It was only recently that I discovered the wonder of the Italian Gothic genre, and I'm happy to say that this film is indeed one of the best. The crisp use of black and white photography makes the events portrayed appear stark and effective (Bava would have been proud), and the tone too is genuinely nasty. By the end of the film, the viewer is left unsure of what has occurred, only that in some way evil has won again, and will go on winning and winning for eternity. Added to that, it also manages to be extremely unsettling and very frightening in some moments.Director Antonio Margheriti (who later turned to adventure flicks like THE LAST HUNTER) keeps things moving along at a swift pace, ensuring that there is always something interesting happening on screen to keep the viewer occupied. While the plot is of the standard haunted house variety, there are plenty of neat flourishes, such as one of the actors actually playing Poe himself, researching material for a new story! The setting is excellent, a large and Gothic building full of fine furniture, layered in thick dust and cobwebs, where the stench of death is heavy in the air and terrible occurrences are played out in full.We see people die in violent ways, and although we know that they are merely playbacks and cannot harm the hero of the film, they still manage to be frightening. Especially the mysteriously half-naked muscular man, a murderer who goes around with a knife and stabs people, for what reason, who knows? The lack of knowledge about the ghosts makes it all the more frightening, as we only see what the character of Foster sees, nothing more, we are as left in the dark as he is.Georges Riviere gives a solid performance as the male lead, charismatic, romantic and heroic when the time calls for it. However it's the wonderful Barbara Steele who steals (sorry) the film as a ghost who wants to help Riviere, but in the end is unable to leave the building and crumbles away. Even darkness is thrown on Steele's apparently honourable intentions towards the living man she loves, as we hear her voice quite happily whispering "now we can be together" at the very end of the film, after the hero has been killed in a genuinely shocking way, just after we think he's safe. The rest of the cast all perform well, the actors and actresses portraying the spirits of the castle all intone their characters with just the right level of menace without exaggerating, especially the sinister Dr. Carmus character who first acts as our narrator but then turns out to be seeking Foster's blood like the rest of the castle's inhabitants.If you're in the mood for a good atmospheric chiller, then this knocks spots off even well-made competition like THE HAUNTING. Gruesome and frightening, CASTLE OF BLOOD comes across as something of a tragedy as its become lost in time to modern audiences, undeservedly so. It's a film which shows that budget and special effects aren't important, just strong camera-work and storytelling are needed to make an effective horror film, which this indeed is.

Ever since I saw Black Sunday (great movie) I wanted to see more of Barbara Steele. Castle of Blood was another recommendation from a while ago. Finally I have watched it. If not for Barbara Steele don't think I would have lasted through this one. Sure atmospheric, black/white cinematography but I'm nor really sure what kind of point the writer wanted to make. The whole back story of how all the ghost came to an end it was your typical run of the mill story pretty rich lady has a secret lover so the two men kill each other. More interesting was the pretty Julia having a lesbian crush on Elisabeth, that must have been something back than. Elisabeth and Alan Foster in love while both hardly having much interaction seemed more like both were in desperate need of a good lay. Didn't convince me at all. Alan seeing images of the past was interesting but than him yelling at the doctor and he young couple to watch out, I was like idiot they can't hear you they are already dead. And than the ending I was like oh yes he made it through the gate and than the gate itself spiking his head I was like oh please that is quite a retarded way to die. And than his voice oh yes Elisabeth I stayed for you, yeah right are you trying to make me believe you spiked your head on purpose? As a romance it might work but as horror not really, the story and its ending I thought were extremely lame. 5/10 points for the splendid cinematography, the beautiful ladies and the daring lesbian angle.

It's hard to explain the appeal of this movie. It's not a gem as some have said. But I wouldn't characterize it as Euro-trash either. The plot is not very original, and relies on standard haunted house conventions, perhaps pirating some from Robert Wise's THE HAUNTING (1963). It may also have a literary source in Bulwer-Lytton's story "The Haunters and the Haunted," which also tells the story of a disbelieving rationalist who wagers he can spend a night in a mysterious house where spirits relive incidents from past lives. The film is full of continuity holes (or should I say "challenges"), because many may be explained away. But the execution is flawed. Feral cats, sudden scenes of carnage, and other fright effects do not deliver the shudders.I must say, however, that the film held my interest, primarily because of the creepy, fog-shrouded sets that look better than they ought to on such a small budget, and because the performances are above average for this type of fare. And although the plot is full of old dark house clichés—slamming doors, billowing curtains, and mysterious portraits—some nice dialog makes it all seem less contrived somehow. There is no doubt that the director and writers were absolutely sincere.There is also some provocative sexual content and nudity following a tradition of salaciousness that seems to have been a necessary ingredient of horror films as far back as Hollywood's pre-code days. So if I were forced to assess whether this glass is half empty or full I would say it is slightly more than half full. This one might appeal to all those baby boomers who watched the soap opera DARK SHADOWS when they were teenagers in the '60's. It has that feel to it, only with better acting and writing.

It's the Samhain and a young journalist meets up with Edgar Allan Poe in a London tavern and agrees to spend a night in a haunted castle from where no one comes out alive for a wager. True to its title, this is a macabre dance as the journalist staggers around the castle with a candelabra at hand and meets up with a variety of characters that may or may not be ghosts, including a seductive Barbara Steele in a nightgown, a creepy bearded Dr. Carmus whose name recalls Camus the writer but whose appearance has something of Ze Do Caixao/Coffin Joe, and a shirtless buff guy who seems to have wandered off a Maciste set. There's not much plot to speak of (in a script co-written by Sergio Corbucci no less, who'd go on to have a great career in the spaghetti western field, where Margheriti also dipped later in his career with AND GOD SAID TO CAIN) and whatever plot thereis is deliberately handled in the manner of a spooky story told at midnight around a campfire, the details intentionally vague and simplistic and with only a semblance of reality as is often the case with oral stories that pass from mouth to mouth and have to be easy to tell and remember for that reason. I like movies where characters wander through weird/surreal/eerie architecture (MARIENBAD, THE TRIAL) except DANZA MACABRA sabotages that hypnotic quality with goofy shenanigans such as candelabras being knocked over to the sound of cymbals and the protagonist tripping over stairs. Whatever the movie has going for it comes from those very qualities that mark it as an Italian Gothic horror film. The eerie dreamlike atmosphere and b/w cinematography capturing images of cobweb-strewn catacombs and skulls. Passable but not a patch on BLACK Sunday.