The Castle of the Living Dead

Ian West3.5

Wonderfully shot and loaded with crumbling castles, scythes, dark humor, taxidermy, theater troupes, cauldron stirring witches, eye trauma, gorgeous locations, a spattering of loneliness, and gorgeous black and white gothic atmosphere so rich I almost expected Barbara Steele to show up. This macabre offering looks great and exudes such a desirable mood as far as my tastes go... with incredible locations, scenery, and the kind of role that Christopher Lee just effortlessly pulls off.Loved the shadowy corridors, solid cast, cobwebbed bedrooms, young Donald Sutherland in two roles, and the whistling winds that almost felt like they blew right off the screen. Kudos to Severin for the excellent work on this beautiful boxset—this movie looks great!

clare4.0

i basically live for movies like this. largely forgotten and adrift in time, filmed in wind-drenched black & white, with locations that positively hum with atmosphere such that condensation starts to drip down your screen. it's the kind of movie that is exactly what you'd conjure if you used truck stop dvd blurbs to summon it, like "an eerie chiller" -- "creepy!" it has the full force of discarded adjectives. it has a remote, lonely castle & stone crypts & torchlight and grasses that always look pale and cemetarian in b&w.most of all i loved the cast. & i feel a great deal of affection for movies like this because i want the people who made it to know that they are loved. i especially love Gaia Germani as Laura and Antonio de Martino as Nick.i love the weird medievalism of it. the double displacement of the napoleonic wars and the even older seeming castle, brimming with pikes & shields. and Nick wielding a dagger & giant shield along the battlements is some of the purest d&d, medieval pastiche "john carter crawling through the dark of crypts" stuff that is waiting & glimmering when you're treasure hunting for things just like this.also when you could totally do things like film and climb on the statues in the Garden of Bomarzo which is leylining of the highest order now encased in some mysterious block of time.

Penny_S3.5

HoopTober 24/31✔️4/4 Italian horror films✔️1 Donald Sutherland film✔️8 different decades: 1 from the 1960sA very creepy living dead premise, in a film that was excellent up until the last 1/2 hour… when unfortunately the story slowed down considerably & became kind of silly. Donald Sutherland plays 3 different supporting roles - I loved him most as the witch, surprisingly believable! Christopher Lee was also fantastic as the Count. This film was made on location in Italy at Orsini-Odescalchi Castle, with its amazing stone sculptures is a character in itself. (I do so want to go there IRL). Well worth watching, but better to not expect a good ending.