Castle of Blood
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Castle of Blood (Italian title: Danza Macabra) is a 1964 Italian horror film directed by Antonio Margheriti, using the pseudonym Anthony M. Dawson. This film is also known as Coffin of Terror, Danse macabre, Dimensions in Death, La Lunga notte del terrore, Terrore, The Castle of Terror, The Long Night of Terror, Tombs of Horror, and Tombs of Terror.
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Cast
- Barbara Steele—Elisabeth Blackwood
- Georges Rivière—Alan Foster
- Margarete Robsahm—Julia
- Arturo Dominici—Dr. Carmus
- Silvano Tranquilli—Edgar Allan Poe
- Sylvia Sorrente—Elsi
The story
A journalist challenges Edgar Allan Poe on the authenticity of his stories, which leads to him accepting a bet from Lord Blackwood to spend the night in a haunted castle on All Soul's Eve. Ghosts of the murdered inhabitants appear to him throughout the night, re-enacting the events that lead to their deaths. It transpires that they need his blood in order to maintain their existence. Barbara Steele plays a ghost who attempts to help the journalist escape.
Poe
Silvano Tranquilli plays Edgar Allan Poe in this movie, and the credits claim that the movie is based on a short story by Poe. In reality no such story exists, although in the opening scene Poe (Tranquilli) is seen recounting the end of Poe's story "Berenice".
In 1971, director Antonio Margheriti remade Castle of Blood as Web of the Spider. In this version Poe was played by Klaus Kinski, and the movie claimed to be based on a different non-existent Poe story called "Night of the Living Dead".
Critical reception
Allmovie's review of the film was favorable, calling it an "eerie and effective early horror film".
