If you like gothic horror, it doesn’t get more gothic than this.
Tagline: “The Living and the Dead Change Places in an Orgy of Terror…”
AKA: Danza Macabra (original, Italian), Danse Macabre (French), Castle of Terror (truncated U.S. TV version), The Long Night of Terror, Tombs of Terror, and more
WTF Factor: **
Notable Pronouncement:
Poe: “Thus, the death of a beautiful young woman is undoubtedly and unavoidably the most poetic theme in the world.”
Note: I watched an uncut French version, Danse Macabre, which is mostly dubbed in English, unfortunately.
Synopsis:
Reporter Alan Foster (Georges Rivière) enters a London inn and approaches Edgar Allan Poe (“Montgomery Gleen,” aka Silvano Tranquilli) for an interview. Poe is regaling his guests, including Lord Thomas Blackwood (Umberto Raho, although he didn’t appear in the credits, even with a pseudonym), with a version of his story, Berenice.
Poe tells Alan that all of his stories really happened. Poe does not believe in death, while Alan insists that it is final.
Poe: “Of the people who are buried, there are many who haven’t died…”
Alan: “I admit that I’m afraid but I’m not afraid of the dead.”
Blackwood breaks into the conversation to offer a wager that Alan cannot survive the night in his castle in Providence. No one has ever taken the wager and lived. Alan refuses the bet. Poe says he has heard of the castle; a year ago a newlywed couple went there and were never seen again. Alan scoffs, but Blackwood says they are buried in the cemetery there. He looks every year for someone to take the wager on the Night of the Dead. Alan explains that he simply cannot afford the bet, but they agree on a modest sum. The Night of the Dead lasts from midnight to dawn, when the dead come back to live out their tragedies.
Blackwood and Poe leave Alan at the castle in good spirits; they will return in the morning. Alan passes through the cemetery in the mist.
Alan explores the stable, where he finds the requisite black cat and a woman’s shawl. He slowly makes his way into the castle and continues exploring by candlelight. The doors creak, the shutters rattle, the shadows move, you know the drill. The clock strikes 11:30 [??]. He doesn’t seem spooked by any of it until he glimpses himself in a mirror unexpectedly. He finds a portrait of a beautiful woman and it seems to shimmer.
Suddenly he hears a waltz and catches a glimpse of a couple dancing in the next room. There’s a swooping bat as the couple disappears. Alan plays the piano [without moving his hands – it’s a miracle!], but then a hand reaches out and touches his shoulder. The hand is attached to Barbara Steele!!! (as Elisabeth Blackwood), who wants to know if her brother Thomas sent him.
Elisabeth says that she’s “dead” to her brother and she came back to the castle to “search for happiness with the man I love,” because Thomas would never accept a gardener for a brother-in-law. Alan gallantly offers to leave but Elisabeth wants him to stay. She says that her brother sends someone every year so she won’t be alone. She wants Alan to win the wager and offers to help him to spite her brother.
They walk past the shimmering painting and Elisabeth says Julia is not a Blackwood, and he will meet her soon. She is delighted to find her shawl again.
Elisabeth has prepared a room for Alan, whom she likes. She seems worried about Julia taking him away. They flirt until Julia enters. Elisabeth is not pleased and she withdraws. Julia also leaves, telling Alan she won’t be around in the morning.
Julia tells Elisabeth that Alan will learn “the secret.” Elisabeth doesn’t want that, but Julia threatens to tell him if Elisabeth sees him again. Elisabeth says she loves him, but Julia is contemptuous of her feelings.
Elisabeth: “Yes, I’ll be happy with him.”
Julia: “No, you won’t be happy with any man.” [Hmm]
Elisabeth says Julia is jealous, but Julia points out that Elisabeth is trapped in the castle and can’t leave. Elisabeth runs out.
Alan has just picked up a book on metaphysics by Carmus [we clearly saw his tombstone in the cemetery]. The door handle starts to turn and Alan grabs the gun he brought. It’s Elisabeth and they flirt some more.
Elisabeth: “Keep on embracing me. I want to absorb the warmth of your body.”
They make love as the camera swirls around the room. Julia is listening at the door and she is not pleased. She rushes off to tell “Herbert.”
Back in bed, Alan realizes Elisabeth has no heartbeat.
Alan: “For a moment, I thought that your heart had stopped.”
Elisabeth (emotionless): “My heart isn’t beating, Alan. It hasn’t beaten for ten years. I’m dead, Alan. Dead.” [He thinks she’s being metaphorical.]
Just then, a shirtless man, Herbert (“Phil Karson,” aka Giovanni Cianfriglia) bursts into the room and stabs Elisabeth. Alan chases the fleeing man [so much for Elisabeth] and shoots Herbert, who disappears. When Alan returns to the bedroom, Elisabeth is gone.
While searching, Alan encounters Carmus (“Henry Kruger,” aka Arturo Dominici), who says he will not find Elisabeth. Carmus expounds on metaphysics about violent deaths encouraging the senses to live on.
Carmus: “In other words, death isn’t completely accepted unless the victim is ready to die.”
Alan scoffs, but Carmus pulls out a snake and cuts off its head [I hope this was fake but I don’t think so]. The snake’s body and head continue to writhe, but Alan is still not convinced. Carmus points out Elisabeth’s gravestone in the cemetery and tells Alan that in a few minutes, everyone in the castle will reenact the final five minutes of their lives.
The clock strikes and the hour arrives. Alan sees a ball in the castle, with Elisabeth being whirled around the room by her husband William. When Elisabeth is alone, Herbert appears at the window and demands to talk to her. Julia looks on in disapproval. Later, Herbert grabs Elisabeth and they go to the stable, where Herbert swears he can’t bear seeing her with another man. They make out, in French.
Carmus tells Alan that every death will be repeated that night. They go to the bedroom, where Elisabeth and her husband are having sex. Herbert creeps in and murders the husband, then starts to strangle Elisabeth until Julia clocks him. He’s dead and Elisabeth is not pleased. Julia says now the two women can be together (in French), but Elisabeth is not happy about it. Julia tries to make out with Elisabeth, who stabs her.
Alan is not enjoying the floor show but Carmus has more to show him. Alan wants out at this point, although he still doesn’t seem to accept the ghost explanation. He sees Carmus enter the basement crypt and shove open a sarcophagus where he finds this:
The corpse starts to breathe and then dissolves into mist. Carmus returns to his office, where he is murdered by Herbert, who then bites his throat. They disappear. Alan hears weird laughter and throws his gun aside in disgust.
He sees a young newlywed couple enter the castle, and though he tries to warn them, they don’t hear. They retire to the bedroom while the castle front door seals itself, trapping Alan inside. The husband goes to investigate a noise, while his wife Elsi (Sylvia Sorrent) undresses [in French, presumably]. Herbert sneaks up on her and when the husband runs back he finds Herbert at her throat. Herbert strangles him while Elsi’s clothes magically reappear.
The bodies disappear and then the couple approaches Alan, saying it’s his turn. Carmus, Julia, and William start moving in, but then Elisabeth appears and points Alan down an escape corridor. Oops, there’s Herbert. Elisabeth ushers Alan to the basement, where Alan locks himself in the sarcophagus room. The sarcophagus is empty but Alan realizes it is almost morning. Mist creeps in under the locked door and Julia appears, followed by the others. They want Alan’s blood.
Then Elisabeth returns and shows him yet another escape route. Alan insists they must go together and although she objects, Alan drags her out of the castle, where she “dies.”
Alan staggers past all of their gravestones, as voices taunt him that he cannot escape. He manages to get past the gate, which then swings closed and impales him.
In the morning Blackwood and Poe return and find Alan. Blackwood coolly extracts Alan’s wallet and takes his winnings.
Blackwood: “The Night of the Dead has claimed another victim.”
Poe has the decency to look aghast as Blackwood says he will bury him in the cemetery with the others.
Edgar Allan Poe: “When I finally write this story, I’m afraid they’ll say it’s…unbelievable.”
We hear Elisabeth calling to Alan as the movie ends. Fin.
Thoughts:
Castle of Blood is the epitome of an Italian gothic horror and I’m a sucker for that kind of movie. There are enough problems that it doesn’t rank as a classic, but one thing it has going for it is atmosphere out the wazoo. Virtually the entire movie takes place by candlelight, and the castle sets are definitely spooky. Director Antonio Margheriti (billed as Anthony M. Dawson, and assisted by uncredited Sergio Corbucci, who was originally supposed to direct) takes his time letting Alan explore amid the standard tropes of a haunted house. The atmosphere is aided by the sparse musical background. There are quite a few slow 360 degree camera pans and admittedly, plenty of opportunities to get bored if you don’t appreciate the mood-setting atmosphere.
The French version that I saw is apparently uncut. The English dubbing switches over to French with English subtitles in the sections that were never originally part of the U.S. version of the movie. I don’t know if the French version was also dubbed after market, but the voices fit the characters far better than in the English version. It’s obvious that the reconstituted French scenes were mostly sexually oriented. All of the violence is dubbed.
The premise is promising here, but characters and action let down the production. I hesitate to comment on the acting in a dubbed foreign movie, because the actors have been robbed of an important instrument to convey emotion. The dubbing is particularly flat here, creating an odd match with the melodramatic physical acting. Georges Rivière does a reasonable job, although Alan is skeptical of the ghost angle way past the point of stupidity; one wonders what he does think is going on. This isn’t really one of Barbara Steele’s best performances, but her bland dubbing and stilted English dialogue are hard to overcome when they don’t match her operatic acting. There’s nothing naturalistic about any of the performances.
Notable credit (translated): Adapted from a story by “Edgar Poe”
One can certainly argue that the atmosphere is Poe-esque, but there is no such Poe story as the advertised “Dance Macabre.” The credit is likely a callback to the successful AIP Poe movies.
Castle of Blood was remade in color by the same director, as Web of the Spider (1970). What was Margheriti thinking? The movies are virtually identical in plot and dialogue, but Web of the Spider has electronic music and some grossly over-the-top acting, especially by Klaus Kinski as Poe. The castle is well-lit and brightly colored, so, not very spooky, and if you take away the atmosphere there isn’t much left.
I like Castle of Blood probably more than it deserves, but if you’re in the mood for gothic atmosphere, you’ll find it here, in abundance. Watch this one with the lights out.
Quick bits:
- Castle of Blood was released in the U.S. as a double feature with Mario Bava’s Hercules in the Haunted World.
- The movie was shot in ten days.
- We never do find out exactly how Elisabeth died.
Suggested Double Feature: Why not make it a Steele double feature with Black Sunday (1960)?
Tagline for Coming Attraction: “What happens when a man possesses the power to cause catastrophe at will?”
