Le château des morts vivants

Secured this film off E-Bay and enjoyed this film from the beginning to the end. If you are a Christopher Lee fan and enjoy some of his early works, this is the film you will be interested in, as well as, the fact that Donald Sutherland, (Sgt. Paul/The Witch/Old Man) "Ask The Dusk", gives an outstanding role in this picture as many characters. This story is about a Count Drago, (Christopher Lee), "Charlie & the Chocolate Factory", who preserves many animals and keeps them in their natural appearance. You would probably say it was taxidermy, but this is another form of transformation that works and in an entirely different way. The Count invites a carnival group to entertain him at his mysterious castle where the carnival act shows a man being hanged and brought back to life. Gaia Germani, (Laura) gives a great supporting role as the attractive female who is adored by Count Drago and some other weird and sick looking people. This is a rather early film for Christopher Lee and Donald Sutherland and you can see from their performance they were going to be great stars on the Silver Screen. Great Classic Horror Film.

I've seen up to three directors credited for the film, although only Warren Kiefer is credited on the print I saw, as well as being credited as author of the story and screenplay. This low budget European shocker is the first film usually credited to Michael Reeves, who directed the horror classic "The Witchfinder General" (1968). His films are noted for their downbeat overall tone, and he directed only four feature length films before he died at age 25.

In 1820's Europe, a traveling circus gives a performance. Afterwards, they are invited to Count Drago's (Lee's) castle, to perform for him. On the way there, they are intercepted by an old woman who warns them against the castle and predicts some of them will die. As usual in such films, they ignore the warning and continue on anyways or else there would be no movie.

I've yet to find a good quality print of this film. It's American release was botched, and it ended up playing mostly drive-in theaters, and then fell into obscurity. The best quality print I have found has the ends cropped to make its aspect ratio 4:3.

Lee is head and shoulders better than the rest of the cast. Donald Sutherland is also notable in multiple roles in this, his first feature film appearance that was not a TV movie. The other actors are no better than adequate. The cinematography and score are both functional, at best. In the last 40 minutes, film stops and numbers are projected on screen for 15-30 seconds a couple of times.

If you are willing to overlook the films' faults (score, cinematography, abrupt changes in tone, and an ending that Reeves must have argued against) there are some good scares in this one.

It is worth sitting through if it ever comes your way. Weird factoid: Donald Sutherland's son Kiefer is named after the director. I have no idea exactly why.

Christopher Lee pops up in a lot of shonky Euro-horror, but I didn't expect to see Donald Sutherland's name to appear in the opening credits for Castle of the Living Dead. Sutherland's big screen debut sees the actor playing multiple roles: firstly, he plays an old hag who warns the members of a travelling acting troupe of impending death if they continue to the castle of Count Drago (Lee) where they are to perform; then he plays the incompetent police sargeant who is oblivious to the count's experiments in the suspension of life, using humans subjects; and according to IMDb, Sutherland also plays an old man, but I don't recall seeing that character.

The film's main star, Christopher Lee, could play his role in his sleep: villanous aristocrat Count Drago is bread and butter for the actor. The count is assisted in his work by a drooling maniac called Sandro (Mirko Valentin), who captures victims for Drago. In the film's best (ie. Funniest) scene, Sandro chases Nick (Antonio De Martino), the troupe's heroic dwarf, to the top of a tower, picks the little fellow up and throws him over the parapet. The dwarf, or rather a very unconvincing dummy, falls and lands on a pile of hay. Extra points awarded for dwarf throwing! Another cool moment sees Drago using a toy catapult to fire a poisoned dart into a man's eye. Nasty!

The direction by Warren Kiefer is rather clumsy, as is the editing, and the dubbing is terrible, but the crude technical nature of the film adds to its charm. Kiefer does make good use of his gothic location, especially the ornamental gardens and grottos that surround the castle (I know I've seen that place in another old horror film, but I can't quite put my finger in it*). All in all, this is a fun piece of low-budget Euro-horror that trundles along at a decent pace and never bores -- far from a classic but certainly worth a go for fans of this kind of hokum.

*I just read Bezenby's review, which lists other films that use the same location. The film I was trying to think of was Meridian (AKA Phantoms) starring Sherilyn Fenn.

Low budget Italian horror film is no big shakes but there's a few things worth mentioning about it. First, it's Donald Sutherland's film debut (in two roles, no less). Why they had him dress up as old hag I do not know. Budgetary reasons I suppose. Sutherland does nothing to impress in his debut. We also have the great Christopher Lee slumming here and giving a typically solid Lee performance, though not his best. There's also a dwarf among the circus performers. He's pretty good and gets to be a hero, which will impress certain types.

The story is about a troupe of circus performers summoned to a castle to entertain the mysterious Count Drago (Lee). Little do they know Drago is a weirdo who performs experiments involving embalming animals and people. This certainly sounds intriguing enough but somehow the film manages to be unexceptional and, for the most part, boring. Lee completists and Spaghetti horror fans will want to check it out. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone else.

An intriguing slice of 'Golden Age Italian Gothic Horror,' this tale of a mad scientist called Count Drago (played by Christopher Lee) attempting to experiment on performers in a traveling circus rather than animals makes for a desirable curiosity piece, even though it's not very good. Alongside Lee, the cast includes Eurocult fave Philippe Leroy (The Frightened Woman), and Donald Sutherland in his first three film roles (he plays a Napoleonic soldier, an old man, and a Witch in heavy make up and a dress). As well as featuring an heroic dwarf named Nick, the movie has a complicated production history. Michael Reeves (Witchfinder General) received his first film credit aged just twenty, and a mere five years before his tragic barbiturate overdose, as assistant director, but it was rumoured that he contributed a lot more including directing an exciting sword fight on the castle walls. There were also rumours that Mario Bava provided special effects for the film. The movie was directed by Luciano Rick under the pseudonym of Warren Kiefer, and so grateful was Donald Sutherland for him giving him his first movie credit, that he named his son after him.