I lunghi capelli della morte

Very disappointing and surely one of Antonio Margheriti's less effective films. The beginning is great and the ending even more so, while Barbara Steele looks fantastic throughout. Its what happens between the start and finish that is of concern. This is a revenge movie where the main protagonist appears not to realise there is a task in hand. Lots of walking along corridors and up and down stairs and stone steps - some admittedly stylishly Gothic with flowing robes and dark shadows. But we seem to be treading water all the time, silently urging Babs to get her act together. Watching Steele go about the castle it is once again so evident that that face can literally convey fear, excitement and terror all at the same time. It is quite uncanny, but sadly not made enough of here.

"I lunghi capelli della morte" by Antonio Margheriti is a classic b/w Gothic movie. Take a flickering candle, go down into the crypt, past the spider webs - and you wouldn't be surprised if Bela Lugosi was lurking in the shadow. Actually it's Barbara Steele which you can't complain about, either. Giorgio Ardisson plays Kurt, the son of a Count, who commits a murder, blames it on a witch, the witch is burnt and leaves a terrible curse behind - maybe the story is not something new, but it matters most in this movie to show how a man is slowly trapped in a revenge plan - so slowly that for most of the running time, he doesn't even realize the torment already began. That not much is happening, as sometimes reviewers do say, is done on purpose: Kurt would like to move, but he is becoming aware more and more of his helplessness, his inability to hide. "I lunghi capelli della morte" is a movie with intensity, atmosphere and beauty in its black and white imagery, and while I just wanted to check out the first chapter for the disc quality when the DVD arrived in the mail, I ended up watching it till the end - it was mesmerizing and really that good. Fans of the genre, don't miss it!

Being a fan of Italian horror, particularly from the 50s and 60s, I was looking forward to this film having recently located a copy of it. However, it was somewhat disappointing. Most European horrors from this era don't move terribly fast, so a slow pace was neither surprising nor a problem in and of itself. This one, however, lacked something to keep it very interesting. The atmosphere wasn't bad; there was a castle and tomb that looked alright. The mood just didn't live up to expectations. It lacked the spooky feel of the greater films of this type such as Mario Bava's Black Sunday and Black Sabbath.

The plot, roughly, concerns a supposed witch burned at the stake in the late 1400s. She vows revenge, which it is assumed will take form in her two daughters, one of which being Barbara Steele (Black Sunday, Shivers, Castle of Blood). Barbara is as lovely as ever, particularly her long black hair. I prefer not to say more since I personally like seeing a film knowing as little as possible about it. The plot is nothing new anyway; originality in plot is rarely ever the reason fans of the macabre watch this type of film anyway.

For fans of gothic horror, and Barbara Steele, this is worth seeing though I would not say it is at the top of the list.

The Long Hair of Death was one of the cycle of Gothic horror films released by Italian studios in the 1960's. Like the majority of them, it was filmed in black and white for budget reasons although from today's perspective this does give the film a certain atmosphere and classy look. Set in the 15th century, a young woman is accused of being a witch and is burned to death. She casts a curse on the house of the men responsible and returns from the grave many years later to enact deadly revenge.

The director here was Antonio Margheriti working under his anglicised moniker Anthony Dawson. Margheriti was a director who made films in most of the Italian genres, from peplums and spaghetti westerns to gialli and poliziotteschi amongst others. He displays some care with the Gothic horror genre taking care to build a moody atmosphere and slowly constructing the story. But the main draw here is probably Barbara Steele. This British actress was the queen of the 60's Gothic horror film, appearing in movies from both sides of the Atlantic although she is primarily associated with the Italian strain of the sub-genre. Her strong, seductive features were perfectly suited to these films and, once again, she is more aggressor than victim here.

This is a fairly typical entry in the Italian Gothic sub-set. It's a solid entry, if not in the upper bracket. It does have some well-staged scenes and nice location photography though and it ends on a satisfyingly macabre note. While it obviously benefits considerably by the presence of Steele. The title doesn't really mean an awful lot but it sounds good.

After hearing so much about the often ballyhooed Black Sunday film which predates this one I finally got the chance to check out both films for myself. Black Sunday a.k.a the Mask Of Satan is also a Gothic b/w Italian horror film that features Barbara Steele as it's main character. Every review that I came across recommended the Mario Bava movie without any reservations whatsoever and made constant references to it's beautiful cinematography, period detail and atmosphere. I was super anxious to see this unanimously lauded classic. However, once viewed, I did not find the Mask of Satan to be that great of a movie. Yes, it was beautifully filmed and yes it was quite atmospheric but it was also flat, boring and predictable. It's dated violence and special effects did very little to help liven things up. The eerie soundtrack that seemed to constantly be playing was too loud and it actually served to slaughter, in it's infancy, any tension that possibly might have been building. The film felt like a major let down after hearing so much about it. It was o.k. but nearer to a novelty than a classic. The Long Hair Of Death was a film which I had heard absolutely nothing about. I only just learned of it's existence when it was recently scheduled to be released on blu ray in the near future. The cover art was intriguing and there was Barbara Steele again. So I found the movie on YouTube and set out to see if it was worth adding to my collection. Little did I know what a treat I was in for. This movie is similar in look and feel to Bava's film yet it is superior to that film due to it's character development and it's bizarre and intermittent flashes of kinky eroticism. The pacing is glacial in this one also and yet it doesn't feel quite as moribund as "Sunday". The camera work is lovely and lush and is perfectly enhanced by vividly detailed decorative sets and costumes. The acting is better in this one too although the dialog is pretty standard for this type of fare. All in all, I prefer The Long Hair of Death to Black Sunday on any given day and will be purchasing a copy on blu ray ASAP.