Peter, you miserable jerk! Peter Kleist returns to his ancestral home in Austria. It turns out that one of his distant relatives was an evil Baron who liked to impale people for kicks. So, when Peter finds an old paper that contains an incantation to return the wicked Baron from the dead, this pathetic excuse for a human being reads it out loud and, not surprisingly, the crazy dead monster returns to life and begins massacring people. If I have said it once, I've said it a thousand times...DON'T read ancient incantations to revive the dead...especially EVIL dead people. But, Peter is a stupid jerk and unleashes a reign of terror. Later, a man named Alfred Becker (Joseph Cotten) arrives in town. Little do the folks realize that this wheelchair-bound old man is actually Otto von Kleist....the REAL Baron Blood!
So is the film any good? Well, like so many of Mario Bava's films, it does a great job of creating a scary atmosphere and mood. The only problem in this regard is the beginning, as there is some god- awful music that doesn't at all fit the movie and sounds just horrid. Also, the look of the zombie-fied Baron when he's out killing folks is pretty good--and will appropriately scare the pants off you. My only problem with the film is Peter...no one can be that dumb. I wish there was some other way the Baron could have been revived--such as by having Peter being insane or just plain evil, as THAT would have explained his actions. Otherwise, a creepy and worthwhile horror film. Not among the director's best, but still a pretty good little film.
NOTE: Despite receiving top billing, Joseph Cotten is really barely in the film at all.
So is the film any good? Well, like so many of Mario Bava's films, it does a great job of creating a scary atmosphere and mood. The only problem in this regard is the beginning, as there is some god- awful music that doesn't at all fit the movie and sounds just horrid. Also, the look of the zombie-fied Baron when he's out killing folks is pretty good--and will appropriately scare the pants off you. My only problem with the film is Peter...no one can be that dumb. I wish there was some other way the Baron could have been revived--such as by having Peter being insane or just plain evil, as THAT would have explained his actions. Otherwise, a creepy and worthwhile horror film. Not among the director's best, but still a pretty good little film.
NOTE: Despite receiving top billing, Joseph Cotten is really barely in the film at all.