La cripta e l'incubo

One thing I could immediately appreciate about "Crypt of the Vampire" were the masterfully atmospheric opening sequences of a young girl, wandering around the woods by herself at night, and approaching an eerie and seemingly abandoned carriage. She spots something, dies instantly and we the viewers only witness the door of the coach slowly closing again. This was a wondrous mood-setter for an obscure and late 60's European horror gem with the inexhaustible Christopher Lee and directed by a random Italian dude who wanted to be as successful as Mario Bava ("Black Sunday") or Antonio Margheriti ("The Virgin of Nuremberg"). The heavenly beautiful Laura Karnstein, daughter of the honorable Count Ludwig played by Lee, witnesses the aforementioned opening sequence in a dream. Since she suffers from this kind of nightmares quite regularly, her concerned father seeks the help of the acclaimed Friedrich Klauss, who professionally restores manuscripts. Hopefully he can find a link between Laura and a notorious ancestor of the Karnsteins; a countess who reputedly kidnapped and killed young girls for the purpose of witchcraft. Is Laura really the reincarnation of her wicked ancestor, like the family curse states, or is the Count's young mistress Annette simply trying to drive the righteous heiress towards insanity? "Crypt of the Vampire" nearly isn't on par with some other contemporary European Gothic horror movies, but it's nevertheless a compelling and definitely worthwhile film. The script is full of obvious and slightly less obvious twists and occasionally even dares to touch certain taboo subjects, like subtle hints towards lesbianism. The Karnstein Castle is always shown from the same perspective, from beneath a hillside, but the interior filming locations are nice and gloomy. All the obligatory goth-horror elements are well represented, including thunderstorms, spontaneously dying candles, secret passageways, hidden vaults, etc. There are also a handful of uniquely grisly and genuinely horrific images in the film like the sight of a hunchback hanging dead from a chiming church bell, a corpse emerging from a coffin and pointing out who murdered her and voodoo practicing housemaids. Christopher Lee doesn't exactly give away his greatest performance ever, but even as a mediocre player he's still worth admiring. Luckily, in this case he also receives excellent support from the ravishing female cast members Adriana Ambesi and Véra Valmont.

If there is one thing that even the most low-budget of Spaghetti horrors excel in, it has got to be atmosphere. That is one thing that Terror in the Crypt does extremely well. It exudes a flair of picturesque horror and mystique enhanced all the more by its superb cinematography and eerie score.

Apart from it's great atmosphere, the film is very well crafted and entertaining. I would put it in the vein of other great EuroGoth gems like Terror Creatures From the Grave and The Blancheville Monster. Plus, the immortal Christopher Lee adds plenty to the picture as he always tends to do. But, like many of the other fans of this picture, I would have loved to have seen Lee chew the scenery with genre queen Barbara Steele as this is the type of film that was right up her alley.

Like so many other Gothic efforts, the story revolves around a generations-old family curse. Christopher Lee's character is a Count who fears that a witch's curse is starting to come to fruition as members of his extended family are dying one by one. A great cast of characters makes this story even more interesting. There's Laura, the Count's daughter and prime suspect in carrying out the witch's hex during her nightmare-wrought sleep. There is Laura's sultry friend Lyuba (I must note that the two starlets have great chemistry together and always look like they are on the verge of releasing years of bottled up sexual frustration on each other). A wise old crone who tries to help Laura decipher her nightmares. And there is a young historian who is brought in to try and find out as much of the family's dark history as he can in an effort to thwart the curse.

Terror in the Crypt (recently released as Crypt of the Vampire) is definitely worth the time and money for any fan of EuroGoth films or even just for those wanting to get a glimpse at Christopher Lee's Italian ventures.

Concerned about a 200 year old family curse that might bear fruition "Count Ludwig Karnstein" (Christopher Lee) hires an historian by the name of "Friedrich Klauss" (Jose Campos) to peruse all of the documents in Karnstein castle in order to settle the matter once and for all. What most disturbs Count Karnstein is the fact that his daughter "Laura" (Adriana Ambesi) is having strange dreams which typically come true adds to his concern. Throw in a scheming mistress named "Annette" (Vera Valmont) along with an unexpected visitor by the name of "Ljuba" (Ursula Davis) and things soon take a turn for worse in no time. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that the director (Camillo Mastrocinque) managed to maintain the mystery and suspense in such a manner to keep my interest from start to finish. Likewise, although I was expecting a vampire movie similar in nature to those Christopher Lee has done in the past, this particular picture left me somewhat surprised. In any case, although this wasn't a great movie by any means, I still enjoyed it and for that reason I have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.

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.