Review of The Castle of the Living Dead

Terror awaits a troupe of street performers, and a wandering sojourner accompanying them, when they accept an invite to the mysterious Count Drago's castle. They will receive quite a nice wage for their performances as they attempt to supposedly entertain Drago, a scientist who enjoys the art of embalming animals of all kinds as a way of capturing their eternal beauty. This unhealthy obsession yields a terrifying secret..Drago wishes to add the troupe to his collection! Drago has perfected a unique formula which, after injection, causes the victim to freeze instantaneously, forever as they were without the threat of old age removing their beauty and form. Like mannequins, Drago has a whole room enshrined with the bodies of victims he has froze! Will our troupe be able to escape? Drago has a sadistic henchman-manservant Sandro(Mirko Valentin)he uses to capture and kill victims. Donald Sutherland is a treat in dual roles..one as an idiotic officer who bumbles through a sure crime practically right in front of him(..it's unclear just how many times Drago has duped him)and a vengeful witch who seeks retribution towards Drago who once tried out his experiments on her. Gaia Germani portrays the lovely Laura, who Drago obsesses over due to her beauty. Phillippe Leroy is Laura's love-interest, Eric, a former soldier traveling the roads until he met the troupe as two of their group were into an altercation over wages from a street performance. Sutherland's witch forewarned the troupe against going to the castle, but they do not heed her warnings. She informs the troupe's dwarf that he would remain unharmed thanks to an amulet she gives to him.

Okay little low-budget horror outing. To be honest, I found it unspectacular with a pace that drags a bit..the film felt much longer than it actually was. But, the castle setting is quite well utilized; I thought the premise was ghoulish enough. Lee was alright, but I thought Mirko, as his cruel lieutenant, stole this feature.