Horror Castle

High-quality Italian gothic. After an extremely conventional opening (the beginning alone, with the woman in a nightgown wandering amongst exquisite draperies and pointy medieval torture devices, encapsulates the main stylistic touches of the genre), the film gradually gives way to a definitely less predictable second half in which other elements appear, such as medical atrocities, a Nazi subplot, and even pseudo-adventure components (situations that almost seem ripped from the pages of H. Rider Haggard’s adventure novels – for example, the scene when the protagonist finds himself trapped beneath the castle – situations which Margheriti himself will dust off in his later adventure films, such as 1984’s “I Sopravvissuti della Città Morta” aka “The Ark of the Sun God”).

The result is an above-average effort wrapped in a dense, refined atmosphere, enhanced by excellent cinematography rich in autumnal tones. The cast is in fine fettle (although I would have preferred seeing Christopher Lee in a more substantial role), and a few gory details that seem ahead of their time make the dish even more delectable.

The sole blemish: the incongruous jazz soundtrack by Riz Ortolani. Story adapted from the 1960 novel of the same name by Maddalena Guy (alias “Frank Bogart”).