The Blancheville Monster

Last updated
The Blancheville Monster
The Blancheville Monster poster.jpg
Italian film poster for The Blancheville Monster
Directed by Alberto de Martino
Written by
Starring
Cinematography Alejandro Ulloa [1]
Edited byOtello Colangeli [1]
Music by
  • Carlo Franci
  • Giuseppe Piccillo [1]
Distributed by Titanus (Italy)
Release date
  • June 6, 1963 (1963-06-06)(Italy)
Running time
90 minutes [1]
Countries
  • Italy
  • Spain [1]
Box office ₤87 million

The Blancheville Monster, released in the UK and Italy as Horror, is a 1963 horror film directed by Alberto de Martino. The film's script by Gianni Grimaldi and Bruno Corbucci is promoted as being based on the works of Edgar Allan Poe, but actually only borrows elements from the short stories "The Fall of the House of Usher", "A Tale of the Ragged Mountains" and "Some Words with a Mummy". Long after its release, director Alberto de Martino described his film as "a little film of no importance".

Contents

Plot

Emilie De Blancheville returns to her family's castle and finds drastic changes: her brother Roderic is now in charge of the estate ; the servants have all died and been replaced by new staff members, who are cold and unfamiliar ; and her father, Count Blancheville, has been horribly disfigured and now lives secluded in one of the castle's isolated towers. The Count believes the Blanchevilles are under a family curse, which can only be lifted if Emilie dies before her 21st birthday, five days away. When the Count escapes from the tower, Emily realizes her life is in danger.

Cast

Production

Spanish sources for the production credit Natividad Zaro as a contributor to the script. As with many European co-productions of the era, this was done for tax reasons. [3] Italian promotional material for the film promoted it as a product based on an Edgar Allan Poe story, but the film only borrows elements from "The Fall of the House of Usher", "A Tale of the Ragged Mountains" and "Some Words with a Mummy". [1] The film's style is closer to that of a Roger Corman film rather than the Italian gothic horror films of era. [4] Director Alberto de Martino felt he was more inspired by Alfred Hitchcock. [1] [4]

The film was shot at Monastery of Santa Maria La Real de Valdeiglesias in Spain and at Cinecittà in Rome. [1]

Release

The Blancheville Monster was released in Italy on June 6, 1963 through Titanus. [1] It was released in Italy under the title Horror as chosen by producer Italo Zingarelli. [1] The film grossed 87 million Italian lira on its initial theatrical run in Italy. [1]

Home media

The film is in public domain in the United States. [3] On March 23, 2004, it was released on DVD by Alpha Video. Alpha Video would also re-release the film on April 8, 2009 as part of its Gothic Horror Movie Pack. It was later released by Mill Creek Entertainment on August 30, 2005, as part of its Chilling Classics DVD. Mill Creek would re-release the film on August 19, 2008 as part of its Tales of Horror Collection. On August 30, 2007, it was released by Direct Source as part of its Monster Mash Movie Pack. On August 24, the following year, it was released by TNT Media Group. It was last released by Retro Media on November 19, 2013 as a part of its 50th Anniversary Edgar Allan Poe's Horror Pack. [5]

Arrow Films would release it on a Blu-ray boxset along with three other gothic films in October 2022 in UK.

Reception

Alberto de Martino referred to his own film as "a little film of no importance" and that the only thing he found memorable was the mask used in the film, which was sculpted by his father. [4] Roberto Curti, author of Italian Gothic Horror Films, 1957-1969 (2015) stated that the film "does not have much to offer" outside de Martino's competent directing and Alejandro Ulloa's lighting. [4] Curti also noted the plot's cliches and mediocre acting. [4] Bartłomiej Paszylk, author of The Pleasure and Pain of Cult Horror Films referred to the film as one of the brighter moments of Alberto de Martino's career and that "neither the overacting nor the many flaws of the script can take away the pleasure of watching The Blancheville Monster". [2] [6]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barbara Steele</span> British actress (born 1937)

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).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mario Bava</span> Italian filmmaker

Mario Bava was an Italian filmmaker who worked variously as a director, cinematographer, special effects artist and screenwriter, frequently referred to as the "Master of Italian Horror" and the "Master of the Macabre". 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. He was a pioneer of Italian genre cinema, and is regarded as one of the most influential auteurs of the horror film genre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Umberto Lenzi</span> Italian director and writer (1931–2017)

Umberto Lenzi was an Italian film director, screenwriter, and novelist.

<i>The Whip and the Body</i> 1963 Italian gothic horror film

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.

<i>Castle of Blood</i> 1964 film

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>Web of the Spider</i> 1971 film

Web of the Spider is a 1971 horror film directed by Antonio Margheriti. The film is about the writer Alan Foster who accepts a bet from Edgar Allan Poe and his friend Thomas Blackwood to stay a night in Blackwood's castle. At the castle, Foster meets Blackwood's sister Elisabeth and Julia. Foster has sex with Elisabeth and wakes up to find that she was stabbed by someone whose body vanishes, allowing Foster to realize the house is possessed by ghosts.

<i>Demons</i> (1985 film) 1985 Italian horror film directed by Lamberto Bava

Demons is a 1985 Italian supernatural horror film directed by Lamberto Bava, produced by Dario Argento, and starring Urbano Barberini and Natasha Hovey. Its plot follows two female university students who, along with a number of random people, are given complimentary tickets to a mysterious movie screening, where they soon find themselves trapped in the theater with a horde of ravenous demons.

<i>Lady Frankenstein</i> 1971 film

Lady Frankenstein is a 1971 Italian horror film directed by Mel Welles and written by Edward di Lorenzo. It stars Rosalba Neri, Joseph Cotten, Mickey Hargitay and Paul Müller.

<i>Nightmare Castle</i> 1965 film

Nightmare Castle is a 1965 Italian horror film directed by Mario Caiano. The film stars Paul Muller, Helga Liné and Barbara Steele in a dual role.

<i>Spirits of the Dead</i> 1968 film

Spirits of the Dead, also known as Tales of Mystery and Imagination and Tales of Mystery, is a 1968 horror anthology film comprising three segments respectively directed by Roger Vadim, Louis Malle and Federico Fellini, based on stories by Edgar Allan Poe. A French-Italian international co-production, the film's French title is derived from a 1856 collection of Poe's short stories translated by French poet Charles Baudelaire; the English titles Spirits of the Dead and Tales of Mystery and Imagination are respectively taken from an 1827 poem by Poe and a 1902 British collection of his stories.

<i>Atom Age Vampire</i> 1960 film

Atom Age Vampire is a 1960 Italian horror film directed by Anton Giulio Majano. Shot in black-and-white, the film was produced by Elio Ippolito Mellino and stars Alberto Lupo, Susanne Loret, and Sergio Fantoni set in France. Despite there being no vampires in the film, it was released in the US as Atom Age Vampire in 1963 in an 87-minute version. It was further shortened for English language DVD release.

Alberto De Martino was an Italian film director and screenwriter. Born in Rome, De Martino started as a child actor and later returned to the cinema where worked as a screenwriter, director and dubbing supervisor. De Martino's films as a director specialised in well-crafted knock-offs of Hollywood hit films. These films were specifically created films in Western, horror and mythology genres which were developed for the international market. The Telegraph stated that his best known of these film was probably The Antichrist. The Antichrist capitalized on the box-office appeal of The Exorcist (1973) and in its first week in the United States earned a greater box office than Jaws.

<i>The Embalmer</i> (1965 film) 1965 film

The Embalmer is a 1965 Italian giallo film directed by Dino Tavella, and starring Gino Marturano, Alcide Gazzotto, and Alba Brotto. Dino Tavella had a very short career in the Italian film industry, writing and directing only two films, The Embalmer and Una Sporca Guerra.

<i>Frankensteins Castle of Freaks</i> 1974 film

Frankenstein's Castle of Freaks is a 1974 Italian horror film.

<i>Frankenstein 80</i> 1972 film

Frankenstein '80 is a 1972 Italian film directed by Mario Mancini.

<i>Sodomas Ghost</i> 1988 film directed by Lucio Fulci

Sodoma's Ghost is an Italian direct-to-video horror film directed by Lucio Fulci.

<i>Frankenstein allitaliana – Prendimi, straziami, che brucio de passion!</i> 1975 film

Frankenstein all'italiana – Prendimi, straziami, che brucio de passion! is an 1975 Italian comedy horror film, directed by Armando Crispino.

<i>The Murder Clinic</i> 1966 film

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.

<i>The Vampire of the Opera</i> 1964 Italian film

The Vampire of the Opera is a 1964 Italian horror film co-written and directed by Renato Polselli and starring Marco Mariani and Giuseppe Addobbati.

References

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Curti 2015, p. 86.
  2. 1 2 Paszylk 2009, p. 82.
  3. 1 2 Curti 2015, p. 88.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Curti 2015, p. 87.
  5. ↑ "The Blancheville Monster (1963) - Alberto DeMartino". Allmovie.com. AllMovie. Retrieved 18 June 2018.
  6. ↑ Paszylk 2009, p. 83.

Bibliography

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.