O Túmulo do Horror

Many of my fellow Eurohorror enthusiasts seem to have been disappointed by Camillo Mastrocinque's "La Cripta e l'incubo" aka. "Crypt of the Vampire" of 1964. For understandable reasons as the film, which stars Horror icon Christopher Lee, certainly doesn't range among the most memorable efforts in Italian Gothic Horror from the 1960s. Fact is, however, that this country, time and sub-genre stands for many of the greatest Horror films ever brought to screen, and even many of the lesser productions, such as this film, are entertaining films as such. This is one of only two Horror films by director Mastrocinque, the other being the vastly superior "Un Angelo Per Satana" of 1966 starring Genre-Goddess Barbara Steele (my favorite actress). This "Crypt of the Vampire" very obviously borrowed many story-elements from another Italian Gothic Horror film, Mario Bava's unequaled masterpiece "La Maschera Del Demonio" aka. "Black Sunday of 1960 (probably my choice for the greatest Horror film of all-time, and, of course, it also stars Barbara Steele). It can in no way compete with Bava's masterpiece, of course, nor with the many other Italian Gothic highlights from the day, be it Bava's, Antoino Margheriti's, or Riccardo Freda's films of even with Mastrocinque's own "Angelo Per Satana". Yet "Crypt of the Vampire" has many qualities. One has to give it to director Mastrocinque that he was capable of creating an uncanny atmosphere in spite of an obviously low budget. Again, he did so more impressively in "Un Angelo Per Satana", but one has to admit that this film is also highly atmospheric.

Count Karnstein (Christopher Lee) has sent for a doctor to help his daughter Laura (Adriana Ambesi). The young lady Karnstein has been tormented by terrible nightmares, and it is believed that she is possessed by the evil spirit of a dead ancestor... The film's major weakness is that it is too slow-going, especially in the first half. It is always atmospheric though, and the film really catches up in the second half, and gets quite creepy in some parts. Also, there are some nicely demented characters, such as a disfigured beggar. As it was the case with a truly brilliant Gothic film from the same year, Antonio Margheriti's "Danza Macabra" (aka. Castle of Blood"), this film has a certain lesbian subtext. The female cast in this film are beautiful, but not comparable to Barbara Steele (I can't stop praising her) and Margarete Robsahm who stunned viewers in "Danza Macabra". Also, while the (implied) lesbianism is a nicely exploitative element in this film, the explicit stuff that became common practice in Exploitation cinema only a few years later in the late 60s makes it look very harmless. Even so, it is a fun element of the film. More screen time for the great Christopher Lee would certainly have helped the film. The female cast members are entirely hot, but none of them is extremely talented. As said, the film's strong point lies in the atmosphere. Overall, "Crypt of the Vampire" is by no means a must-see or even a very good film. However, I personally enjoyed it and I think that many of my fellow fans of Italian 60s Gothic Horror might see it the same way.

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

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.

I just had the opportunity owning this film on video & I'm glad I jumped at it when I did. This film is very rare & hard to find.

This is a story of a family curse that threatens to wipe out every last member of the Karnstein family. A count seeks out a historian to help him search into his family's past to disprove the curse.

As a child this film scarred me but as an adult it intrigues me. It has elements that horror films lack today: atmosphere & mood. It grosses out but not that much. I enjoyed it a great deal. Since its so rare, any Christopher Lee fan should grab it if they ever find it.

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.