Audience Member
Castle of the Living Dead is a movie of mystery.
Who directed it?
Warren Kiefer, who couldn't be directly credited for the film as the film required an Italian director?
Herbert Wise — Luciano Ricci, the film's first assistant director — whose name was used to fulfill that needed native director credit?
Riccardo Freda, who left I Vampiri for Mario Bava to finish and also made Double Face and Tragic Ceremony?
Michael Reeves, the tragically lost too song director who made Witchfinder General? Depending on who is asked, Reeves either did minor second unit work, a polish on the script's dwarf character, a complete takeover of the movie or nothing at all.
And did Mario Bava do effects?
So many mysteries!
This gothic horror movie stars Christopher Lee as Count Drago, a man who embalms humans and animals, making them part of his eternal theater thanks to a chemical formula that instantly kills and embalms anything that lives, arresting them at the very moment of death.
Beyond Lee, the cast includes Gaia Germani (Hercules In the Haunted World), Philippe Leroy (The Laughing Woman), Luciano Pigozzi (the Italian Peter Lorre), Luigi Bonos (Frankenstein 80) and Donald Sutherland in his first movie playing a witch, an old man and Sergeant Paul.
Co-writer Paul Maslansky would go on to produce tons of movies like Death Line, She Beast, Race with the Devil, Damnation Alley and Ski Patrol amongst so many others, as well as creating the original concept — and producing — all of the Police Academy movies.
Rated 2.5/5 Stars •
Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars
02/06/23
Full Review
martin a
This is a low-budget film, but very enjoyable.
A group of traveling actors are invited to a castle to entertain the owner, however when they get there they realize not all is as it seems.
The owner has a laboratory and he has been preserving animals and his wife with an injection, he intends to do the same to the troupe, as one by one they die!
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
03/31/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Filmed in Italy but in English, then badly dubbed into...English! Blobbo laugh at silly humans!
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
01/17/23
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Audience Member
I've only recently discovered Michael Reeves, a writer/director who made only four films and who died at age 24, but the two films of his I've seen are quite unique horror films, and were genuinely grotesque and truly horrifying. Reeves was a co-writer and second unit director on this film about a troupe of performers who find themselves victims of Christoper Lee when they are guests in his title castle. This bit of Euro horror definitely feels more along the lines of Werner Herzog (with a dash of Tod Browning) than it does Hammer Horror or your typical AIP Roger Corman horror flick. The film does have it's flaws, mostly that is does feel amateurishly directed at times and the budget is pitiful. However, it does a good job of creating a very unsettling atmosphere with man Goya-esque grotesque horrors. Certainly not for all tastes, the films' strengths outweigh it's faults and is certainly worth watching for fans of 60s Euro Horror. Donald Sutherland's film debut.
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
01/31/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Occasionally unintentionally amusing and hardly horrifying black & white Gothic horror starring Christopher Lee as a Napoleonic Era Count, who having discovered a potion that can permanently petrify living creatures, tries to add a traveling troupe of actors to his collection. Sadly, this Italian production bears the marks of a very, very low-budget production
The most notable thing about this film is obviously the presence of the great Christopher Lee, though in fitting with the rest of the movie; he's not at his best and his performance feels rather flat. Castle of the Dead drones on for about ninety minutes with barely a scare in sight and finishes on an unsurprising note.
One of the few positives of this film was the presence of Gaia Germani as 'Laura', but even so she wasn't able to lift this film up all by herself. This is one of Donald Sutherland's first films, and he does a terrific job with three roles, most notably as an old hag-like witch which was unforgettably hilarious and resembles Marty Feldman's role in Young Frankenstein.
Overall, this is an average film at best and can only be recommended for fans of Christopher Lee or for those who enjoy Gothic horror.
Rated 2.5/5 Stars •
Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars
01/26/23
Full Review
Audience Member
wish i could only do a half star that would be too good
Rated 1/5 Stars •
Rated 1 out of 5 stars
01/21/23
Full Review
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