Castle of Blood (1964)

Though the English language dubbing here isn’t the best, the rest of this creepy horror film works really quite well. It all starts in a London inn where journalist “Alan” (Georges Rivière) sits down with Edgar Allan Poe (Silvano Tranquilli) and his friend “Lord Blackwood” (Umberto Raho). As their chat proceeds, the peer bets the sceptical “Alan” to spend Halloween at his remote castle. Confident that the £10 is already on the bag, he sets off - and no sooner is he through the door than he meets “Elizabeth” (Barbara Steele). There is a bit of instant karma between the pair, and a bit of a roll in the hay promptly ensues. Thing is, though, afterwards when he encounters the enigmatic “Dr. Cadmus (Arturo Domenici) and fellow residents “Julia” (Margrete Robsahm) and “Herbert” (Giovanni Cianfriglia) he begins to realise that it’s not whisky, but blood that is the source of all life and his role in the proceedings is now more akin to a tile in a lethal game of human dominoes for one night of the year. What chance he can escape from this perilous cycle? Set in a creepily candle-lit building replete with grand staircases, secret passages and creaking floorboards this uses some quite innovative visual effects to demonstrate the macabre goings on as the over-confident “Alan” begins to both fall in love and to realise that getting out is going to be an whole lot harder than was getting in. Steele is on good form too, and though perhaps their is a little too much dialogue it’s still a genuinely chilling story that does not end as you might have expected. I didn’t love the “Outer Limits” style soundtrack, but the half-naked, knife-wielding, bedroom invaders added a fairly unique twist to this mystery and it’s worth a watch on a dark night with the rain on the window pane.