''Nightmare Castle'' ( it, Amanti d’Oltretomba) is a 1965 Italian
horror film
Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes.
Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...
directed by
Mario Caiano
Mario Caiano (February 13, 1933 – September 20, 2015) was an Italian film director, screenwriter, producer, art director and second unit director.
Career
Born in Rome, he directed nearly 50 films between 1961 and 2001 and wrote some 27 ...
. The film stars
Paul Muller,
Helga Liné
Helga Liné (; born Helga Lina Stern on 14 July 1932) is a German-born Portuguese-Spanish-American film actress and circus acrobat best known for her work in the horror genre of film. She made 132 appearances mostly in film between 1941 and ...
and
Barbara Steele
Barbara Steele (born 29 December 1937) is an English film actress known for starring in Italian gothic horror films of the 1960s. She has been referred to as the "Queen of All Scream Queens" and "Britain's first lady of horror". She played th ...
in a dual role.
Mario Caiano shot the film in Rome and declared it his tribute to the Gothic genre and to actress Barbara Steele. Among reviews of the film, critics and historians note Steele's dual performance.
Plot
Stephen Arrowsmith (
Paul Muller), a scientist, has his home laboratory in the castle owned by his wife Muriel (
Barbara Steele
Barbara Steele (born 29 December 1937) is an English film actress known for starring in Italian gothic horror films of the 1960s. She has been referred to as the "Queen of All Scream Queens" and "Britain's first lady of horror". She played th ...
). Arrowsmith finds her having
sex with a gardener, David. He attacks and disfigures David with a hot poker and burns Muriel's face with acid. Before electrocuting both of them, Arrowsmith is told that he is not Muriel's heir, but that the estate has been willed to her stepsister, Jenny (also Steele), who is mentally unstable. Arrowsmith removes David's and Muriel's hearts and hides them in an urn. He uses their blood to rejuvenate his aged servant, Solange (
Helga Liné
Helga Liné (; born Helga Lina Stern on 14 July 1932) is a German-born Portuguese-Spanish-American film actress and circus acrobat best known for her work in the horror genre of film. She made 132 appearances mostly in film between 1941 and ...
).
Sometime later, Arrowsmith marries Jenny, planning to have the rejuvenated Solange drive her insane. Jenny begins having nightmares, which include the sound of beating hearts and Muriel's voice urging her to murder Stephen. Arrowsmith brings Dr. Derek Joyce (
Marino Masé
Marino Masè (21 March 1939 – 28 May 2022) was an Italian actor who appeared in more than 70 films.
Life
Masè was born in Trieste on 21 March 1939. While still a teenager, he joined the laboratory for young actors of the production company ...
) to the castle to treat Jenny, who becomes convinced that supernatural forces are at work. Joyce discovers the hidden hearts of Muriel and David. The murdered dead return as ghosts. Muriel burns Stephen alive while David reduces Solange to a skeleton by draining her blood. Dr. Joyce then burns the disembodied hearts and leaves the castle with Jenny.
Cast
*
Barbara Steele
Barbara Steele (born 29 December 1937) is an English film actress known for starring in Italian gothic horror films of the 1960s. She has been referred to as the "Queen of All Scream Queens" and "Britain's first lady of horror". She played th ...
– Muriel
*
Paul Muller – Stephen Arrowsmith
*
Helga Liné
Helga Liné (; born Helga Lina Stern on 14 July 1932) is a German-born Portuguese-Spanish-American film actress and circus acrobat best known for her work in the horror genre of film. She made 132 appearances mostly in film between 1941 and ...
– Solange
*
Marino Masé
Marino Masè (21 March 1939 – 28 May 2022) was an Italian actor who appeared in more than 70 films.
Life
Masè was born in Trieste on 21 March 1939. While still a teenager, he joined the laboratory for young actors of the production company ...
– Dr. Derek Joyce
*
Rik Battaglia
*
Giuseppe Addobbati
Giuseppe Addobbati (31 December 1909 – 4 January 1986) was an Italian film actor known for his roles in Spaghetti Western and action films in the 1960s and 1970s. He was often billed as John MacDouglas for films released to an American audien ...
Production
Director Mario Caiano stated that ''Nightmare Castle'' was born out of his passion for actress
Barbara Steele
Barbara Steele (born 29 December 1937) is an English film actress known for starring in Italian gothic horror films of the 1960s. She has been referred to as the "Queen of All Scream Queens" and "Britain's first lady of horror". She played th ...
and the Gothic genre, a style which he began to love between 1943 and '44 when he first read
Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wide ...
's work. Caiano said that he was not influenced by director
Mario Bava
Mario Bava (31 July 1914 – 27 April 1980) was an Italian filmmaker who worked variously as a director, cinematographer, special effects artist and screenwriter, frequently referred to as the "Master of Italian Horror" and the "Master of the Ma ...
, and did not remember seeing his films at the time with the possible exception of ''
Black Sunday'' (1960). The initial script treatment for the film was titled ''Orgasmo'' and re-uses ideas from Poe's "
The Tell-Tale Heart
"The Tell-Tale Heart" is a short story by American writer Edgar Allan Poe, first published in 1843. It is related by an unnamed narrator who endeavors to convince the reader of the narrator's sanity while simultaneously describing a murder the n ...
".
Caiano's father Carlo was the producer of the film and was given a low budget to work with.
With his friend art director
Bruno Cesari, Caiano found a villa to use as a shooting location. The film was shot at
Villa Parisi
Villa Parisi - Borghese is a villa in Frascati, now in Monte Porzio Catone municipal territory, Italy.
Description and history
Villa Parisi was built between 1604 and 1605 by Mons. Fernando Taverna. In 1615 it was acquired by Cardinal Scipione ...
in
Frascati
Frascati () is a city and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Rome Capital in the Lazio region of central Italy. It is located south-east of Rome, on the Alban Hills close to the ancient city of Tusculum. Frascati is closely associated with ...
and at Incir-De-Paolis Studios in Rome over 18 days. The film was released in black-and-white, shot by director of photography
Enzo Barboni
Enzo Barboni (7 July 1922 – 23 March 2002), sometimes credited by his pseudonym E.B. Clucher; the surname of his grandmotherp. 115 Wong, Alzia S. ''Spaghetti Westerns: A Viewer's Guide (National Cinemas)'' Rowman & Littlefield Publishers (15 ...
, but it was originally planned for some scenes to be given a red tint in post production.
Release
''Nightmare Castle'' was released in Italy on 16 July 1965 where it was distributed by Emmeci. The film grossed a total of 154 million
Italian lire
The lira (; plural lire) was the currency of Italy between 1861 and 2002. It was first introduced by the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy in 1807 at par with the French franc, and was subsequently adopted by the different states that would eventually f ...
on its theatrical release.
The film was released by
Allied Artists Pictures in the United States on 5 July 1966, shortly before the studio's initial demise.
''Nightmare Castle'' has been released on DVD by several companies, including
Severin Films
Severin Films is an American film production and distribution company known for restoring and releasing cult films on DVD and Blu-ray.
History
The label was created in 2006 in Los Angeles, and other offices were founded in New York City and Lond ...
,
Alpha Video and Retromedia in the United States. A
Blu-ray
The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...
of the film was released by Severin Films on 11 August 2015.
The release includes two extra films starring Steele: ''
Castle of Blood
''Castle of Blood'' ( it, Danza Macabra, links=no) is a 1964 horror film directed by Antonio Margheriti and Sergio Corbucci. The film stars Barbara Steele, Arturo Dominici and Georges Rivière. The film was initially commissioned to director Ser ...
'' and ''
Terror-Creatures from the Grave
''Terror-Creatures from the Grave'' ( it, 5 tombe per un medium) is a 1965 horror film directed by Domenico Massimo Pupillo. The film was an international co-production between Italy and the United States through M.B.S. Cinematografica, G.I.A. C ...
''
Reception
In a contemporary review, the ''
Monthly Film Bulletin
''The Monthly Film Bulletin'' was a periodical of the British Film Institute published monthly from February 1934 to April 1991, when it merged with ''Sight & Sound''. It reviewed all films on release in the United Kingdom, including those with a ...
'' stated that "this period horror gets bogged down in mundane melodrama" and that the direction was "pedestrian".
The review did praise
Barbara Steele
Barbara Steele (born 29 December 1937) is an English film actress known for starring in Italian gothic horror films of the 1960s. She has been referred to as the "Queen of All Scream Queens" and "Britain's first lady of horror". She played th ...
, stating she was "on good form as Muriel
..and just as good as the blonde, doe-eyed, raving Jenny."
From later reviews, ''
TV Guide
TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or t ...
'' awarded the film a score of two out of four rating, stating that, while the film was not as strong as Bava's ''
Black Sunday'', it was still a "worthwhile effort" and that "its greatest success in showing the beautiful horror icon
teele Teele is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Arthur Teele (1946–2005), American lawyer and politician
* Jack Teele (1930–2017), American football executive and sportswriter
* Stanley F. Teele (1906–1967), American academi ...
in as many extreme situations and personas as possible."
In his book ''A History of Italian Cinema'', Peter Bondanella stated that "Caiano's cinematography cannot match that of either
iccardoFreda or
arioBava, he may well have captured Barbara Steele in even more compelling shots in ''Nightmare Castle'' than either of them did in their own, much better films." Louis Paul, author of ''Italian Horror Film Directors'' noted that Caiano was "obviously infatuated" with Barbara Steele, while opining that Caiano's films in fantasy, sword-and-sandal
peplums and
Eurospy
Eurospy film, or Spaghetti spy film (when referring to Italian-produced films in the genre), is a genre of spy films produced in Europe, especially in Italy, France, and Spain, that either sincerely imitated or else parodied the British James Bo ...
genres "worked much better" than his Gothic horror efforts. Author and film critic
Leonard Maltin
Leonard Michael Maltin (born December 18, 1950) is an American film critic and film historian, as well as an author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives. He is perhaps best known for his book of fil ...
gave the film two out of a possible four stars. In his review on the film, Maltin commended the film's atmosphere and Steele's performance, but criticized the film's plot as overly familiar.
IGN
''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
felt the plot dated, noting that it included "false starts, drawn-out dialogue and a rushed ending"
They did praise the acting and direction, noting " the performances and absolutely phenomenal direction and atmosphere are unparalleled. This is the definition of a lost classic in those regards."
See also
*
List of films in the public domain in the United States
Most films are subject to copyright, but those listed here are believed to be in the public domain in the United States. This means that no government, organization, or individual owns any copyright over the work, and as such it is common property ...
*
List of horror films of 1965
A list of horror films released in 1965
Events January–February
* January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years.
* January 20
** Lyn ...
*
List of Italian films of 1965
A list of films produced in Italy in 1965 (see 1965 in film):
See also
* 1965 in Italian television
References
Footnotes
Sources
*
*
*
*
*
*
External linksItalian films of 1965at the Internet Movie Database
{{DEFAULTSOR ...
Notes
References
*
*
*
*
*
External links
*
*
*
* {{Rotten tomatoes, faceless_monster, Nightmare Castle
1965 films
1965 horror films
Italian black-and-white films
Films directed by Mario Caiano
Films scored by Ennio Morricone
Films set in castles
Italian ghost films
Italian supernatural horror films
Gothic horror films
Films shot in Rome
Uxoricide in fiction
Allied Artists films
1960s Italian films