CASTLE OF THE LIVING DEAD was the first of Christopher Lee’s “European vacation” movies that I had ever come across. I saw it in a drive-in back in the late 1960s along with several other “dubbed horrors” as we called them. I remembered it because unlike most of the other movies that were featured, this one was in black and white and it was genuinely odd. It isn’t a true horror film but more of a Gothic mystery with elements of the grotesque included. There are a few murders but no gore, a truly creepy servant (Europeans LOVE creepy servants), and a restrained but effective performance from Lee as a Count who can instantly embalm animals (and people). The remarkable menagerie that inhabit his castle is truly effective.
Set in the late 18th century, this 1964 movie was shot on location at a castle in Bomarzo, Italy with large grotesque stone creatures on the grounds that the filmmakers took good advantage of. The music is effective and in its original aspect ratio the photography was quite striking (more about that later). Low budget to be sure but producer Paul Maslansky makes the most of it. CASTLE has gained latter day notoriety because it marks the debut of actor Donald Sutherland playing two roles (a soldier and a witch!). In gratitude Sutherland named his son Kiefer after the film’s director (Warren Kiefer). It also is noteworthy for employing second unit director Michael Reeves (WITCHFINDER GENERAL) who appears briefly with his girlfriend as part of the Count’s collection.
A word or two about the Sinister Cinema transfer. They are to be commended for making this rare title available to the public. However their copy comes from a 16mm American International television print which is in the wrong aspect ratio (full screen). You can clearly see this in the opening credits when Christoper Lee’s name looks like RISTOPHER LE. The rest of the film is framed fairly well and the condition of the print is remarkably good. It’s just a shame that for the present there is no restored, widescreen version like the one I saw at the drive-in. Hopefully that will be remedied before too long as it would be far more effective to see it the way it was intended to be seen.
UPDATE: There is an absolutely pristine original ratio DVD available through anazon.uk. Unfortunately it’s Region 2 only which means without an all region DVD player you can’t play it. Hopefully a Region 1 copy will be released here one day.
The Capsule Critic 