''Castle of Blood'' ( it, Danza Macabra, links=no) is a 1964 horror film directed by

Antonio Margheriti Antonio Margheriti (19 September 1930 – 4 November 2002), also known under the pseudonyms Anthony M. Dawson and Antony Daisies ("daisies" is "margherite" in Italian), was an Italian filmmaker. Margheriti worked in many different genres in th ...

and

Sergio Corbucci Sergio Corbucci (; 6 December 1926 – 1 December 1990) was an Italian film director, screenwriter and producer. He directed both very violent Spaghetti Westerns and bloodless Bud Spencer and Terence Hill action comedies. He is the older bro ...

. The film stars

Barbara Steele Barbara Steele (born 29 December 1937) is an English film actress known for starring in Italian gothic horror films of the 1960s. She has been referred to as the "Queen of All Scream Queens" and "Britain's first lady of horror". She played th ...

Arturo Dominici Arturo Dominici (2 January 1916 – 7 September 1992) was an Italian film, television and voice actor. Biography Born in Palermo, Dominici became best known for his many villainous roles in horror and fantasy films. He is best remembered fo ...

and

Georges Rivière Georges Aristide Claude Félix Rivière (born 1 July 1924) is a French retired actor who worked in Argentine cinema in the 1950s. He appeared in nearly 50 films between 1948 and 1970. Selected filmography *'' The Lame Devil'' (1948) – Marqu ...

. The film was initially commissioned to director

, who had

Gianni Grimaldi Giovanni Grimaldi (14 November 1917 – 25 February 2001) was an Italian screenwriter, journalist and film director. He was sometimes credited as Gianni Grimaldi. Biography Born in Catania, Sicily, Grimaldi entered the cinema industry in 1952 ...

and Bruno Corbucci set to write the film. A scheduling conflict led to Corbucci's friend Margheriti being hired to complete the film. To avoid going over time, Corbucci was brought in to film one scene. The film was released in Italy in 1964 and received low box office numbers which led to Margheriti remaking the film in colour as '' Web of the Spider'' (1971).

Plot

A journalist challenges the authenticity of

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wid ...

's stories (which are presented in the context of the film as Poe's eyewitness accounts of the supernatural, not as literary fiction). To prove himself, the journalist accepts a bet from Lord Blackwood to spend the night in a haunted castle on

All Soul's Eve ''All Souls' Eve'' is a 1921 American silent drama film directed by Chester M. Franklin and starring Mary Miles Minter. The film is based on the mystical 1920 Broadway play of the same name by Anne Crawford Flexner, with a story by Elmer Blane ...

. Ghosts of the murdered inhabitants appear to him throughout the night, re-enacting the events that led to their deaths. One of the ghosts reveals that they all need his blood in order to maintain their existence.

plays a ghost who attempts to help the journalist escape.

Cast

as Elisabeth Blackwood *

as Alan Foster * Margarete Robsahm as Julia *

as Dr. Carmus *

Silvano Tranquilli Silvano Tranquilli (23 August 1925 – 10 May 1997) was an Italian stage, television and film actor. Life and career Born in Rome, Silvano Tranquilli attended theatre lessons at the Sharoff Academy, and started his stage activity with the th ...

*Sylvia Sorrente as Elsi *

Giovanni Cianfriglia Giovanni Cianfriglia (born 5 April 1935) is an Italian film actor. He has appeared in more than 100 films since 1958. Born in Anzio, Cianfriglia debuted as the body double of Steve Reeves in ''Hercules'', then he started appearing, often unc ...

as Herbert *

Umberto Raho Umberto Raho (4 June 1922 – 9 January 2016) was an Italian stage, film and television actor. Life and career Born in Bari, the son of an Italian father and a Bulgarian mother, Raho graduated in philosophy and then, immediately after the w ...

as Lord Thomas Blackwood *

Salvo Randone Salvatore "Salvo" Randone (25 September 1906 – 6 March 1991) was an Italian theatrical, television and film actor. Born in Syracuse, Sicily, Randone debuted on stage in mid-1920s and, after some years in which he played roles of little w ...

as Lester *

Benito Stefanelli Benito Stefanelli (2 September 1928 – 18 December 1999) was an Italian film actor, stuntman and weapons master who made over 60 appearances in film between 1955 and 1991. Biography and career Stefanelli is best known in world cinema for his ...

as William

Production

The idea for ''Castle of Blood'' came to

when producer Giovanni Addessi commissioned him to create a film that would reuse the Medieval sets from Corbucci's comedy film ''

The Monk of Monza ''The Monk of Monza'' ( it, Il monaco di Monza) is a 1963 Italian comedy film directed by Sergio Corbucci. It parodies the story of the Nun of Monza, as depicted in the Alessandro Manzoni's novel '' The Betrothed''. Plot Monza, 1630, a period ...

''. Corbucci had his brother Bruno Corbucci and screenwriter

write the script. The script is credited to a short story by

, but the film is not based on any specific Poe work. According to

Ruggero Deodato Ruggero Deodato (born 7 May 1939) is an Italian film director, screenwriter, and sometime actor. His career has spanned a wide-range of genres including peplum, comedy, drama, poliziottesco and science fiction, yet he is perhaps best known f ...

, who was the assistant director on set, he persuaded actress

to star in the film, although Steele had just done ''

8½ ' (Italian title: , ) is a 1963 surrealist comedy-drama film directed and co-written (with Tullio Pinelli, Ennio Flaiano and Brunello Rondi) by Italian filmmaker Federico Fellini. The metafictional narrative centers on Guido Anselmi, played by M ...

'' for director Federico Fellini, and wanted to distance herself from horror films. When filming was about to begin, Sergio Corbucci found that his schedule conflicted with the shoot and called upon his friend

to direct the film. Margheriti had a tight schedule for filming, and shot the film using the same method as a television production by setting up four cameras at once. To finish the film on time, Margheriti brought in Sergio Corbucci to direct the scene where Giovanni Cingriglia's characters murder Steele's character. The film was eventually shot in 15 days.

Release

''Castle of Blood'' was distributed in Italy by Globe International Film and released on 27 February 1964. The film grossed a total of 100.68 million

Italian lire The lira (; plural lire) was the currency of Italy between 1861 and 2002. It was first introduced by the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy in 1807 at par with the French franc, and was subsequently adopted by the different states that would eventually f ...

in Italy. It was released in France on 14 April 1965 under the title "Danse Macabre" (Dance of Death). The French cut of the film features actress Sylvia Sorrente in a nude scene. The film's disappointing box office was one of the reasons that Margheriti remade the film as '' Web of the Spider'' in colour in 1970. Margheriti would later comment that it was "stupid to remake it" and that "the color cinematography destroyed everything: the atmosphere, the tension."

Critical reception

From contemporary reviews, ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'' praised the film, noting an "ingenious script" and the acting by Georges Rivière, stating that the film was an "example of how an imaginative director can use camera, music, and a deliberately slow pace to fray the nerve ends." The review critiqued the ghost special effects as "unconvincing", and found Barbara Steele's performance to be melodramatic. ''

The Monthly Film Bulletin ''The Monthly Film Bulletin'' was a periodical of the British Film Institute published monthly from February 1934 to April 1991, when it merged with ''Sight & Sound''. It reviewed all films on release in the United Kingdom, including those with a ...

'' praised the cinematography of the film but referred to Ortolani's score as "cliche-ridden", and wrote negatively about Steele's acting and the dubbed dialogue. Margheriti would later call the film "even more boring" many years after its initial release. AllMovie's review of the film was favorable, calling it an "eerie and effective early horror film."

References

Footnotes

Sources

* * *

External links

* * {{Sergio Corbucci Italian haunted house films Gothic horror films Italian horror films 1960s Italian-language films 1964 horror films Films directed by Antonio Margheriti Films directed by Sergio Corbucci 1964 films French horror films Films scored by Riz Ortolani Films set in castles Cultural depictions of Edgar Allan Poe Works about Edgar Allan Poe French haunted house films 1960s Italian films 1960s French films