Il castello dalle porte di fuoco (1970)

User Rating:

5.0/10   

Director:

José Luis Merino

Writers:

Enrico Colombo (screenplay)
Enrico Colombo (story)

Release Date:

8 October 1970 (Italy)

Genre:

Horror

Plot:

A beautiful young woman travels to a remote estate to seek employment as a biochemist for Baron Janos Dalmar...

Plot Keywords:

Baron | Female Nudity | Dog | Torture Chamber | Multiple Murder

Cast

Erna Schürer	...	Ivanna Rakowsky (as Erna Schurer)
Carlos Quiney	...	Janos Dalmar (as Charles Quinney)
Agostina Belli	...	Cristiana
Cristiana Galloni	...	Olga (as Christina Pathé)
Antonio Jiménez Escribano		(as Antonio Gimenez Escribano)
Mariano Vidal Molina	...	Inspector
Enzo Fisichella
Ezio Sancrotti	...	Driver turning Raper
Giancarlo Fantini
Franco Moraldi
Renato Paracchi		(as Paracchi Renato)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Javier de Rivera		(as Javier Rivera)

Also Known As:

Altar of Blood
Blood Castle
Ivanna (Spain)
Killers of the Castle of Blood
Scream of the Demon Lover (USA)

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

Italy | Spain

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Filming Locations:

Italy

Company:

Prodimex Film

Absolutey ridiculous but highly entertaining

A female scientist goes to work for a reclusive baron in an old castle. The previous baron of the castle has apparently been blown up in an experiment and the new baron, his younger brother, is continuing his work on "matter regeneration". Despite the dire warnings from the townspeople that the new baron has a voracious appetite for women and that several of his previous conquests have been found naked and apparently ripped apart by dogs, the protagonist finds the one man in town who will take her to the castle (and who, of course, tries to rape her in route). When she arrives the baron at first refuses to employ her because she's a woman, but he eventually relents. And if she doesn't have enough reason to leave yet, the first night there she is drugged and wakes up tied to a bed naked and being pawed by some kind of hideous monster! Of course, the baron convinces her that it was all a dream and that she should stay, so she does and naturally she falls in love.

Obviously, this is a pretty dumb movie and not too suspenseful as there really are only two possible solutions: the new baron is a Dr. Jeckyl.Mr. Hyde type, or his supposedly dead and grossly disfigured brother is still alive. Still this is an enjoyable if completely demented adult fairy tale (with a lot of gratuitous nudity from the lead Erna Schrurer and from Augustina Belli as a very sexual precocious and unbelievably naive maid). You definitely need to leave logic (and good taste) at the door--and if you're a scientist your head will probably explode when you hear some of ridiculous pseudo-scientific mumbo jumbo the characters speak with a straight face. Still as ridiculous as this movie is. it's a lot of fun. And if you like this, check out the director's other well-known movie, "The Hanging Woman" with Paul Naschy as a necrophilic gravedigger.