTLE OF BLOOD really works as a creepy, old-fashion horror film that goes for atmosphere more than anything else. The film is quite effective and is certainly worth watching.

I've been on a Barbara Steele kick lately. I love the Gothic atmosphere created in some of the older Italian and Mexican horror films. Barbara Steele was in some of my favorite Italian ones. Yesterday I re-watched 'Castle of Blood'. I'd forgotten just how good it is, it was even better than I had remembered. It was also appropriate viewing since we are going into the Halloween season as I write this. The story takes place on All Soul's Eve'. A writer accepts a wager to spend the night in a deserted mansion. We all know that is NEVER a good idea. It seems each year someone accepts this wager and never returns. During the course of the film we find out why they are sent there. The story behind some of the past murders is revealed for the writer during that night.In the past I must have only seen edited versions of the film. I was surprised to see the copy I had on this DVD showed a total nude scene when a couple spends their honeymoon night in the mansion. The bride is shown undressing and totally naked by a fireplace. I didn't expect that it, caught me off guard, a nude women in an older B/W horror film. I guess even in 1964 the Italians weren't as prudish about nudity as we Americans were in films of the same period. They also weren't afraid to present a straight out lesbian character. There's a woman in the film whose attraction to Barbara Steele's character goes beyond even their deaths. It's obvious she wants her badly.The film was over all a load of fun and full of spooky atmosphere, perfect for Halloween viewing.

It's hard to explain the appeal of this movie. It's not a gem as some have said. But I wouldn't characterize it as Euro-trash either. The plot is not very original, and relies on standard haunted house conventions, perhaps pirating some from Robert Wise's THE HAUNTING (1963). It may also have a literary source in Bulwer-Lytton's story "The Haunters and the Haunted," which also tells the story of a disbelieving rationalist who wagers he can spend a night in a mysterious house where spirits relive incidents from past lives. The film is full of continuity holes (or should I say "challenges"), because many may be explained away. But the execution is flawed. Feral cats, sudden scenes of carnage, and other fright effects do not deliver the shudders.I must say, however, that the film held my interest, primarily because of the creepy, fog-shrouded sets that look better than they ought to on such a small budget, and because the performances are above average for this type of fare. And although the plot is full of old dark house clichés—slamming doors, billowing curtains, and mysterious portraits—some nice dialog makes it all seem less contrived somehow. There is no doubt that the director and writers were absolutely sincere.There is also some provocative sexual content and nudity following a tradition of salaciousness that seems to have been a necessary ingredient of horror films as far back as Hollywood's pre-code days. So if I were forced to assess whether this glass is half empty or full I would say it is slightly more than half full. This one might appeal to all those baby boomers who watched the soap opera DARK SHADOWS when they were teenagers in the '60's. It has that feel to it, only with better acting and writing.