Simply A Masterpiece

Absolutely the worst movie.

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

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

This Gothic Horror dispenses with heaving cleavage, secret passages and all that jazz for a cautionary tale regarding trusting creepy ass Counts who hand you invitations to their similarly creepy castles, and, strangely even for a Euro-horror film, it has Donald Sutherland playing three separate roles...for some reason.Those invited are a travelling troupe of performers led by greedy jerk Bruno, who travels with sister Laura, deaf/mute Gianni, level headed dwarf Nick, and newly recruited horny jerk Philip Leroy, who has taken over the role of Harlequin from violent jerk Luciano Pigozzi, who has flounced off after a bar fight with Bruno. This lot head off to the castle on the promise of a lot of cash, despite the warning of an old witch (Donald Sutherland!) who speaks only in rhyme.The first strange occurrence happens shortly afterwards when Philipe finds what looks like a stuffed crow stuck to a tree branch. Puzzled, he casts it aside and heads for the castle anyway, all the time hitting on Laura while Bruno grunts about the money they'll all make. Of course, Christopher Lee plays Count Drago, who lives in the castle with his hulking man servant. Drago appears to be quite the rabid taxidermist, as his castle is stuffed with all sorts of animals. You'd have to be some sort of actor in a cheap horror film to not guess where things are heading next...especially when Drago mentions that the new creature he's working with is 'the most dangerous of all'.Some people hate this film for some reason, but I found the set up different from the usual gothic horror clichés. Apart from Donald Sutherland's performance as the witch, and the bumbling soldier, it's good that the main hero of the piece ends up being the dwarf, rather than Philipe Leroy. I did have a good laugh at the dwarf dummy that is thrown off the side of the castle, mind. The sight of Donald Sutherland as an old crone speaking in rhyme and making a dwarf touch his/her hump for luck is something to behold also.I think this is also the earliest film I know that uses the Gardens of Bomarzo (aka The Sacred Grove or Park of the Monsters) as a location. Created in the 16th Century, this place is full of bizarre sculptures and buildings used by some fella to cope with the grief of his wife's passing. The Orcus is the most famous of the sculptures, having been used in the film The Relic, the naked Sherilyn Fenn film Phantoms, and of course Luigi Cozzi's utterly demented and classic film The Adventures of Hercules (which is one of the most entertaining films ever made).

**SPOILERS** During the hectic times in Central Europe just after the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo this troupe of Gypsy entertainers doing a hang man act are invited to preform at Count Dargo's Castle with a hefty three pieces of gold bullion as a reward for their effort.Accepting the Count's invitation the entertainers are unaware that he's more interested in their bodies then their talents. In fact one of the Gypsy, who was thrown out of the ensemble for fighting, Dart is later grabbed by the Count's faithful servant Sando who had him mummified with this potion, secreted from an exotic flower, that the Count picked up in the Orient.The Count is in the process of creating his own wax museum by freezing, with the extract of his magic flower, in place not only animals, like birds cats and dogs, but humans. The Count plans to have the entire troupe made into members of the living dead, like his wife, and stay with him in his castle, as a byproduct of his evil genius, forever!After mummifying Dart together with the hangman of the troupe Bruno, who in fact really and mistakingly hung himself, Count Dargo becomes very interested in the late Bruno's sister Laura whom he developed the hots for. Wanting to get Laura to take a dose of his magic extract, the Oriental flowers mummifying powers, has Laura run like hell from the crazed Count with his servant Sandro in hot pursuit.Sandro had earlier had Laura's lover, who replaced her late brother Bruno as the hanged man, Eric knocked out and put on ice in the Count's laboratory to be turned into his latest stiff. It turned out that the midget, Nick, of the group not only came to Eric's rescue but also saved Laura from being turned into a human statue by the deranged Count Drago.Sandro chasing Nick all over the castle grounds ends up getting blasted by him, with a pistol, after he thought that he did him him. Nick was thrown from the castle wall by Sandro only to land on a haystack that both broke his fall and prevented Nick form breaking his neck. Running into an old women who it turned out was the Count's first victim Nick gets the lowdown to what the crazed Count is really up to. With the help of the local police, lead by the goofy Sgt.Paul, Nick together with Eric finally put an end to Count Dargo's reign of terror.In the end the Count got a whiff of his own medicine, or his exotic flower's deadly extract, and became the latest as well as last member of his macabre experiment in the suspended animation of eternal life; The Castle of the Living Dead!

A traveling troupe of actors are requested to put on a personal show for Count Drago (Christopher Lee) in his castle. They don't know he has some sinister plans for them.There's a lot wrong with this--with the exception of Lee and Donald Sutherland everyone is badly dubbed; Lee looks silly with the goatee and black eye makeup; Sutherland looks even sillier playing an old female witch (!!!!); there are many boring sections; the plot is just dumb and more than a little vague.There are some good things about this:Lee overplays his part (and is enjoying himself), logic aside the script isn't half bad and it is pretty well-directed. But mostly this is a slow dull horror movie. I caught it originally on TV when I was a kid in the 1970s. Even then I thought it was silly! For Lee completists only. Otherwise, skip it

The Castle of the Living Dead is quite a good, little known thriller about a man named Count Drago who has found the secret to preserving life instantly, a sort of life in death concept. His castle is full of all kinds of creatures that are in death just as they were in life. Lee plays the title role with relish as he entertains a group of roving entertainers in his castle. The film is quite atmospheric with some very good chase scenes through dark corridors and a graveyard as well. The cast is pretty decent with a pint-sized dwarf besting all. The film is of some note as it is one of the earliest performances of Donald Sutherland, who has a field day playing an incompetent policeman and a witch/old hag. Quite a good European little horror film!