This 2015 single Blu-Ray from Severin Films contains 3 essential Italian Gothic Horror movies. They are the titular NIGHTMARE CASTLE (Lovers From Beyond The Grave – 1965), CASTLE OF BLOOD (Dance Macabre – 1964) and TERROR CREATURES FROM THE GRAVE (5 Graves For A Medium – 1965)). I have included the translated Italian titles as they more accurately describe what the movies are about as opposed to the Americanized ones. All three films feature Barbara Steele, the English born “Queen of Italian Horror”, are in black and white, and have atmospheric sets and lighting. The one thing missing is director Mario Bava who launched the genre in 1960 with BLACK SUNDAY (The Mask Of The Demon) although the first film was actually 1956’s I VAMPIRI (The Vampires).
The three directors here (Mario Caiano, Antonio Margheriti, Massimo Pupillo) are more than capable of delivering the goods thanks to the other Italian craftsmen involved including the set designers, the cameramen and the lighting directors. Next to Bava, Antonio Margheriti is the most celebrated purveyor of Italian Gothic. The headline feature in this set is NIGHTMARE CASTLE which was directed by Caiano who is billed here as “Allan Grunewald” an alias composed of Poe’s middle name and the surname of a 15th century German painter. An amusing fact concerning the Italian Gothics is that, even in their original versions, the names used are English pseudonyms because Italians didn’t believe that Italy could make horror films. They had to be either British or American.
NIGHTMARE CASTLE (here called NIGHT OF THE DOOMED its U<K title) concerns a husband who murders his rich wife and her lover and then encloses their hearts inside a statue. He later marries her cousin (both roles are played by Steele) and plans to drive her insane so he can inherit the estate. He is aided in this by his faithful old housekeeper whose youth he has restored from his wife’s blood (forget logic, these movies are all about plot and atmosphere). A young doctor, brought to the castle to certify the cousin, discovers their nefarious scheme and recovers the missing hearts. This brings back the spirits of the dead wife and lover who then proceed to wreak a terrible vengeance on the husband and the housekeeper. The print is taken from the original uncut negative and it looks gorgeous.
The same cannot be said for the prints of CASTLE OF BLOOD and TERROR CREATURES. CASTLE is taken from the edited American print that I saw in a theater in 1964. The opening titles are rather sketchy but after that the film settles down and looks pretty good for the rest of the way. For my money, this is the numero uno Italian Gothic not only in this set but even when compared to Bava’s BLACK SUNDAY. It was directed by Antonio Margheretti (under the alias Anthony Dawson) and tells the story of a 19th century journalist who accepts a bet to stay overnight in a haunted castle on October 31st. He meets a variety of people whose deaths he sees re-enacted before realizing that he’s next. Overpoweringly atmospheric with a good performance by Steele as one of the ghosts.
TERROR CREATURES is in slightly better shape and is again taken from an edited American release print. Somewhat reminiscent of the much later WOMAN IN BLACK, it tells the story of a young solicitor in 1905 who goes to an old villa to settle a will only to release that it is haunted by the former head of the estate, a dabbler in occult studies, who has summoned the spirits of 14th century plague victims to get revenge on the 5 people responsible for his death. These include 4 “friends” and his younger second wife (Steele). While it is the least visually atmospheric of the 3 films, it is still quite creepy in the last third when the plague victims show up and the guilty parties are punished. Two of the deaths are explicit for the time but nothing compared to what you see today.
Severin is another one of those companies, along with Criterion and Flicker Alley, whose products cost a little more but who give you lots of supplemental extras. In the case of this Blu-Ray, you get 3 movies, one of them beautifully restored, along with a number of supplements that include commentaries on each film, interviews with some of the principal people involved in their making including Barbara Steele herself, and various trailers and featurettes for each movie. This is one of Severin’s first Bu-Ray forays into 1960s Italian and European Gothic cinema. In recent years, they have released two sets of Christopher Lee’s German and Italian movies, a big box set of Peter Cushing rarities, and a truly unique 15 disc set of primarily Central European Folk Horror called ALL THE HAUNTS BE OURS.
The Capsule Critic 