In 18th Century a man called Richard Beckett (Richard Greene) is invited by a nasty callous nobleman (Stephen MacNally) whose guests tend to disappear after a visit . This happens to two of Richard Greene's friends and then he decides to find out , by investigating into the ¨Black Castle¨ the rare disappearance of two of his friends who were the guests of the sinister Austrian count . This nefarious aristocrat holds his lovely wife (Paula Corday) against his will along with a goodie doctor (Boris Karloff). Terror Stalks Its Turreted Battlements... and Horror Crawls the Catacombs Beneath! This is the Night that Horror Walks on Two Feet!
Decent chiller but not enough horror movie , the film is acceptable , though sometimes being uninspired and melodramatic . In fact, more than a terror movie this one results to be a cloak and dagger thriller . The cast is pretty good , stars Richard Greene who starred a lot of adventures , he is every bit , here as a dashing and brave hero taking off an extemely villain role performed by Stephen MacNally who is nice as the evil Austrian nobleman displaying a high old time while roaming the catatombs of his cavernous castle with plenty of wild animals and crocs at the basement . The gorgeous Paula Corday is the heroine in distress , this little known actress began his short career in such movies as ¨The Body Snatchers¨also with Boris Karloff . However, here Karloff doesn't delivers the goods , and he doesn't have enough to do , it turns out to be strange to find him as a good guy . Other notorious secondareis appearing are the following ones : Lon Chaney Jr as the hulking bodyguard dispensing the scowls and the sneers , being his last horror film for Universal , Tudor Owen as a faithful servant , the regular cutthroat Michael Pate and the eternal secondary John Hoyt.
Special mention for the atmospheric cinematography in black and white by Irving Glassberg, including usual sets that show up in hundreds of Universal films , in fact it was utterly shot in studios : Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza , Universal City, California. The motion picture was well directed by Nathan Juran for Universal Pictures and it was Nominee Saturn Award Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Film. Juran was a notorious art director winning an Oscar for art direction on How green was my valley by John Ford . Then , he turned to directing in the the Fifties. Juran handled mostly low-budget Westerns and oaters such as : Law and order , Gunsmoke, Tumbleweed, as well as Sci-Fi opuses , his most famous were Attack of the 50 foot woman 1958 , The brain of the planet Arous , The deadly mantis, 20 million miles to earth . On the other hand he was also responsible for great fantasy adventures as The 7th voyage of sinbad, Jack the giant killer , 1958 . In the early Sixties he travelled Europe where he made Spaghetti Western as Land raiders . Furthermore , he directed a lot of episodes of popular TV series as Daniel Boone , Lost in space , Land of giants , Voyage to the bottom of the sea , A man called Shenandoah , The three musketeers , World of giants, among others . Rating , 6.5/10 . Better than average . The movie will appeal to weird fans and chiller aficionados .
Decent chiller but not enough horror movie , the film is acceptable , though sometimes being uninspired and melodramatic . In fact, more than a terror movie this one results to be a cloak and dagger thriller . The cast is pretty good , stars Richard Greene who starred a lot of adventures , he is every bit , here as a dashing and brave hero taking off an extemely villain role performed by Stephen MacNally who is nice as the evil Austrian nobleman displaying a high old time while roaming the catatombs of his cavernous castle with plenty of wild animals and crocs at the basement . The gorgeous Paula Corday is the heroine in distress , this little known actress began his short career in such movies as ¨The Body Snatchers¨also with Boris Karloff . However, here Karloff doesn't delivers the goods , and he doesn't have enough to do , it turns out to be strange to find him as a good guy . Other notorious secondareis appearing are the following ones : Lon Chaney Jr as the hulking bodyguard dispensing the scowls and the sneers , being his last horror film for Universal , Tudor Owen as a faithful servant , the regular cutthroat Michael Pate and the eternal secondary John Hoyt.
Special mention for the atmospheric cinematography in black and white by Irving Glassberg, including usual sets that show up in hundreds of Universal films , in fact it was utterly shot in studios : Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza , Universal City, California. The motion picture was well directed by Nathan Juran for Universal Pictures and it was Nominee Saturn Award Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Film. Juran was a notorious art director winning an Oscar for art direction on How green was my valley by John Ford . Then , he turned to directing in the the Fifties. Juran handled mostly low-budget Westerns and oaters such as : Law and order , Gunsmoke, Tumbleweed, as well as Sci-Fi opuses , his most famous were Attack of the 50 foot woman 1958 , The brain of the planet Arous , The deadly mantis, 20 million miles to earth . On the other hand he was also responsible for great fantasy adventures as The 7th voyage of sinbad, Jack the giant killer , 1958 . In the early Sixties he travelled Europe where he made Spaghetti Western as Land raiders . Furthermore , he directed a lot of episodes of popular TV series as Daniel Boone , Lost in space , Land of giants , Voyage to the bottom of the sea , A man called Shenandoah , The three musketeers , World of giants, among others . Rating , 6.5/10 . Better than average . The movie will appeal to weird fans and chiller aficionados .