Crypt of the Vampire

A Christopher Lee flick I'd never even heard of, much less seen. The cult film legend is not the titular bloodsucker in this Spanish-Italian co-production, however. Here the vampire's identity is supposed to be something of a mystery, although if you're at all familiar with Sheridan Le Fanu's "Carmilla", from which the script was adapted, you'll have everything figured out long before the characters do.

Director Camillo Mastrocinque piles on the classical Gothic themes and motifs like there's no tomorrow: vampirism, witchcraft, ancient family curses, heaving bosoms straining against diaphanous pregnoirs, creepy castle corridors and crypts by candlelight — that sort of thing. Facilitating this omnipresent atmosphere is some excellent black-and-white cinematography expressly modeled in the style of visual maestro Mario Bava (BLACK Sunday). Adriana Ambesi (FANGS OF THE LIVIND DEAD) and Ursula Davis (SPARTACUS AND THE TEN GLADIATORS) provide the eye candy; the story's lesbian angle is handled quite demurely but is unmistakably present, not merely hinted at yet always kept implicit. While the absence of shocks and skin, not to mention the leisurely pace, may well dissuade the casual fright film viewer the Gothic horror fan will be in his or her element. And you can never go wrong casting Lee as the aloof, aristocratic type.

Makes for an interesting double feature with Hammer's THE VAMPIRE LOVERS (1970), which is also inspired by "Carmilla".

One thing I could immediately appreciate about "Crypt of the Vampire" were the masterfully atmospheric opening sequences of a young girl, wandering around the woods by herself at night, and approaching an eerie and seemingly abandoned carriage. She spots something, dies instantly and we the viewers only witness the door of the coach slowly closing again. This was a wondrous mood-setter for an obscure and late 60's European horror gem with the inexhaustible Christopher Lee and directed by a random Italian dude who wanted to be as successful as Mario Bava ("Black Sunday") or Antonio Margheriti ("The Virgin of Nuremberg"). The heavenly beautiful Laura Karnstein, daughter of the honorable Count Ludwig played by Lee, witnesses the aforementioned opening sequence in a dream. Since she suffers from this kind of nightmares quite regularly, her concerned father seeks the help of the acclaimed Friedrich Klauss, who professionally restores manuscripts. Hopefully he can find a link between Laura and a notorious ancestor of the Karnsteins; a countess who reputedly kidnapped and killed young girls for the purpose of witchcraft. Is Laura really the reincarnation of her wicked ancestor, like the family curse states, or is the Count's young mistress Annette simply trying to drive the righteous heiress towards insanity? "Crypt of the Vampire" nearly isn't on par with some other contemporary European Gothic horror movies, but it's nevertheless a compelling and definitely worthwhile film. The script is full of obvious and slightly less obvious twists and occasionally even dares to touch certain taboo subjects, like subtle hints towards lesbianism. The Karnstein Castle is always shown from the same perspective, from beneath a hillside, but the interior filming locations are nice and gloomy. All the obligatory goth-horror elements are well represented, including thunderstorms, spontaneously dying candles, secret passageways, hidden vaults, etc. There are also a handful of uniquely grisly and genuinely horrific images in the film like the sight of a hunchback hanging dead from a chiming church bell, a corpse emerging from a coffin and pointing out who murdered her and voodoo practicing housemaids. Christopher Lee doesn't exactly give away his greatest performance ever, but even as a mediocre player he's still worth admiring. Luckily, in this case he also receives excellent support from the ravishing female cast members Adriana Ambesi and Véra Valmont.

Many of my fellow Eurohorror enthusiasts seem to have been disappointed by Camillo Mastrocinque's "La Cripta e l'incubo" aka. "Crypt of the Vampire" of 1964. For understandable reasons as the film, which stars Horror icon Christopher Lee, certainly doesn't range among the most memorable efforts in Italian Gothic Horror from the 1960s. Fact is, however, that this country, time and sub-genre stands for many of the greatest Horror films ever brought to screen, and even many of the lesser productions, such as this film, are entertaining films as such. This is one of only two Horror films by director Mastrocinque, the other being the vastly superior "Un Angelo Per Satana" of 1966 starring Genre-Goddess Barbara Steele (my favorite actress). This "Crypt of the Vampire" very obviously borrowed many story-elements from another Italian Gothic Horror film, Mario Bava's unequaled masterpiece "La Maschera Del Demonio" aka. "Black Sunday of 1960 (probably my choice for the greatest Horror film of all-time, and, of course, it also stars Barbara Steele). It can in no way compete with Bava's masterpiece, of course, nor with the many other Italian Gothic highlights from the day, be it Bava's, Antoino Margheriti's, or Riccardo Freda's films of even with Mastrocinque's own "Angelo Per Satana". Yet "Crypt of the Vampire" has many qualities. One has to give it to director Mastrocinque that he was capable of creating an uncanny atmosphere in spite of an obviously low budget. Again, he did so more impressively in "Un Angelo Per Satana", but one has to admit that this film is also highly atmospheric.

Count Karnstein (Christopher Lee) has sent for a doctor to help his daughter Laura (Adriana Ambesi). The young lady Karnstein has been tormented by terrible nightmares, and it is believed that she is possessed by the evil spirit of a dead ancestor... The film's major weakness is that it is too slow-going, especially in the first half. It is always atmospheric though, and the film really catches up in the second half, and gets quite creepy in some parts. Also, there are some nicely demented characters, such as a disfigured beggar. As it was the case with a truly brilliant Gothic film from the same year, Antonio Margheriti's "Danza Macabra" (aka. Castle of Blood"), this film has a certain lesbian subtext. The female cast in this film are beautiful, but not comparable to Barbara Steele (I can't stop praising her) and Margarete Robsahm who stunned viewers in "Danza Macabra". Also, while the (implied) lesbianism is a nicely exploitative element in this film, the explicit stuff that became common practice in Exploitation cinema only a few years later in the late 60s makes it look very harmless. Even so, it is a fun element of the film. More screen time for the great Christopher Lee would certainly have helped the film. The female cast members are entirely hot, but none of them is extremely talented. As said, the film's strong point lies in the atmosphere. Overall, "Crypt of the Vampire" is by no means a must-see or even a very good film. However, I personally enjoyed it and I think that many of my fellow fans of Italian 60s Gothic Horror might see it the same way.

Concerned about a 200 year old family curse that might bear fruition "Count Ludwig Karnstein" (Christopher Lee) hires an historian by the name of "Friedrich Klauss" (Jose Campos) to peruse all of the documents in Karnstein castle in order to settle the matter once and for all. What most disturbs Count Karnstein is the fact that his daughter "Laura" (Adriana Ambesi) is having strange dreams which typically come true adds to his concern. Throw in a scheming mistress named "Annette" (Vera Valmont) along with an unexpected visitor by the name of "Ljuba" (Ursula Davis) and things soon take a turn for worse in no time. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that the director (Camillo Mastrocinque) managed to maintain the mystery and suspense in such a manner to keep my interest from start to finish. Likewise, although I was expecting a vampire movie similar in nature to those Christopher Lee has done in the past, this particular picture left me somewhat surprised. In any case, although this wasn't a great movie by any means, I still enjoyed it and for that reason I have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.

I just had the opportunity owning this film on video & I'm glad I jumped at it when I did. This film is very rare & hard to find.

This is a story of a family curse that threatens to wipe out every last member of the Karnstein family. A count seeks out a historian to help him search into his family's past to disprove the curse.

As a child this film scarred me but as an adult it intrigues me. It has elements that horror films lack today: atmosphere & mood. It grosses out but not that much. I enjoyed it a great deal. Since its so rare, any Christopher Lee fan should grab it if they ever find it.