The Castle of the Living Dead (1964)

★ 6.1 1h 30m IMDb

Horror

Count Drago invites over entertainers to his castle, but what the people don't know is that Drago mummifies animals and humans!

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Cast

Christopher Lee as Count Drago Died 2015 · Westminster, London, England, UK Christopher Lee (May 5, 1922 – June 7, 2015) was an English actor and musician. Lee initially portrayed villains and became famous for his role as Count Dracula in a string of Hammer Horror films. Oth...

Gaia Germani as Laura Died 2019 · Roma, Lazio, Italy

Philippe Leroy as Eric Died 2024 · Paris, France Philippe Leroy, full name Philippe Leroy-Beaulieu was a French film actor. He appeared in over 150 films since 1960. Leroy lived mostly in Italy since the 1960s and worked extensively in Italian cinem...

Mirko Valentin as Hans

Donald Sutherland as Sgt. Paul / The Witch / The Old Man Died 2024 · Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada Donald McNichol Sutherland (July 17, 1935 – June 20, 2024) was a Canadian actor whose film career spanned over 6 decades. He was nominated for eight Golden Globe Awards, winning two for his performanc...

Director Warren Kiefer

Cast Christopher Lee, Gaia Germani, Philippe Leroy, Mirko Valentin, Donald Sutherland, Antonio De Martino, Luigi Bonos, Jacques Stany, Luciano Pigozzi, Renato Terra

CinemaSerf 6/10 Dec 02, 2024

At first sight, this looks remarkably humdrum, but it's a bit better than that. Christopher Lee's outwardly benign "Count Drago" invites a travelling troupe of performers to stay and perform at his castle. Before long, things start going drastically wrong for them. All humankind is reflected in this film - we have a witch, a dwarf, a deaf mute and lots of creatures that look like the product of the taxidermist's art - but are they really? It's eerily told, very much in the Hammer mould, this story - with quite a bit of suspense as we gradually get to the truth. Keep an eye out for Donald Sutherland as the policeman with a little added extra.

Wuchak 7/10 Apr 23, 2025

**_Beware if a creepy man says, “Stay with Daddy forever”_**

In areas north of Rome, 1815, a traveling troupe is offered a lucrative gig at the colossal castle of the strange Count Drago (Christopher Lee). Horror ensues.

An Italian/French production, “The Castle of the Living Dead” (1964) is similar to Roger Corman’s Poe-inspired flicks, such as “The Terror” from the previous year and the contemporaneous “The Tomb of Ligeia,” not to mention Lee’s work with Hammer. Although unfortunately shot in B&W, the first half is great whereas the second half tends to bog down at the castle. Nevertheless, if you have a penchant for those other movies, you’ll appreciate this one. Underneath the mayhem is a welcome warm heart.

This was Donald Sutherland’s first credited performance in cinema (not counting TV movies). Interestingly, he plays multiple roles (one is obvious, but I’ll leave it to you to figure out the other two).

Michael Reeves is credited as assistant director, but it’s rumored he directed all the sequences at the Gardens of Bomarzo (the place with the statues), and possibly more. He also contributed to the script, which was finished when he signed on, specifically the addition of the dwarf. If you’re not familiar with Reeves, he went on to helm “Witchfinder General,” aka “The Conqueror Worm,” four years later, just before his accidental death at the age of 25 from a barbiturate overdose.

It runs 1 hours, 30 minutes, and was shot at Odescalchi Castle, which is an hour’s drive northwest of Rome, as well as the Gardens of Bomarzo, which is a 70 minutes drive north of the castle.

GRADE: B