Castle of the Living Dead | |
---|---|
![]() Italian film poster for Castle of the Living Dead | |
Directed by | Warren Kiefer |
Screenplay by | Warren Kiefer [1] |
Story by | Warren Kiefer [1] |
Produced by | Paul Maslansky [1] |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Aldo Tonti [1] |
Edited by | Mario Serandrei [1] |
Music by | Angelo Francesco Lavagnino [1] |
Color process | Black and white [2] [3] [4] [5] |
Production companies |
|
Distributed by | Cineriz (Italy) |
Release date |
|
Running time | 90 minutes [1] |
Countries |
|
Languages | English Italian |
Box office | ₤103.5 million |
Castle of the Living Dead (Italian : Il Castello dei Morti Vivi, [1] French : Le Chateau des Morts Vivants [1] ) is a 1964 horror film directed by Warren Kiefer. It was released in English under the title Crypt of Horror. [1] It was Kiefer's first film as a director. [6]
Since its release, a number of contradictory production histories concerning Castle of the Living Dead have surfaced, with the film's direction being variously attributed to Kiefer (who was credited with the alias "Lorenzo Sabatini" on Italian prints), Riccardo Freda, or Luciano Ricci (credited as "Herbert Wise"). Other mysteries include the extent of assistant director Michael Reeves' involvement in the production, and whether or not Mario Bava provided special effects for the film.
The film is set in France in the early 19th century, after the Napoleonic Wars (1803 – 1815). The voiceover reports that banditry and violence rule the roadways. An ill-fated theatrical troupe of commedia dell'arte performers on tour visits the castle of Count Drago (Christopher Lee).
Drago is an embalmer of both animals and humans. He is pre-occupied with creating his "eternal theatre." In his research, Drago discovers a chemical formula that instantly kills and embalms any living creature, forever preserving them at the moment of death. Drago's habit of experimenting on animals is revealed, and the visitors are about to become unwilling participants before a dwarf rescues them.
American Warren Kiefer moved to Italy to pursue a career in the film industry. [7] There he met American-born producer Paul Maslansky at Cinecittà. [7] The two got along and decided to make a film together. Kiefer provided the script for Castle of the Living Dead. [7] Maslansky previously worked as a production manager, and had befriended Michael Reeves. Maslansky had already created a documentary film about jazz music in Paris, financed by his uncle. He was in Rome in order to set up his own feature film, and this time he intended to finance it with his own money. [2] [3] [4] [5] Maslansky had the idea that his film should be a black-and-white horror film. It could be filmed quickly, using ready-made sets, and relying on atmospheric location shooting. The script could be redrafted to incorporate local color, without increasing the production budget. [2] [3] [4] [5] Kiefer was a writer by profession, but aspired to be a film director. He was involved in the shooting of a documentary film in Libya, at the time he met Maslansky. Both of them were expatriate Americans, members of a loosely organized community of expatriate filmmakers in Rome. They were both in their late 20s at the time, and both aspired to create their own feature film. They agreed to co-operate and jointly "thrashed out" the film's story. [2] [3] [4] [5] With the story completed, Kiefer started work on the screenplay. Maslansky "put together" an estimated 125,000 to 150,000 dollars, to serve as a "minestone" fund that would cover the film's budget. Money was drawn from several European countries, based on pre-sales. [2] [3] [4] [5]
Among the crew of Castle of the Living Dead was Michael Reeves. [8] Paul Maslansky met Reeves previously on the set of The Long Ships (1964) and invited him to work on Castle of the Living Dead. [8] Maslansky had been impressed by Mike's enthusiasm for film, and Mike's passion for the horror genre. Reeves was assigned as the second unit director. [2] [3] [4] [5] Reeves is sometimes credited with doing script work for this film. However Kiefer had mostly completed the script by the time production begun. Reeves could not have contributed more than slight redrafting of the script. [2] [3] [4] [5] Reeves' input on the script is credited with the dwarf's role in the finished film. [2] [3] [4] [5]
Donald Sutherland was cast in multiple roles in the film. Maslansky had "spotted" Sutherland in London, where the actor was involved in a production of Spoon River Anthology by Lindsay Anderson's royal court. Maslansky pitched the film to Sutherland. Sutherland was offered a weekly wage of 40 dollars, and the use of Kiefer's couch as a sleeping place. Once he accepted, Maslansky bought him a train ticket for Rome. [2] [3] [4] [5] Maslansky and Reeves put in $10,000 and contacted Christopher Lee for ten days of shooting. [7]
Many sources cite Lorenzo Sabatini as the director of Castle of the Living Dead, but the name was created by Kiefer for tax reasons while creating the film. [7] To complicate it further, the film was a French-Italian co-production, which meant that an Italian director was required to collect certain state subsidies. [1] [7] In the Italian version of the film, Kiefer is credited as only for the story and script while the name Herbert Wise was used as the director. [7] Wise was a pseudonym for Luciano Ricci, Kiefer's assistant director. [7] All other prints credit Kiefer as the sole director. [7] Many promotional materials and reviews of the film since the release have credited various directors as the director, including Ricci, the fictional Wise, and Riccardo Freda. [9]
Reeves is credited as an assistant director on the film, but rumours have spread since his premature death that he had done more on the film, including that he had shot all the sequences at the Parco dei Mostri. Others have said that he took over the production nine days into shooting the film. [8] Maslansky stated in 1999 that the rumours of him directing the film were untrue and that he remained on second unit for the entire film. [8] Kiefer's second unit director Frederick Muller that the film was entirely directed by Kiefer without Reeves' presence. [8] Kiefer also stated that Reeves had not had anything to do with the directing in the film. [8]
The film was shot in five weeks at Castello Orsini-Odescalchi and Bomarzo in Italy. [1] [7] Other sources estimate that the film's shooting lasted for only 24 days. The entire shooting was completed in 1963. [2] [3] [4] [5] The production company was Serena Films, owned by Maslansky. [2] [3] [4] [5] Kiefer estimated the budget as $135,000 while Paul Maslansky stated it was $125,000. [9] To speed up the production, Kiefer and Maslansky set each room they were shooting in the castle in order so after one scene was filmed, the next room in the castle would be ready for the following scene. [8]
In Tim Lucas' book Mario Bava, All the Colours of the Dark, an interview with Luciano Pigozzi states that Mario Bava created a special effect for the film involving a large sailing ship. [10] There is no scene in the film involving boats and Lucas has assumed that this effect would show up when the film was shown at its proper aspect ratio or that the scene had been cut. [10] Muller had later noted that he did not recall seeing Mario Bava on the set ever. [10]
Maslansky offered the American distribution rights to American International Pictures (AIP), and the Italian distribution rights to Cineriz. Cineriz went bankrupt before the film could be released in Italy. [2] [3] [4] [5] In most European countries, the film's main selling point was the presence of Christopher Lee in the cast. [2] [3] [4] [5]
There were problems in the film's post-synchronisation process. Initially the film lacked a soundtrack, and the film's continuity sheets were mislaid. The film was eventually dubbed in its entirety. But there were sections of the film where the characters are mouthing words, but the only sounds heard are grunts and groans. [2] [3] [4] [5] Mel Welles oversaw the post-synching process. He later claimed that the lost continuity sheets were simply a ruse, as they intended to improve the film's dialogue. [2] [3] [4] [5]
Castle of the Living Dead was released in Italy through distributor Cineriz on August 5, 1964. [1] The film grossed a total of 103.5 million Italian lira on its theatrical run in Italy. [1] The film was released in 1965 in the United States where it was distributed by The Woolner Brothers. [1]
The film was modestly successful, and did not lose money. Everyone involved was paid, and the investors were "reimbursed". [2] [3] [4] [5]
From a contemporary review, the Monthly Film Bulletin described the film as "standard Gothic fare, distinguished only by the presence of Christopher Lee as a mad Count" [11]
In a retrospective review, TV Guide gave the film two stars out of five, noting the scenes involving the circus performers' various talents and Donald Sutherland in three different roles. [12]
Barbara Steele 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 the dual role of Asa and Katia Vajda in Mario Bava's landmark film Black Sunday (1960), and starred in The Pit and the Pendulum (1961), The Horrible Dr. Hichcock (1962), The Long Hair of Death (1964), and Castle of Blood (1964).
Mario Bava was an Italian filmmaker who worked variously as a director, cinematographer, special effects artist and screenwriter. His low-budget genre films, known for their distinctive visual flair and stylish technical ingenuity, feature recurring themes and imagery concerning the conflict between illusion and reality, as well as the destructive capacity of human nature. Widely regarded as a pioneer of Italian genre cinema and one of the most influential auteurs of the horror film genre, he is popularly referred to as the "Master of Italian Horror" and the "Master of the Macabre".
Black Sabbath is a 1963 horror anthology film directed by Mario Bava. The film consists of three separate tales that are introduced by Boris Karloff. The order in which the stories are presented varies among the different versions in which the film has been released. In the original, Italian print, the first story, titled "The Telephone", involves Rosy who continually receives threatening telephone calls from an unseen stalker. The second is "The Wurdulak", where a man named Gorca (Karloff) returns to his family after claiming to have slain a Wurdulak, an undead creature who attacks those that it had once loved. The third story, "The Drop of Water", is centered on Helen Corey, a nurse who steals a ring from a corpse that is being prepared for burial and finds herself haunted by the ring's original owner after arriving home.
Michael Reeves was an English film director and screenwriter. He is best remembered for the 1968 film Witchfinder General. A few months after the film's release, Reeves died in London at the age of 25 from an accidental alcohol and barbiturate overdose.
Blood and Black Lace is a 1964 giallo film directed by Mario Bava and starring Eva Bartok and Cameron Mitchell. The story concerns the brutal murders of a Roman fashion house's models, committed by a masked killer in a desperate attempt to obtain a scandal-revealing diary.
Riccardo Freda was an Italian film director. He worked in a variety of genres, including sword-and-sandal, horror, giallo and spy films.
The Girl Who Knew Too Much is a 1963 Italian giallo film directed by Mario Bava, starring John Saxon as Dr. Marcello Bassi and Letícia Román as Nora Davis. The plot revolves around a young American woman named Nora, who travels to Rome and witnesses a murder. The police and Dr. Bassi do not believe her, since a corpse has not been found. Several more killings follow, tied to a decade-long string of murder victims chosen in alphabetical order.
The Whip and the Body is a 1963 gothic horror film directed by Mario Bava under the alias "John M. Old". The film is about Kurt Menliff who is ostracized by his father for his relationship with a servant girl and her eventual suicide. He later returns to reclaim his title and his former fiancée Nevenka who is now his brother's wife. Menliff is later found murdered, but the locals believe his ghost has returned to haunt the castle for revenge.
Black Sunday is a 1960 Italian gothic horror film directed by Mario Bava in his official directorial debut, and starring Barbara Steele, John Richardson, Andrea Checchi, Ivo Garrani, Arturo Dominici and Enrico Oliveri. Loosely based on Nikolai Gogol's short story "Viy", the film takes place in Moldavia and tells the story of a witch who is put to death by her brother, only to return two centuries later to seek revenge upon his descendants.
Castle of Blood is a 1964 horror film directed by Antonio Margheriti and Sergio Corbucci. The film stars Barbara Steele, Arturo Dominici and Georges Rivière. The film was initially commissioned to director Sergio Corbucci, who had Gianni Grimaldi 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.
I Vampiri is a 1957 Italian horror film directed by Riccardo Freda and completed by the film's cinematographer, Mario Bava. It stars Gianna Maria Canale, Carlo D'Angelo and Dario Michaelis. The film is about a series of murders on young women who are found with their blood drained. The newspapers report on a killer known as the Vampire, which prompts young journalist Pierre Lantin to research the crimes. Lantin investigates the mysterious Du Grand family who lives in a castle occupied by Gisele Du Grand who is in love with Lantin. She lives with her aunt, who hides her face in a veil, as well as the scientist Julian Du Grand, who is trying to find the secret to eternal youth.
Caltiki – The Immortal Monster is a 1959 black-and-white science fiction-horror film with similarities to The Blob that was released in the previous year. The film's storyline concerns a team of archaeologists investigating Mayan ruins, who come across a creature that is a shapeless, amorphous blob. They manage to defeat it using fire, while keeping a sample of the creature. Meanwhile, a comet, which previously passed near the Earth around the time of the collapse of the Mayan civilization, is due to return, raising the possibility of a connection between the creature and the comet.
Werewolf in a Girls' Dormitory is a 1961 Italian mystery horror film directed by Paolo Heusch and written by Ernesto Gastaldi. The plot follows a girls' detention facility that is plagued by attacks from an unknown entity.
Until Death is a 1988 Italian made-for-TV horror film directed by Lamberto Bava.
The She Beast is a 1966 horror film written and directed by Michael Reeves in his directorial debut. The film stars Barbara Steele, John Karlsen and Ian Ogilvy.
Kill, Baby, Kill is a 1966 Italian gothic horror film directed by Mario Bava and starring Giacomo Rossi Stuart and Erika Blanc. Written by Bava, Romano Migliorini, and Roberto Natale, the film focuses on a small Carpathian village in the early 1900s that is being terrorized by the ghost of a murderous young girl.
Frankenstein's Castle of Freaks is a 1974 Italian horror film.
Baron Blood is a 1972 horror film directed by Mario Bava. An international co-production of Italy and West Germany, the film stars Joseph Cotten as Baron Otto Von Kleist, a murderous noble who is resurrected from the dead by his descendant, Peter, and a college student named Eva.
The Murder Clinic is a 1966 slasher giallo film directed by Lionello De Felice and Elio Scardamaglia. It was produced by Elio Scardamaglia, Francesco Scardamaglia and Luciano Martino;. The screenplay was written by Martino and Ernesto Gastaldi from their own story. It stars William Berger, Françoise Prévost, Harriet White Medin, Mary Young and Barbara Wilson.
Warren Kiefer (1929–1995) was an American film director and screenwriter from New Jersey. He used the alias Lorenzo Sabatini, while working in Italy. He named himself after the 16th-century painter Lorenzo Sabbatini, who he admired.