Nightmare Castle

Warning SPOILERS!!! Retire all your 90-minute Public Domain (PD) fullscreen DVDs of this black & white Italian gothic horror masterpiece, because Severin Films has released a beautiful widescreen Blu-Ray of this film. Not only does it look great, it runs 14 minutes longer than the PD versions out there, making it more adult and more horrifying. The film opens with a tipsy Muriel (Barbara Steele; THE GHOST - 1963) provoking and laughing her scientist husband, Dr. Stephen Arrowsmith (Paul Muller; THE ARENA - 1973), who is performing experiments on frogs in his laboratory. The Arrowsmiths' elderly housekeeper, Solange (Helga Liné; THE DRACULA SAGA - 1973), reminds Stephen that it is time for him to leave for a conference in Edinburgh, where he tells Muriel he will be away from the castle for only two days. Muriel sarcastically says, "I'll do my best to dream about you" and we soon discover why. Muriel has a lover in the form of muscular David (Rik Battaglia; DEPORTED WOMEN OF THE SS SPECIAL SECTION - 1976), the castle groundskeeper. Muriel plays the harmonium to alert David that the coast is clear and he meets her in the bedroom. Muriel doesn't want to make love there because Solange may hear them, so they get down and dirty in the greenhouse, where a suspicious Stephen is hiding in the shadows. He watches his wife make love to the hired help and then reveals himself, knocking David out cold with his cane. Muriel and David are now chained to a wall in the castle dungeon, where Stephen slowly tortures them for days, whipping them and branding David with a hot poker. When he denies them food and water, Muriel curses him, yelling, "You can kill my body, but I'll never leave you in peace!" to which Stephen replies, "I'm not afraid of the dead. Corpses were meant to rot and fertilize the earth!" Muriel then tells a surprised Stephen that she has revised her will, leaving her fortune and the castle to her stepsister Jenny. Stephen offers to free the both of them if Muriel will turn over the will to him, but she refuses, laughing in his face (as only Barbara Steele can!). Solange, who is working in cahoots with Stephen, tells him that he will have to let Muriel live, but he says no, he will simply seduce Jenny and then dispose of her. We then watch Stephen dispose of Muriel and David. He slowly drips acid on Muriel's face while she screams in pain and places David's unconscious body on top of Muriel (David originally is kept captive in a chair with arms that fold, trapping him in the chair), where he electrocutes the both of them. He then cuts out their hearts (for his experiments), burns their bodies and places their ashes in an urn, which he uses to fertilize a rare plant that he proudly displays on a mantle (at least he is true to his word!). Time passes and Stephen is now married to Jenny (Steele again) and he brings her to the castle. Solange (who is now young and beautiful thanks to Stephen's experiments) is upset because he never told her that he was marrying Jenny (she wants him for herself), but Stephen tells her not to worry, because he finds Jenny "ugly and repulsive" (is he blind?!?) and plans on making her life a living hell. One night, while Jenny and Stephen are sleeping (together), Jenny is awoken by the sound of a human heartbeat and she sees the ghost of David rise from a tomb and make love to her in the greenhouse, where a figure of a man, with a white stocking over his face, hits David over the head with his cane. Jenny wakes up in bed with her hands around Stephen's neck, yelling out "David! David!" At this point, we have to ask ourselves if this was a trick perpetrated by Stephen or is Jenny's stepsister reaching out from the grave? Stephen believes his dastardly plan of driving Jenny crazy is working because, the night before, Solange dosed Jenny's champagne with an hallucinogen, but he discovers Solange gave her the wrong vial, which was a harmless sugar placebo. Jenny, who never played the harmonium before, begins playing it like a pro, even playing an original composition by Muriel without even looking at the sheet music. She asks Stephen where Muriel is buried and he tells her in the family crypt and, one day, he will take her there. That night, Stephen and Solange hear Jenny scream and discover her in the family crypt, white as a ghost. She tells Stephen a story that he finds quite unbelievable, so he calls her personal physician, Dr. Dereck Joyce (Marino Masé, as "Lawrence Clift"; PLAY MOTEL - 1979), to come and stay with them (Stephen believes his plan of driving Jenny crazy is working like a charm, not knowing that forces more evil than him are at work). Jenny tells Dr. Joyce (who has treated Jenny in the past for "emotional" issues) that she fears someone or something is taking over her body and he tells her that he is going to help her whether she likes it or not. Stephen invites the doctor to come to his laboratory to see his reanimation experiments and Jenny laughs out loud, much in the same way Muriel mocked Stephen's experiments. Dr. Joyce begins treating Jenny and soon discovers everything she is telling him may be true (Jenny finds an earring that doesn't belong to her in the same place she dropped it in a dream and Dr. Joyce notices it's the same earring Muriel is wearing in a portrait). At dinner, Solange seriously cuts her hand, so Stephen brings her to his laboratory, telling Dr. Joyce she has a rare blood disease and must stop the hemorrhaging before she bleeds to death. We then discover that Stephen is keeping Solange young by using Muriel's blood in a solution he invented, telling Solange this is the last shot he can give her because he is out of blood. While Dr. Joyce searches the family crypt (finding Muriel's tomb empty), Muriel contacts Jenny, telling her to go to the laboratory. From this point on, Jenny is now fully possessed by Muriel and Dr. Joyce believes it after seeing the proof for himself. Solange tries to tell Stephen that Jenny is Muriel, but he doesn't believe her, rather believing that his plan is coming to fruition. He does know that Dr. Joyce discovered Muriel's tomb was empty, so he must find a way to stop the doctor from telling anyone else. Dr. Joyce tells Stephen that there are ghosts in the castle and, for the sake of Jenny's sanity, they must leave the castle immediately. Stephen, with Solange's help, comes up with a way to dispose both Jenny and Dr. Joyce, but will he be able to pull it off or will Muriel get the revenge against Stephen he so richly deserves? Unfortunately, instead of killing Dr. Joyce and Jenny, he kills his butler, Jonathan (Giuseppe Addobbati, as "John McDouglas"; THE EERIE MIDNIGHT HORROR SHOW - 1974), instead, which makes Dr. Joyce suspicious, leading to Stephen and Solange's downfall by the spirits of a facially scarred Muriel and David. There are many references here to the works of Edgar Allan Poe (the sound of a beating heart, the castle burning around Stephen, etc) and director Mario Caiano (EYE IN THE LABYRINTH - 1972; THE MANIAC RESPONSIBLE - 1975; NAZI LOVE CAMP 27 - 1977), here billed as "Allan Grunewald", does a nice job of integrating those elements into the plot. The screenplay, by Caiano and Fabio De Agostini (IN THE FOLDS OF THE FLESH - 1970), lays on the gothic atmosphere nice and thick, helped immensely by Enzo Barboni's beautiful black & white photography (he would later direct films using the pseudonym "E.B. Clucher"; THEY CALL ME TRINITY - 1970) and Ennio Morricone's evocative and haunting music score, his first horror film assignment. Barbara Steele once again essays two roles (she did the same thing in THE LONG HAIR OF DEATH - 1964) and her face and eyes still elicit more emotions than mere words could ever convey. Her beauty, especially her eyes, were built for gothic horror and the Italian gothic horror genre would not have been popular if not for her. But everyone is excellent here in their roles, especially Paul Muller (billed as "Paul Miller") as the sadistic Stephen, who enjoys inflicting pain. This film is not kid's stuff because it is very adult in its depiction of love and death, but it is creepy enough to give kids nightmares (It certainly gave me nightmares when I saw it as a child on TV in the late-'60s, even though it was severely edited). Filmed as AMANTI D'OLTRETOMBA ("Lovers Of The Afterlife"). this film received a U.S. theatrical release (through Allied Artists) and due to its Public Domain status, received numerous VHS and budget DVD releases by such outfits as Something Weird Video, Alpha Video, Madacy Entertainment and as part of Mill Creek Entertainment's multi-film DVD compilations, such as their THE UNDEAD: VAMPIRE COLLECTION 20 MOVIE CLASSIC FEATURES. Retromedia Entertainment released an uncut widescreen DVD of this film under the alternate title THE FACELESS MONSTER, but the print was soft with too much contrast, forcing you to fiddle with your TV to make it look right. The Severin Films Blu-Ray, using an uncut, 104 minute British print titled NIGHT OF THE DOOMED, looks stunning. It's crisp and clear with very little print damage. As a bonus on the disc, there are two other films in their original OAR and mastered in High definition, Antonio Margheriti's CASTLE OF BLOOD (1964) and Massimo Pupillo's TERROR CREATURES FROM THE GRAVE (1965), both excellent examples of Italian gothic horror. Also on the disc are running commentary by Barbara Steele and film historian David Del Valle (for this film only), trailers and exclusive featurettes for all three films and a final interview with director Mario Caiano, made just before he passed away in 2015. I congratulate Severin for treating us to these three films, because they will never look better than they do here. Not Rated, but like I said before, this is not child's play. The themes are very adult in nature.

My only complaint is Severin did not include the original Italian mono soundtracks (except for the deleted scenes from Terror Creatures From the Grave). I am looking forward to the originals in the future, even though they are available online.

NIGHTMARE CASTLE [1965 / 2015] [Blu-ray] One of Barbara Steele's Worst Horror Film!At the height of her career as the dark goddess of Italian horror, the legendary Barbara Steele [‘BLACK SUNDAY’] delivered two of her most memorable performances in this tale of obsession, madness and depravity.‘NIGHTMARE CASTLE’ [‘The Night of the Doomed’] [1965] Barbara Steele stars as a cheating wife who is chained, whipped and tortured to death by her sadistic scientist husband, and as her unstable blonde stepsister whose fate may be even more ghastly. Paul Muller [‘VAMPYROS LESBOS’], Helga Liné [‘HORROR EXPRESS’] and Rik Battaglia [‘SISTER EMANUELLE’] co-star in this twisted shocker directed by Mario Caiano, featuring stunning black-and-white cinematography by Enzo Barboni and the very first horror score by Ennio Morricone.‘Castle of Blood’ [1964] Interviewing Edgar Allan Poe [Montgomery Glenn] in a shadowy London pub, journalist Alan Foster [Georges Rivière] questions the veracity of Poe's macabre tales. Poe bets Foster he can't spend the night of All Soul's Eve in the haunted mansion of Poe's friend Lord Blackwood [Raul H. Newman]. Every night in Blackwood Castle, the dead rise and re-live their grisly demise. With the help of a beautiful, sympathetic spectre [Barbara Steele], Foster hopes to escape the shadowy castle alive.‘Terror-Creatures From The Grave’ [1965] An attorney arrives at a castle to settle the estate of its recently deceased owner. The owner's widow and daughter claim that the late lord could summon the souls of ancient plague victims, and that his spirit roams the castle. Soon occupants of the castle begin to die in gruesome, violent ways.Andrew’s Blu-ray Review: Well what can I say about the 2015 Blu-ray Release of the Severin Films ‘NIGHTMARE CASTLE’ [‘The Night of the Doomed’] [1965]; ‘Castle of Blood’ [1964] and ‘Terror-Creatures From The Grave’ [1965] is the biggest load of rubbish that has ever graced my Blu-ray Collection, because one ‘Castle of Blood’ [1964] has the most atrocious video and audio quality, so I do not know how they can have the nerve to put it on the Blu-ray disc. ‘Terror-Creatures From The Grave’ [1965] is 50% of good quality video presentation, but at one point the video and audio have the worst anomalies I have ever seen and so all in all it is a very unprofessional presentation and I am glad to get rid of this atrocious Blu-ray release.‘NIGHTMARE CASTLE’ Blu-ray Video Quality – Severin Films ‘NIGHTMARE CASTLE’ [‘The Night of the Doomed’] has a brand new 1080p encoded image restoration transfer from a USA rare print and is totally outstanding. Severin Film does not try to improve the film’s texture, but instead you get a brilliant crisp black-and-white image with the natural grain is left intact and is very fine and is not at all distracting. There are also no signs of excessive DNR [Digital Noise Reduction] filtering or edge enhancement. Close-ups, full and long shots have phenomenal detail without looking too “enhanced.” Occasionally, one sees a few white speckles now and again and other small elements of print damage, but this is inconsequential and not detrimental to your viewing enjoyment. Some scenes show some black blemishes, but this looks like to have been inherited from the film’s original print negative, but rather than being a side effect of this new upgraded restoration. It’s safe to say that all genre horror fans have never seen ‘NIGHTMARE CASTLE’ look this good on this Blu-ray disc release, compared to previous home video format, especially the inferior DVD release.‘NIGHTMARE CASTLE’ Blu-ray Audio Quality – Severin Films new English 2.0 LPCM Stereo Audio language track has an overall presence which is totally free of hiss, pops, and or other age-related anomalies. Composer Ennio Morricone’s haunting organ music comes over with fine clarity and with just enough body for comfort. The dialogue is clear and easy to follow. Personally, I did not like the English dubbing, as it is like watching a Federico Fellini film with his style of dubbing, even though it’s good to hear Barbara Steele’s real voice and she does a splendid job with the dubbing and I suspect the Italian track would have sounded more authentic, but unfortunately it is not available with this Blu-ray disc release.‘Castle of Blood’ Blu-ray Video Quality – They tell us that the print is sourced from a brand New HD Transfer of a Rare USA print, well I wish they hadn’t bothered, as it has the most atrocious quality I have ever seen. It has massive amounts of white speckles that make this print totally unwatchable. But it is such a shame as this was a really good macabre storyline, especially the ending.Castle of Blood Blu-ray Audio Quality – Like the video print, the audio quality is the biggest load of rubbish and I felt it was totally unwatchable. But again it is a shame as this again was a really good macabre storyline, especially the ending. Also I did not like the dubbing.Terror-Creatures From The Grave Blu-ray Video Quality – Again on the Blu-ray Case it boasts that the print is sourced from a brand New HD Transfer of a Rare USA print, well 50% is of good quality, but around the 35 minute mark, you get some really horrendous anomalies that is really off putting, which put me off watching this film all together and only watch half of it, as it was such unprofessional presentation.Terror-Creatures From The Grave Blu-ray Audio Quality – Like the video print, the audio quality is again off putting at the 35 minute mark like I have already informed you. But the at the 45 minute mark again you get some more horrible anomalies of horrendous sound that really puts you off watching the film and gave up at that point. I also hated the terrible dubbing that is prevalent with Italian Horror Film and it looks so horrendous, as not seeing the lips and sound matching up is so off putting and again it is not in my opinion is a very unprofessional presentation.Blu-ray Special Features and Extras:Audio Commentary: Audio Commentary with Barbara Steele and Horror Historian David Del ValleSpecial Feature: Barbara Steele In Conversation Exclusive Feature with The Queen Of HorrorSpecial Feature: Black, White and Red Exclusive Feature with Director Mario CaianoSpecial Feature: Vengeance From Beyond. New feature From The Terror Creatures From the Grave (Italian with optional English subtitles)Special Feature: A Dance of Ghosts New Feature for Castle Of BloodTheatrical Trailer: Nightmare Castle USA and UK TrailersTheatrical Trailer: Terror-Creatures From The Grave TrailerTheatrical Trailer: Castle Of Blood TrailerFinally, anyone who is a massive big fan of Italian horror cinema genre of this Severin Films release. ‘NIGHTMARE CASTLE’ [1965] [‘The Night Of The Doomed’] is so deliciously over-the-top Italian melodrama with elements of the atmospheric ‘Le Théâtre du Grand Guignol,’ that used to put on naturalistic horror shows between 1897 until it’s closing in 1962 in Paris. ‘NIGHTMARE CASTLE’ boasts an atmospheric early score by the great and brilliant composer Ennio Morricone, not to mention the mesmerising presence of the equally great Barbara Steele actress. To top it off, we are given huge amounts of extra features, that I have not even bothered to view, as the two other films are the biggest atrocious let down of most unprofessional quality. I personally think Severin Films Blu-ray release apart from the film ‘NIGHTMARE CASTLE’ [‘The Night Of The Domed’] which is of an exceptional quality, the other two films like ‘Castle of Blood’ is a really atrocious video and audio quality and ‘Terror-Creatures From The Grave’ is only 50% of good quality, but the audio sound was atrocious and I have given my Blu-ray copy away, as it is a total disgrace to have in my Blu-ray Collection and Severin Films should be totally ashamed of releasing this bad quality Blu-ray disc and so gets a big thumbs down recommendation and I think you will be wasting your money.Andrew C. Miller – Your Ultimate No.1 Film FanLe Cinema ParadisoWARE, United Kingdom

What Severin have done here is in my opinion shown the ultimate respect to these 3 classic 1960's Italian Gothic masterpieces.They have sourced original film prints and done a full HD transfer from that original material preserving before its lost to further damage forever. Now don't be fooled or mislead DESPITE what it says on the outer sleeve cover they have NOT done a full restoration on the original source material in several places you can see where the film has been severely damaged and/or broken BUT this does not ruin the viewing experience as in its worse places it's only a couple of seconds long.... As I said it's a fine line between what should be done with these old film ie: preservation or restoration an argument can be made for both. Severin in this case have gone down the preservation route.

I was glad to receive this triple pack set as it contains 3 Barbara Steele movies from the 1960’s, all of which have been hard to find in good watchable condition.The headliner is the gothic melodrama “Nightmare Castle”, which sees Steele in a dual role, first as an unfaithful wife who meets a grisly comeuppance from her sadistic husband (who seems to go beyond simple hurt feelings with his revenge!). Steele then appears again as the dead wife’s insane sister, whom the husband hastily springs from an asylum and marries, as she seems to be the heir to the first sister’s fortune. The main plot of the film now kicks in, and depicts what happens to this highly strung woman as supernatural events assault her in her new home.Nightmare Castle does look good, and this Blurray version is stunningly restored. The photography is excellent, although several shots are out of focus, which disappointed me. The lighting and camera work make the most of the cast and sets, mostly Steele of course, although she does look rather odd in a badly fitting blonde wig. The period costumes are also a bit suspect, with the ugliest bustles that I have ever seen, hanging halfway down to the knees. They look ridiculousSadly the story is not great, especially the subplot involving the housekeeper who goes from wizened crone to gorgeous beauty (well, it is Helga Line) with no explanation - and when the explanation does come it’s impossible to fill in the earlier plot holes that made it so confusing in the first place. The dubbing spoils a lot of the atmosphere, especially Steele’s acting, which takes a hit from the very poor lip synching - didn’t she speak her own lines in English? It doesn’t look like it. Anyway at least it’s entertaining enough.The second movie is "Castle of Blood”, which appears to be largely identical to “Nightmare Castle" in it’s conception. Again we have an ominous castle, a gothic period setting, supernatural occurrences, death and murder, and lovely ladies. Steele again is the focus of the visuals, although in this film I though she was outclassed by the statuesque Margrete Robsahm as Julia, who looks simply stunning in the many lingering portrait shots of her that the film employs. Again, the remastered print is pin-sharp, and it’s all shot in focus, which says to me that at least somebody in the original production did some quality control, unlike in “Nightmare Castle” - although it’s covered in scratches and damage, particularly near the beginning. It’s also apparently not the full version, as that contains topless shots and lesbian overtones, none of which are present here! This didn't bother me much as the film did play well enough as it stands in this version.The third movie in the set is the appallingly titled “Terror Creatures From The Grave”. But it is pretty good, although yet again we have a gothic period setting, an isolated mansion, and Barbara Steele doing her usual mysterious thing with the long hair and heaps of dark eye make-up. This story involves a doctor arriving at a country house and finding two sisters living there, terrified of various supernatural occurrences that are assaulting them. This movie does have a more picturesque set than the other two, with a really imposing mansion (you can barely make out the building's exterior appearance in the other two movies) and some great outdoor scenes shot in beautiful countryside. It also has some very modern ideas, and some scenes are very reminiscent of Lucio Fulci’s “House by the Cemetery” (made two decades later!), such as when the doctor listens to a recording of a previous investigator narrating some gruesome happenings, and some POV camera shots that prowl through the house after the heroine. But of the three, this one probably has the worst dubbing. It’s impossible to empathise with the the actors when the vocal performances are so badly matched. The print is sharp again, but there is damage, especially about 35 minutes in when it all but falls apart on the screen! However, it’s definitely watchable, in fact it could have easily been the main feature. it’s also got the goriest special effects of all three movies.The Bluray is rounded off with some extras including trailers, mini interviews, a conversation with Barbara Steele (she is wonderfully bonkers), and some trailers and some extensive outtakes from “Terror Creatures” including whole different scenes - this was very interesting. All in all a very good set, and all three films are great hi-def copies and while they don't quite live up to the legendary status they seem to have aqcuired, they are all easily as good as each other

Excellent Blu-ray!

Excellent!

Dvd eccezionale per un film di culto del Gotico Italiano,un restauro meraviglioso,immagini nitide un bianco e nero,che rende perfettamente l'atmosfera del film.La versione è integrale.Unica pecca la mancanza della traccia audio in Italiano,ma si sà che all'estero non si ha molta considerazione dell'Italia,del resto noi siamo i primi a non apprezzare le tante cose belle che abbiamo,tanto è vero che in Italia questi film non si trovano oppure si trovano i versioni scadenti se non vergognose.