Il castello dei morti vivi

The Castle of the Living Dead is quite a good, little known thriller about a man named Count Drago who has found the secret to preserving life instantly, a sort of life in death concept. His castle is full of all kinds of creatures that are in death just as they were in life. Lee plays the title role with relish as he entertains a group of roving entertainers in his castle. The film is quite atmospheric with some very good chase scenes through dark corridors and a graveyard as well. The cast is pretty decent with a pint-sized dwarf besting all. The film is of some note as it is one of the earliest performances of Donald Sutherland, who has a field day playing an incompetent policeman and a witch/old hag. Quite a good European little horror film!

Back in the '50s and '60s, these Evil-Count-Doing-Something-Bad movies were a dime a dozen. Nowadays, you're lucky if you get one every five years. Which is not necessarily a bad thing if all the entries turned out like this one.

The movie involves a traveling band of minstrels traveling to the castle of Count Drago (Christopher Lee, sporting an odd makeup job) to perform. Once there, they find that the Count has an interesting taxidermy hobby. As you will have figured out in the first 15 minutes, the Count has more in store for the minstrels than they expected.

This movie isn't so much about Lee's plans to turn everthing into a statue (his creations aren't stuffed carcasses; they're permanently frozen while living); it's about the stupidity of the minstrels. Look at these examples of how they completely miss the fact that they are in danger:

* they don't suspect anything being invited to a remote castle for a private appearance for three gold pieces (!!), or when they're warned by an old hag (Donald Sutherland, for Christ's sake!!) that they will die if they go to the castle;

* when Lee tells the lead minstrel that he has started using humans, but substitutes the word "animal" for "human", the minstrel doesn't catch on;

* the strongman/firebreather doesn't notice the evil henchman standing 10 feet away, preparing to shoot him in the eye with a crossbow;

* the female minstrel doesn't realize that a man she knew is dead, even though he is completely immobile and attached to a stand, nor does she catch on when the Count talks of giving her "eternal beauty" as codewords for killing her.

This film does have other problems. The print I saw looked like it had been through the washing machine (I really don't see a big preservation movement for this one). The acting is pretty wooden (the terrible dubbing doesn't help either). Sutherland (who plays a soldier as well the hag) plays the soldier role with all the seriousness he played the surgeon Hawkeye Pierce. There are a few redeeming moments, though: when the henchman throws the midget minstrel off the top of the castle (he lives, but it's nice to believe that he won't), and the great expression Lee has to hold at the end of the movie (he sure is shaking a lot for a statue). Other than that, there no reason to recommend this movie. Die-hard Lee fans may not even enjoy it.

Ambiance is what it's all about, and this film has plenty of it. The setting is Europe during the Napoleonic era. A traveling circus troop has been invited to perform at a mysterious castle for a Count and his sleazy looking sidekick. This appears to be Donald Sutherland's first film, and he does a terrific job in a dual role. His presentation of an old hag-like witch is unforgettable. After seeing the movie, I found myself repeating some of the macabre rhymes, such as "Some will live and some will die before the morning sun is high." The acting is solid throughout. Don't expect a lot of action or violence. There's plenty of suspense throughout, however. The female minstrel is most exotic looking, and one watches in anticipation that she might eventually hike her skirt. The tension generated is occasionally broken by comic relief; some of it unintentional no doubt. There is a bit of sword play at the end, which appeared very awkward, but the awkwardness seemed to enhance the realism in a most peculiar way. It had been years since I had seen this film, and I fondly recalled it. I was successful in locating a reasonably crisp copy on DVD. I plan on watching it again soon. I easily rate it a 7 out of 10 based on entertainment value. After all, how many films can offer up their own midget toss?

I've seen up to three directors credited for the film, although only Warren Kiefer is credited on the print I saw, as well as being credited as author of the story and screenplay. This low budget European shocker is the first film usually credited to Michael Reeves, who directed the horror classic "The Witchfinder General" (1968). His films are noted for their downbeat overall tone, and he directed only four feature length films before he died at age 25.

In 1820's Europe, a traveling circus gives a performance. Afterwards, they are invited to Count Drago's (Lee's) castle, to perform for him. On the way there, they are intercepted by an old woman who warns them against the castle and predicts some of them will die. As usual in such films, they ignore the warning and continue on anyways or else there would be no movie.

I've yet to find a good quality print of this film. It's American release was botched, and it ended up playing mostly drive-in theaters, and then fell into obscurity. The best quality print I have found has the ends cropped to make its aspect ratio 4:3.

Lee is head and shoulders better than the rest of the cast. Donald Sutherland is also notable in multiple roles in this, his first feature film appearance that was not a TV movie. The other actors are no better than adequate. The cinematography and score are both functional, at best. In the last 40 minutes, film stops and numbers are projected on screen for 15-30 seconds a couple of times.

If you are willing to overlook the films' faults (score, cinematography, abrupt changes in tone, and an ending that Reeves must have argued against) there are some good scares in this one.

It is worth sitting through if it ever comes your way. Weird factoid: Donald Sutherland's son Kiefer is named after the director. I have no idea exactly why.

Christopher Lee pops up in a lot of shonky Euro-horror, but I didn't expect to see Donald Sutherland's name to appear in the opening credits for Castle of the Living Dead. Sutherland's big screen debut sees the actor playing multiple roles: firstly, he plays an old hag who warns the members of a travelling acting troupe of impending death if they continue to the castle of Count Drago (Lee) where they are to perform; then he plays the incompetent police sargeant who is oblivious to the count's experiments in the suspension of life, using humans subjects; and according to IMDb, Sutherland also plays an old man, but I don't recall seeing that character.

The film's main star, Christopher Lee, could play his role in his sleep: villanous aristocrat Count Drago is bread and butter for the actor. The count is assisted in his work by a drooling maniac called Sandro (Mirko Valentin), who captures victims for Drago. In the film's best (ie. Funniest) scene, Sandro chases Nick (Antonio De Martino), the troupe's heroic dwarf, to the top of a tower, picks the little fellow up and throws him over the parapet. The dwarf, or rather a very unconvincing dummy, falls and lands on a pile of hay. Extra points awarded for dwarf throwing! Another cool moment sees Drago using a toy catapult to fire a poisoned dart into a man's eye. Nasty!

The direction by Warren Kiefer is rather clumsy, as is the editing, and the dubbing is terrible, but the crude technical nature of the film adds to its charm. Kiefer does make good use of his gothic location, especially the ornamental gardens and grottos that surround the castle (I know I've seen that place in another old horror film, but I can't quite put my finger in it*). All in all, this is a fun piece of low-budget Euro-horror that trundles along at a decent pace and never bores -- far from a classic but certainly worth a go for fans of this kind of hokum.

*I just read Bezenby's review, which lists other films that use the same location. The film I was trying to think of was Meridian (AKA Phantoms) starring Sherilyn Fenn.