La cripta e l'incubo

Though only superficially faithful to Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu's famous novella, "Carmilla," this picture merits praise for its consistent visual distinction, and a unity of mood, (elsewhere, and accurately described as "stately") that lift it far above the overpraised (and dramatically disjointed) "Castle of the Living Dead" which Mr. Lee completed about the same time.

Allegedly set in Styria, but filmed in Italy, this film boasts deep focus black and white cinematography that clearly takes its visual cues from Bava's "Black Sunday." Indeed, this film even features a witch condemnation sequence rather similar to the one depicted in the earlier film.

The castle interiors are alive with looming shadows, the rooms dressed with the appropriate paraphernalia of the genre, (flaming braziers, suits of armor, baroque prickets and saint statues; while the exteriors contain some of the most enchanting landscapes one could wish for--not to mention unforgettable nightscapes--as of two women fleeing across a hillside in billowing peignoirs and lit by the moon, (rather like the cover of a Phyllis Whitney novel).

Also in its favor are some scenes quite faithful to Mr. Le Fanu's original, as in the barouche accident which occasions the arrival of the vampiress, (here re-named "Luba" for inexplicable reasons).

There are some demerits: a heroine that looks like a cross between Barbara Streisand and Maria Callas, and an Elke Sommerish Lady in Waiting whose adulterous relationship with Mr. Lee seems entirely gratuitous.

Nonetheless, admirers of 1960s Italian gothics need to re-examine this piece which is often unfairly dismissed, as it warrants far more attention and respect than such slush as "Terror Creatures From the Grave."

A precious Gem of the classy Italian Gothic with the great Christopher Lee and a good cast of most Italian and some Spanish actors . It is freely based on the known novel ¨Carmilla¨ by Sheridan Le Fanu. It deals with a family curse , its is set at an eerie castle where lives Karnstein family , the father Count Karnstein (Christopher Lee) , his daughter Laura (Adriana Ambesi) and his lover (Vera Valmont). Then , there arrives a historian (José Campos) to investigate an ancient origin and disprove a weird curse on the family , while his daughter seems to be possessed by the spirit of a dead ancestor , Carmilla , who many years ago was ominously executed . Then , a carriage accident forces a beautiful girl (Ursula Davis) to stay at the castle and she befriends Laura , but things go wrong .

A scary and ghastly film with a lot of thrills , chills , and ominous bloodsuckers. Interesting screenplay full of twists and turns , freely based on Sheridan Le Fanu novel : Carmilla , adapted by varous screen writers as Spanish : José Luis Monter , Maria Carmen Martinez Roman as Italian : Tonino Valeri , Ernesto Gastaldi . This terrifying film displays a a great atmosphere and dark mood with appropriate cinematography in black and white , proving careful sets and adequate ambient thanks to inventive production design by Demofilo Fidani who subsquently under pseudonym Miles Deem made a lot of lousy Spaghetti Westerns . Well starred by Christopher Lee , at the time he played several Italian films such as Uncle was a vampire ,Jaguar lives , Ercole al centro della terra, , La vergine of Norimberga , The whip and the body , among others . Along with other actors and gorgeous actresses , many of them under American pseudonyms.

It contains a nice cinematography Julio Ortas with plenty of lights and shades shot in castello Balsonaro LÁquila, Italy . As well as a rousing and frightening musical score by Carlo Savina .This forgotten film in US version was delivered by Samuel Z Arkoff , James H Nicholson from American Internatinal Pictures and was well directed by Camillo Mastrocinque who also made another notorious terror film : Un Angelo per Satana . In addition , he directed a number of Toto vehicles as : Toto Peppino e la malafemmina , Toto al inferno , Toto Peppino e i fuorilegge, Toto lascia o radoppia? . This horrifying picture of the Italian Gothic has a rating 6.5/10 . Decent terror movie.

The film is known by a few titles 'La cripta e l'incubo' (original title)'Crypt of Horror' aka 'Terror in the Crypt' aka 'Crypt of the Vampire' - no matter the title, it's a pretty good Gothic vampire and witch film. I enjoyed the film anyway.

It's basically about a girl who is having nightmares and taken ill. Her father calls in a doctor for help and a historian to find out more about the family history - to see if he can find what the family curse is and help put an end to it.

This is a film that if you enjoy the clichés like: family curses, vampires, witches, worshiping devils, evil spirits, nightmares, castles, cellars, graveyards and crypts all rolled into a fun Gothic film experience then you might like this particular movie.

7.5/10

Terror in the Crypt certainly seems like a great film on paper - it's stemmed from the classic novel "Carmilla" by Sheridan Le Fanu and the screenplay is by none other than Ernesto Gastaldi; the man responsible for a number of great Giallo films in the seventies. Adding to the writing credits is the fact that the film stars the great Christopher Lee; but unfortunately the pacing is far too slow and the film is more 'Castle of the Living Dead' than 'Black Sunday'. Anyone that has seen one of the numerous films based on the La Fanu novel will probably know what this film will be about. Count Karnstein comes to believe that his daughter Laura has become possessed by the spirit of the dead ancestor Carmilla and sends for a doctor to help her. However, this does not stop the daughter from being influenced by Carmilla. The film does well on the atmosphere front and director Camillo Mastrocinque delivers a great setting for the film to take place in with a lavish Gothic castle. However, there's just not enough going on to keep the film interesting for the duration and unfortunately despite the positives; the film is not very easy to follow for this reason. Perhaps fans of Gothic horror will find something to like here; but while I consider myself just that, unfortunately I didn't.

Christopher Lee is struggling with the usual dilemmas facing a single parent. His daughter is acting up and getting all goth on him, dreaming she's a vampire that's killing distant relatives, indulging in strange ceremonies with the housekeeper, listening to Cannibal Corpse, all that sort of stuff. Lee's also having a bit of an affair with his maid, who resents Lee's daughter as she sees her as an obstacle regarding getting hitched to Lee.

It's the usual modern day problems, but set in a huge brooding castle next to a ruined village of course. Lee hires a guy to find out what his ancient ancestor looks like to prove to his daughter that she's not her reincarnation, and the guy immediately gets a thing for Lee's daughter. That's a pity, however, as she's kind of taken with a young, mysterious girl who's staying at the castle for a few days while her carriage is getting fixed at the local Kwik Fit, in yet another Italian Goth Horror where suspected vampirism increases your chances of a homosexual experience. Usually of a Sapphic nature.

I quite enjoyed this one, which is your usual Gothic horror with some really grotesque imagery thrown in for good measure, including the housekeeper using a severed hand as a candle holder, a giallo-style killing, and the reveal of why the church bell keeps ringing in the ruined village is a doozy! There's a bit of a mystery about the whole thing too as the young guy keeps digging, trying to find the image of Christopher Lee's ancestor, and who can't like a film that has a hunchbacked soothsayer in it?

The lesbian isn't played up too much of course considering the year this was made, but it ticks all the Gothic Horror boxes for me. I think I've seen them all now, but who knows what waiting out there?