Le Vampire et le Sang des vierges

This "Castle of the Walking Dead" contains – hands down – one of THE creepiest sequences I've ever seen. A carriage with four people inside is on its way to a sinister castle with a dark past when suddenly the driver notices they're going through a woods where there's a dead body hanging from nearly every three! The sight of and atmosphere during this particular sequences is truly horrific. In fact, the entire film somewhat relies on powerful isolated sequences of the macabre, as the story itself is quite familiar and routine Gothic stuff. "Castle of the Walking Dead" is another loose adaptation of Edgar Allen Poe's legendary tale "The Pit and the Pendulum"; which also already existed in a version directed by Roger Corman and starring Vincent Price. The film gives top-billing to veteran actor Christopher Lee, but apart from the intro sequence and the exquisite finale, his role isn't too extended. Lee plays the malicious and murderous Count Regula, who gets quartered for the all the vicious crimes he committed, but of course not before placing a curse on the judge who pronounced the death sentence and the last female victim who managed to escape and get him arrested. 35 years later, their unaware relatives are lured to the castle where the score shall be settled once and for all. I'm a big fan of Gothic horror and, generally speaking, rather forgiving when there are shortcomings. That's why I'm still very fond of "Castle of the Walking Dead" even though it definitely could have been even better. Many isolated sequences are terrific, but the wholesome is a bit incoherent. Once the almighty Christopher Lee is resurrected again, the quality level of the film rises again. His character is masterfully malevolent (another evil count consuming the blood of virgins to gain eternal life) and this great actor's natural horror charisma already delivers half of the powerful impact. The scene with the giant pendulum remains a brilliant highlight, regardless of how many times you've seen this before in other films. The titular castle is like a theme park full of wondrously sinister Gothic attractions. It even has vultures patiently waiting outside of the pendulum room!

The Castle of the Walking Dead is the first film that I have seen directed by Harold Reinl, the filmmaker who helmed numerous 'krimi' (German-made horror-thrillers based on the works of Edgar Wallace, precursors of the Italian 'giallo'), several entries in the 'Dr. Mabuse' series, and most of the 'Karl May' westerns. If this movie is any indication, Reinl is a major talent ripe for rediscovery by fans looking for a cinema that revels in flamboyant visual pyrotechnics, rather than in quotidian literacy and a politically correct 'sensibility'. Reinl may not be Mario Bava, but his extravagantly baroque camera style is nonetheless extremely impressive. The Castle of the Walking Dead is relentlessly designed; each shot has been carefully thought out and executed to its fullest illustrative potential. Set decoration, lighting, and camera movement are all carefully integrated; there is almost no shot that is arbitrary, accidental, or unnecessary. Reinl is an obvious practitioner of the great expressionist tradition in cinema, in which the significance of each shot is determined by the director's architectural and illuminative insight, in opposition to current film dogma, in which the subordinate elements of the shot (the acting, the script) dictates its formal structure. Significantly, only Christopher Lee, a performer who, like Lugosi, his predecessor, understands the physically revelatory importance of the actor to the overall impact of a film, is able to rise to the director's challenge. The Castle of the Walking Dead is ultimately derivative, badly acted, and pointless, but, for fans of cinema, can be a joy to behold. I should note that the DVD that I watched was faded and crappy; one can only hope that in the future the rest of Reinl's output will be rediscovered and restored with the loving care that it deserves. I can't wait.

We see Christopher Lee as Count Frederic Regula, who used the blood of 12 virgins for his experiments. He is drawn and quartered but not before swearing vengeance on the descendants of the Judge and the woman who escaped and turned him in.

Now, we come some years later, Roger Mont Elise (Lex Barker) has come to claim his inheritance. He is joined on his journey by a somewhat randy priest, Father Fabian (Vladimir Medar), and a young woman, the the beautiful Baroness Lilian von Brabant (Karin Dor) and her servant Babette (Christiane Rücker). They were travelling in a separate coach that was beset upon by robbers, who took their horses.

The setting near the castle is surreal, with body parts seemingly growing out of the trees.

Carl Lange as the Count's servant was particularly good. Lee, himself, was particularly evil in his appearance. Karin Dor did this film the same year as she was a Bond girl in You Only Live Twice. The art direction was excellent in the castle, with many strange paintings, and the cinematography was superb. The buzzards in the castle were a nice touch, as were the scorpions and spiders and snakes. Roger's escape from the pit with the pendulum can only be described as miraculous.

This is an unknown surreal little masterpiece of horror! Borrowing loosely from Poe's "The Pit and the Pendulem", director Reinl does a masterful job of pacing and fills the screen with surreal and spine tingling images. There is atmosphere a plenty throughout the film and a sense of uneasiness. The set pieces and costumes are beautiful and are enhanced by the color filming of the movie. Christopher Lee is the rejuvenated Count Regula out to destroy the last member of one of the families that put him to death. Karin Dor is the last female member of one of the families and her blood will give the count what he needs for his "life exlixer". A fun and atmospheric movie that one can watch over and over again. Just beware the heavily cut video rental version and try to find the complete print.

It is fortuitous that this film has at last reached the light of day again, (via DVD) since it provides a welcome reminder of the type of Saturday matinée "scary" fare 1960s parents could safely drop the youngsters off to see--in some ways similar to 1962's "The Magic Sword."

Boasting a very "Siegfried" style hero in Lex Barker, a particularly comely brunette heroine, and Christopher Lee at his most cadaverously malevolent, horror fans should not be disappointed in the regulation personalities. Nor will they be disappointed in the abundance of Gothic contrivances: snakes, skulls, potions, glass coffins, razor pendulums etc. etc. And to those with questions about the logic of the narrative, don't bother with them--the rapid fire pacing won't wait for you to find an answer anyway--if nothing else this film does move!

Ultimately, however, it is in the visuals that this film most impresses. Production design and color are of a very high order indeed, ranking very favorably against Jack Asher and Mario Bava, and it is impossible to believe that the previous work of these two gentlemen is not deliberately evoked here.

Much could be observed in this connection, but suffice it to say that rarely has a nocturnal forest been presented more balefully, with gnarled trees juxtaposed against an ultramarine sky.

Even more in its favor is the effective use of a medieval Bavarian town, whose quaint architecture seems right out of E.T.A. Hoffmann. Here is an example of location shooting that counts for something! Overall, although the credits credit Edgar Allan Poe as the basis of the story, the piece feels altogether more like a "penny-dreadful" hybrid pastiche of the aforementioned Hoffmann and Ludwig Tieck.

Highly recommended for admirers of the genre.