Nightmare Castle

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source: Nightmare Castle

This Italian Gothic is mainly a showcase for the beautifully haunting Barbara Steele. You can't get hung up on the plot or worry so much about the cheesy dialogue. The photography and music is excellent and Miss Steele is mesmerizing. The last scene of the movie looks amazing with Barbara in a ghostly white negligee and long wild black hair covering half her face as she comes back from the dead to seek revenge. Her face is almost skeletal with huge dark eyes and sharp cheekbones. Very scary and erotic. If you like that 60's gothic horror S&M look, this is a must see!

It's a tribute to the strength of Barbara Steele's acting (not to mention her surreal beauty) that this, perhaps on the lower-rung of her Sixties Italian horror films, is still such a superlative experience. The movie also gives her a chance to play two roles in the same film - and the English track has her real voice for the "Jenny" character. The rest of the cast is more or less very good, too - especially Leni. Now that Retromedia has issued a widescreen, pretty clean, uncut 100 minute version of the film on region 1 DVD under one of the alternate titles - THE FACELESS MONSTER - Steele fans and Italian horror fans in general can put away the cut versions (NIGHTMARE CASTLE) and enjoy the movie properly, previously only available in the PAL format from Salvation on videotape (NIGHT OF THE DOOMED.) From that period of time which made her an absolute icon of the genre, and with two masterful films yet to come, especially AN ANGEL FOR SATAN. No lady in horror films ever surpassed her.

"A count who experiments with electro-stimulation of human blood discovers that his wife is having an affair. Catching the two lovers together, the count tortures and kills them, using their hearts and blood to further his experiments and to restore the beauty of his own lover. After his wife's death, the count discovers that her castle and fortune are to be given to her sister instead of him. Hoping to continue his lifestyle and his experiments, the count manipulates the sister and marries her, hoping to eliminate her as he did his first wife, not knowing that the spirits of his wife and her lover are out for revenge," according to the DVD sleeve's synopsis. Barbara Steele (as brunette Muriel Arrowsmith and blonde Jenny Arrowsmith) is the main attraction. Ms. Steele plays step-sisters who look extraordinarily alike. Re-titled "Nightmare Castle" for US consumption, the production seems too rushed. The movie features a jolting opening, with scenes of bondage and torture. After that, it becomes a slow, atmospheric Gothic. The filmmakers should have considered opening the film as a mysterious Gothic, and closing with "flashback" sequences - the lurid scenes with brunette Steele and her lover - to explain the preceding events. Then, end with the comeuppance scenes. But, what do I know? "Hampton Castle" is a great setting. *** Gli amanti d'oltretomba (7/16/65) Mario Caiano ~ Barbara Steele, Paul Muller, Helga Liné

This is known as "Nightmare Castle" in the U. S. The version I saw had such terrible dubbing that it took time to get into it. As I watched, it started to grow on me. There have been other films and TV shows that used the premise that to keep one person alive, you need to kill and use the blood or parts of someone else. This doesn't do to badly. The acting and presences of the main characters is pretty good. It has the House of Usher quality of a man coming to the castle to see if he can help the people there. He, of course, falls in love with the young woman who is being gaslighted by her husband so he will get her fortune. Mixed into all this is a strange woman named Solange, who has some power over the good doctor. She is the recipient of the blood. Unfortunately, the doctor has killed his wife and her lover, and they hold forth in the castle, getting in the way of his plans. It certainly sounds silly, but the shadows and dark images of the castle actually work. This is a suspenseful, actually pretty scary film.

This movie I saw as a little kid on television and it scared me so bad I was afarid to use the toilet, move or do anything. It is so creepy! A good movie. It wasn't until adulthood that I learned it was a "B" flick but it still ranks tops with me. Poor acting, horrible lighting and a gory, creepy theme is what gives this movie its charm and a place in the B horror hall of fame

***SPOILERS*** ***SPOILERS*** The premise of a mad doctor, faithless wife and strange maid should make a film of this sort, fun for those that enjoy gothic horror but once the film starts, it slowly becomes unforgettable. A black & white background adds to the demeanor of the film but the dialog is the downfall. The doctor torturing his unfaithful wife and her lover fits the persona of a mad doctor which gets this film off to a good start. Taking their hearts, fits perfectly but then the trouble starts. Why would the doctor give his old maid the blood to make her young? Why marry the identical twin sister after killing his wife? Doesn't make sense to me. The dialog is simply awful. Doctor killing his butler in the electrified bath water (why do they use candles in the rooms if there is electricity) tells the physician of his new wife "only 10 minutes ago that man was the picture of health and now he is ready for the worm" is truly laughable. What is the only reason for seeing this film - if you like Barbara Steele then you get to see her twice playing twins.

After such brilliant films as "Black Sunday" (1960), "The Pit And The Pendulum" (1961) and "Castle Of Blood" (1964), "Gli Amanti D'Oltretomba" aka "Nightmare Castle" of 1965 is yet another mesmerizing and highly atmospheric Gothic Horror tale starring Horror-goddess Barbara Steele (my favorite actress of all-time) that must not be missed by any true Horror fan. Director Caiano really did a great job building up an immensely creepy and unique atmosphere in this brilliant Italian Gothic Horror gem, an atmosphere that is even intensified by the eerie score composed by no one less than the great Ennio Morricone. Possible Minor SPOILERS ahead! - Aided by his maid Solange (Helga Liné), the ruthless Dr. Stephen Arrowsmith (Paul Mueller), who conducts bizarre experiments in his eerie castle, catches his beautiful wife, Countess Muriel Arrowsmith (Barbara Steele) red handed with her lover (Giuseppe Addobbati). The Doctor thereupon brutally tortures his wife and her lover before murdering them in a sadistic manner. Since it was his wife, who brought the wealth into the marriage, he then marries his wife's kind-hearted, but emotionally disturbed sister Jenny (also Barbara Steele), whom Muriel has made beneficiary in her will. While the Doctor has his own plans with Jenny, his late wife's sister seems strangely possessed when she comes to live at the castle... "Nightmare Castle" is a vastly underrated little genre-gem that delivers pure Gothic Horror greatness in every aspect. A wonderfully eerie atmosphere, chilling suspense, an excellent score and great acting. The great acting comes particularly from the wonderful Barbara Steele, who once again delivers a brilliant performance in her double role as Muriel/Jenny Arrowsmith. Paul Mueller is furthermore great and wonderfully evil in his role as the unscrupulous Doctor Stephen Arrowsmith, and Helga Liné is very good as his accomplice, the maid Solange. Some of the main aspects creating this movie's mesmerizing atmosphere are the amazing photography by Enzo Barboni, Ennio Morricone's brilliant score, and, not least, the eerie castle setting. This is great Gothic Horror as it should be - greatly acted and excellently photographed creepiness that is spine-chilling from the beginning the end. All said, "Nightmare Castle" is a mesmerizing Gothic Horror tale that no Horror fan can afford to miss. A Must-See!

Dr. Arrowsmith (Paul Muller) kills his unfaithful wife (Barbara Steel) and her lover. Years later, the doctor's new wife (Barbara Steel again) starts having nightmares that seem to be related, but she may just be mentally unstable. The doctor also keeps his mistress Solange eternally youthful through blood infusion experimentation. This is a pretty average melodramatic thriller and while Barbara Steel is (or was rather) a great genre actress this film isn't among her best. A healthy air of tension sadly can't lift it above the trite predictable storyline. My Grade: C DVD Extras: Uncut version; and Barbara Steele still gallery