Castle of Blood (1964)
"Danza macabra" (original title)

A writer accepts a bet that he cannot spend the night alone in a haunted castle on All Soul's Eve. Once night falls at the castle, several who had been murdered therein return to life, ... See full summary »

Directors:

Sergio Corbucci, Antonio Margheriti

Writers:

Sergio Corbucci (screenplay), Giovanni Grimaldi (screenplay)

Stars:

Barbara Steele, Georges Rivière, Margrete Robsahm

Cast

Credited cast:
Barbara Steele	...	Elisabeth Blackwood
Georges Rivière	...	Alan Foster
Margrete Robsahm	...	Julia
Arturo Dominici	...	Dr. Carmus (as Henry Kruger)
Silvano Tranquilli	...	Edgar Allan Poe (as Montgomery Glenn)
Sylvia Sorrente	...	Elsi (as Sylvia Sorrent)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Giovanni Cianfriglia	...	KIller (as Phil Karson)
John Peters
Merry Powers
Umberto Raho	...	Lord Thomas Blackwood (as Raul H. Newman)
Benito Stefanelli	...	(as Ben Steffen)
Johnny Walters

Storyline

A writer accepts a bet that he cannot spend the night alone in a haunted castle on All Soul's Eve. Once night falls at the castle, several who had been murdered therein return to life, reliving their deaths and seeking to kill the writer for his blood in a vain attempt to stay alive beyond that one night. Barbara Steele, as one of the living dead, tries to aid his escape from the castle.

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Plot Keywords:

castle | bet | wager | sex scene | ghost | 

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Taglines:

The living and the dead change places in an orgy of terror!

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Genres:

Horror

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Italy France

Language:

Italian

Release Date:

29 July 1964 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Castle of Terror

Company Credits

Production Co:

Giovanni Addessi Produzione Cinematografica, Ulysse Productions, Vulsinia Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

87 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

Alan is supposed to be fatally impaled by a spike (which is what we see in close-up), but the spike in the swinging gate could only hit him tangentially. His body remains upright but there is no embedded spike to provide the necessary support. (In any case a supporting spike would need to be not in the gate but in the railing behind him.)

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Quotes

[last lines]
Elisabeth Blackwood: [in a ghostly voice-over] You have stayed with me, Alan.
Alan Foster: [in a ghostly voice-over] Yes, Elizabeth.

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Connections

Referenced in Cannibal Holocaust (1980)

User Reviews

Castle of Babes

I saw this movie as a kid on Creature Feature when I lived in New York. It was a pretty creepy movie, though not as good as Horror Hotel. I just bought this movie on DVD, and it is different from what I remember because in the DVD that I bought there are several scenes where the actors speak in French and/or Italian and no subtitles are provided. Then the other actors respond in English to what was being said. Kind of weird. Also on the DVD box, the names of some of the actors are spelled differently than on IMDb.

Aside from that, this movie is different in that the character of Elsie takes her clothes off and provides a nude shot in one scene and in another scene Julia tries to force Elizabeth (Barbara Steele) to make out with her by pushing her down on the bed and kissing her while Steele resists. That scene existed in the TV version, but it was very edited. I wonder if there is any extra footage that could be incorporated into a remastered ultra-edition? It seems sad that some of these old low budget classics have been spliced to bits and sold in all kinds of edited versions. Where are the master tapes and all the unused footage?

Aside from the first boring twenty minutes before Allen is delivered to the Castle, the rest of the movie is pretty good. There aren't too many special effects (but Herbert's face after Julia clubs him is a good one). The creepy atmosphere and the strange, exotic, and seductive look of Barbara Steele make the movie a lot better than it should be. I can honestly say that if Barbara Steele had not been in this film, it would be a big zero. She makes the movie a ten!