Nightmare Castle (1965)

A woman and her lover are tortured and killed by her sadistic husband. The pair return from the grave to seek vengeance.

Director:

Mario Caiano (as Allen Grünewald, Allan Grunewald)

Writers:

Mario Caiano (story, screenplay and dialogue), Fabio De Agostini (story, screenplay and dialogue)

Stars:

Barbara Steele, Paul Muller, Helga Liné

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Barbara Steele	...	Muriel Arrowsmith / Jenny Arrowsmith (as Barbara Steel)
Paul Muller	...	Dr. Stephen Arrowsmith (as Paul Miller)
Helga Liné	...	Solange
Marino Masé	...	Dr. Dereck Joyce (as Lawrence Clift)
Giuseppe Addobbati	...	Jonathan, the Butler (as John McDouglas)
Rik Battaglia	...	David

Storyline

A sadistic count tortures and murders his unfaithful wife and her lover, then removes their hearts from their bodies. Years later, the count remarries and the new wife experiences nightmares and hauntings. The ghosts of the slain return to exact their bloody revenge, until their hearts are destroyed.

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Plot Keywords:

gothic horror | suspicion | mysterious event | earrings | back from the dead | 

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Taglines:

A mad, sadistic scientist on the loose!

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Genres:

Horror

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Certificate:

Unrated

Did You Know?

Trivia

Director Mario Caiano stated that Nightmare Castle was born out of his passion for actress Barbara Steele and the Gothic genre, a style which he began to love between 1943 and '44 when he first read Edgar Allan Poe's work. Caiano said that he was not influenced by director Mario Bava, and did not remember seeing his films at the time with the possible exception of Black Sunday (1960).

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Quotes

Dr. Stephen Arrowsmith: [to Muriel Arrowsmith] I've asked you before not to come down to my laboratory while I'm busy with my experiments.

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Alternate Versions

The uncut dubbed version is called "Night of the Doomed", and runs 97m.

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Connections

Featured in 100 Years of Horror: Girl Ghouls (1996)

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Soundtracks

Amanti D'Oltretomba
Composed by Ennio Morricone

User Reviews

Mediocre horror film aided by good acting. Has shades of Riccardo Freda's/Mario Bava's I Vampiri aka The Vampires.

I first saw this in the 80s on a rented vhs. Revisited it few days back. The film is about a scientist (Paul Muller) who tortures his wife (Barbara Steele) n her lover after catchin em red handed with the aid of his old n haggard maid (Helga Liné, much more attractive than Steele). The torturous punishment is only an excuse. The real motif is to usurp's the wife's property n spend time with the maid who turns very young n attractive after a blood transfusion. Told ya. Things turn bad for the scientist as the wife informs him that she had made her step sister (Barabara Steele in a double role) the nominee of the property.....

The isolated castle with its huge rooms appeared eerie, the atmosphere towards the end with the rainfall n the acting were the only good aspects. The ending seemed rushed, the ghosts weren't spooky, there is implausibility which will make one scratch their head n the stupidity shown/done by a scientist is beyond belief.

Details

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Release Date:

5 July 1966 (USA)

Also Known As:

Nightmare Castle

Filming Locations:

Incir De Paolis Studios, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cinematografica EmmeCi

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1