Castle of the Living Dead, The (1964)
** (out of 4)
A group of entertainers are invited by Count Drago (Christopher Lee) to perform at his castle but soon they start to fall dead. An old evil witch (Donald Sutherland) would have you believe that the castle has a certain evil inside. This Italian made horror film is also known as Castello dei morti vivi, Il but under either title this film is a dud. As with many Italian horrors of this period, you have the dark castle, creepy locations and weird storyline but none of them come off very well here. The story moves at a snails pace, which is another thing that haunts many of the horror films from this era. The music score was actually the best thing about the movie so listening to the soundtrack would be better than watching the film. Lee gives a decent performance but for the most part it seems like he's just cashing a paycheck. I did like the fact that they had him looking like Lugosi's character from White Zombie. Donald Sutherland steals the show as he plays three different characters including an old man and the old witch that the troop stumble across on their way to the castle. Sutherland is excellent as the old woman and you really have to look hard to notice that it's him.
** (out of 4)
A group of entertainers are invited by Count Drago (Christopher Lee) to perform at his castle but soon they start to fall dead. An old evil witch (Donald Sutherland) would have you believe that the castle has a certain evil inside. This Italian made horror film is also known as Castello dei morti vivi, Il but under either title this film is a dud. As with many Italian horrors of this period, you have the dark castle, creepy locations and weird storyline but none of them come off very well here. The story moves at a snails pace, which is another thing that haunts many of the horror films from this era. The music score was actually the best thing about the movie so listening to the soundtrack would be better than watching the film. Lee gives a decent performance but for the most part it seems like he's just cashing a paycheck. I did like the fact that they had him looking like Lugosi's character from White Zombie. Donald Sutherland steals the show as he plays three different characters including an old man and the old witch that the troop stumble across on their way to the castle. Sutherland is excellent as the old woman and you really have to look hard to notice that it's him.