TERROR IN THE CRYPT, which is what it is called here, is the same film that I first saw on TV back in 1965. It, not BLACK SUNDAY, was my very first exposure to the film genre known as Italian Gothic Cinema. Atmospheric music, moody black & white photography, 18th or 19th century settings, and lots of beautiful women in wind blown nightgowns made quite the impression on me in my early teenage years. I had a Dover paperback edition of BEST GHOST STORIES of J. S. Le Fanu and was already familiar with the story of CARMILLA the female vampire when I saw this. Watching it again recently on this DVD enabled me to revisit childhood thrills but now with an adult perspective. I was able to have my cake and it eat it too and it was delightful.
Although made 4 years after BLACK SUNDAY and obviously influenced by it, CRYPT (THE CRYPT & THE INCUBUS is the original Italian title) follows Le Fanu’s literary style of mood and effect rather than shock horror. Most people, even back in 1964 when this was made, find this approach rather boring but if you appreciate it then CRYPT delivers in a big way and as this was my first exposure to this type of Gothic Cinema, it no doubt influenced my preferences. Who knows what would have happened had I seen the far more gruesome BLACK SUNDAY first. The film follows the outline of CARMILLA closely with the sudden deaths of young girls linked with the appearance of a mysterious female visitor. The twist here is that Count Karnstein is the good guy and his daughter thinks she is the vampire.
Although Christopher Lee gets top billing as the Count (he was just beginning his spate of European horror movies), he has little to do until the end. The real focus is on Italian actresses Adriana Ambesi (Audry Amber) and Ursula Davis (Pier Anna Quaglia) as the daughter and the stranger. The lesbian overtones are clearly there to see but they aren’t as overt as Hammer’s THE VAMPIRE LOVERS with Ingrid Pitt. Sometimes it’s nice to have something left to the imagination. Actually this film owes much to Roger Vadim’s 1960 film BLOOD & ROSES which I didn’t see until many years later. This Image Entertainment edition looks quite good with black bars at the top and bottom and the soundtrack is a little cleaner. It’s definitely the way to go but the old AIP version is still available on the otherwise lamentable GRAVEYARD THEATER series for those interested in seeing it.
The Capsule Critic 