The Long Hair of Death

Moviecut—The Long Hair of Death

The Long Hair of Death was one of the cycle of Gothic horror films released by Italian studios in the 1960's. Like the majority of them, it was filmed in black and white for budget reasons although from today's perspective this does give the film a certain atmosphere and classy look. Set in the 15th century, a young woman is accused of being a witch and is burned to death. She casts a curse on the house of the men responsible and returns from the grave many years later to enact deadly revenge. The director here was Antonio Margheriti working under his anglicised moniker Anthony Dawson. Margheriti was a director who made films in most of the Italian genres, from peplums and spaghetti westerns to gialli and poliziotteschi amongst others. He displays some care with the Gothic horror genre taking care to build a moody atmosphere and slowly constructing the story. But the main draw here is probably Barbara Steele. This British actress was the queen of the 60's Gothic horror film, appearing in movies from both sides of the Atlantic although she is primarily associated with the Italian strain of the sub-genre. Her strong, seductive features were perfectly suited to these films and, once again, she is more aggressor than victim here. This is a fairly typical entry in the Italian Gothic sub-set. It's a solid entry, if not in the upper bracket. It does have some well-staged scenes and nice location photography though and it ends on a satisfyingly macabre note. While it obviously benefits considerably by the presence of Steele. The title doesn't really mean an awful lot but it sounds good.

*Spoiler/plot- 1964,(I lunghi capelli della morte) A Medieval costume piece with a wrongfully executed beautiful 'witch' by a arrogant nobleman and his family and the witch returns from the dead to exact bloody revenge on those who condemned her and tried to destroy her family of descendants. *Special Stars- Barbara Steele and George Ardision are the leads. *Theme- The 'wrongs' you do can follow you down the ages. *Based on- Medieval folk tales and witchcraft legends. *Trivia/location/goofs- Italian horror starring a major Gothic horror actress of these decades. *Emotion- Mostly due to this rich costumes and exotic historic sets this film is very watch able. The films bodice-ripper love scenes make this romantic horror film stand out from other Barbara Steel films.

This spooky Italian Gothic chiller is, quite simply, one of the best of its kind. Directed by veteran Antonio Margheriti (under his popular pseudonym of Anthony Dawson), everything works to this film's favour, from the low-key musical score which suggests rather than frightens, to the crisp black and white photography which brings out all the unknown shadows and flickering light sources (my only complaint with the lighting was when a character is carrying a candle but he's lit up by what obviously is a torch. This is ruined by an unfortunate inability to keep the light and the candle next to each other). This film's style brings it very close to the feel of BLACK Sunday. The plot, it has to be said, is nothing new, but it mixes in all the staple ingredients we know and love of the gothics. From the burning of the witch at the film's opening, to the inescapable finale, which reminds one of THE WICKER MAN, everything is present and correct. Fans of these particular films will be delighted by the endless parade of macabre images, from an apparently breathing corpse (it turns out to have rats scurrying around inside it), to an excellent moment where lightning strikes and opens a grave, revealing a corpse inside. The corpse then regenerates into a human being. The acting is above standard, the characters are enticing, even breaking through the obvious dubbing barrier. Barbara Steele is, as usual, the best actress in the film, and enjoys herself as first an apparently frightened victim, to a cold-blooded murderer, to finally a figure of vengeance. The twist in the tale - that she is a spirit, come to seek revenge - is obvious to spot well in advance, but this ruins nothing of the fun. George Ardisson is also very good as the strong, arrogant noble, who has been turned into a quivering wreck by the spirits at the end of this film. THE LONG HAIR OF DEATH is everything a film buff could wish for, and plenty more besides. Track it down immediately and see what you're missing out on.

a woman is being put to trial for being accused of being a witch,, a man who has some other interests, makes sure she dies, the eldest daughter get's tricked to her death,, now it's the younger daughter's turn to take vengeance for her mother. our villain has his eyes on a younger girl, so he sees her and starts to neglect his wife,, the younger girl and him decide that they wanna do away with his wife so they concoct a plan to get rid of her,, this wasn't a bad movie,, it had interesting twists, and turns, but I found it hard to watch in spots as the movie seems to drag on , and not move the plot forward. it almost seemed like two different movies.

This has a great story line. This is also has great acting. It is scarier then The Shinning. This is one of the scariest movie of all time. BOO! When you watch this movie you will go AHHHHHHHHHHHH! And if do not go AHHHHHHHHHHH! You will never ever go the AHHHHHHHHHHH! at movie ever. BOO!

The 15th century. A woman who's been falsely accused of being a witch gets burned at the stake. Her daughter Helen Karnstein (a fine performance by ravishing brunette scream queen cult favorite Barbara Steele) vows revenge, but is shoved off a cliff to her death by the wicked, yet weak Count Humboldt (a solid turn by Guiliano Raffaelli). Several years later Helen comes back from the dead as alluring lookalike Mary in order to bring both Count Humboldt and his even worse, more evil and corrupt son Kurt (a deliciously villainous and revolting portrayal by George Ardisson) to justice. Director Antonio Marghereti, who also co-wrote the compelling script with Bruno Valeri, does an expert job of creating and sustaining a potently brooding gloom-doom midnight-in-the-graveyard sepulchral atmosphere; the extremely strong and unsettling sense of bleak nightmarish dread really gets under the viewer's skin and culminates in an exciting confrontation between Helen and Kurt with an ultimate chilling resolution which neatly prefigures "The Wicker Man." Moreover, Margheriti stages Helen's resurrection from her grave by a bolt of lightning with real bravura aplomb and makes excellent use of the gorgeous rural sylvan countryside. Steele excels in her dual role; she receives fine support from the lovely Halina Zalewski as her faithful sister Elizabeth, Umberto Raho as honest priest Von Klage, and Laura Nucci as loyal housekeeper Grumaldi. Riccardo Pallottini's crisp black and white cinematography boasts several nifty prowling camera pans. Carlo Rustichell's supremely spooky'n'shuddery score likewise hits the shivery spot. Well worth seeing for both Barbara Steele fans and Italian Gothic horror buffs alike.

Italy brought us many excellent Gothic horror classics in the 1960's. The Long Hair Of Death is a perfect exemplification of what made them so. The thoughtful, eloquent and creepy black and white photography shines in this 60+ year old film, immersing you into a sumptuous, frightening nightmare. Psychologically terrifying, yet gorgeous to look at. It's quite a sensory thrill! Barbara Steele, with those creepily beautiful eyes (those eyes!!!) leads an equally excellent cast of medieval meanies who do some genuinely pretty nasty stuff. Of special note is Laura Nucci, playing the icy black-haired sinister housemaid of this nightmare castle. Watch this one to reaffirm your love of Gothic horror.

While the film quality of the DVD I bought is rather poor (faded & a little blurry), this is an outstanding movie. The plot is horror with a witch burned at the stake & cursing her accusers, a daughter violated & murdered, & another daughter raised by her killers & married off to the lecherous son. Of course, the dead daughter (Barbara Steele) returns from the grave to exact vengeance on the family who burner her mother & killed her to hide the fact that the Count raped her while she begged for her mother's life. The best thing about this film is the way a mood was set early on & never let up on the suspense. The plot is solid & well scripted for an Italian movie. For its day, the SFX are not too shabby. At times, I had the feeling that Shakespeare might have written this if he had been alive in the 1950's...lol. Another thing I enjoyed was seeing Barbara Steele in her prime, not to mention some scenes of her naked tits. While very tame by today's standards, the sex scenes were very daring & explicit for the '50's. I know that most of today's young people will not like this movie, finding it slow moving & even perhaps a bit boring, but anyone who enjoys well done suspense, atmospheric horror, & an intelligent script, will thoroughly enjoy this film.

I've just recently discovered the Italian horror film. This one is pretty decent. I could have been much improved with a little effort at editing. Everything is set up nicely for revenge. You have the evil of witch burning as an innocent victim is set afire. She curses the people who put her there and we all know she'll be back. Nasty stuff begins to happen in the dukedom as the plague begins to decimate the population. The bad guys prosper pretty well, isolated from the rest of the rabble, but then a young woman (Barbaba Steele) returns. To keep her quiet, the patriarch of the castle pushed her off a cliff. She comes back to help her sister who has been forced into an ugly marriage with the young master. There are a series of efforts to kill this woman and things come to a satisfactory ending for the audience. The problem is the pacing. It drags on and on. There are these meandering trips through the castle, seemingly going nowhere. The whole effort to cover up a murder seems so convoluted. Let's just say there are simpler ways to go about these things, especially when you wield a lot of power. Still, I mostly liked it. Visually it is interesting and the acting is quite good.