It might not be top tier Bava, but any Bava is still highly enjoyable. This is one of your more straightforward plots concerning a sadistic evil baron brought back from the dead by accident. In fact, it's so straightforward I kept waiting for a twist that never actually occurred.
It's the evil Baron's distant direct relative who unleashes the grumpy undead bastard. He's one of these know-it-all young seventies gents who just has to revisit his family tree by going back to his home in Austria, getting an incantation, talking a sexy Euro babe (Elke Sommer) into helping him, then indirectly burning the parchment that could possibly send the Baron back to his grave.
I've probably watched too many Italian films set in Castles and/or huge mansions, but while this rotten faced murderer was going around pouncing on folk, I couldn't help but think that it was all a Scooby Doo type ruse by someone in disguise to get some sort of inheritance. I was wrong, though. There really is an undead aristocrat on the loose – but what has wheelchair bound Joseph Cotton got to do with it?
Yep, it really is an undead monster on the loose film, but it's one directed by Mario Bava, so you get immaculate cinematography and colour schemes, a dark atmosphere (especially during the bit witch Rada Rassimov channels the spirit of the Baron's old enemy, plus the sight of impaled people on the battlements of the castle), and some properly tense scenes, for example Elke Sommer being chased by the Baron through fog-filled streets.
The ending's a good one too – I can't argue with the undead rising (is this a case of Bava being ahead the pack again?). This one goes down a bit too smoothly, but others rate it as one of Bava's best, so it's just a case of taste. I'm a big fan of his last film, Shock, and I'm sure others are down on that one.
Also - you can't go wrong with a zombified Luciano Pigozzi! I suppose most people also point out that this isn't as gory as some of Mario Bava's films too.
It's the evil Baron's distant direct relative who unleashes the grumpy undead bastard. He's one of these know-it-all young seventies gents who just has to revisit his family tree by going back to his home in Austria, getting an incantation, talking a sexy Euro babe (Elke Sommer) into helping him, then indirectly burning the parchment that could possibly send the Baron back to his grave.
I've probably watched too many Italian films set in Castles and/or huge mansions, but while this rotten faced murderer was going around pouncing on folk, I couldn't help but think that it was all a Scooby Doo type ruse by someone in disguise to get some sort of inheritance. I was wrong, though. There really is an undead aristocrat on the loose – but what has wheelchair bound Joseph Cotton got to do with it?
Yep, it really is an undead monster on the loose film, but it's one directed by Mario Bava, so you get immaculate cinematography and colour schemes, a dark atmosphere (especially during the bit witch Rada Rassimov channels the spirit of the Baron's old enemy, plus the sight of impaled people on the battlements of the castle), and some properly tense scenes, for example Elke Sommer being chased by the Baron through fog-filled streets.
The ending's a good one too – I can't argue with the undead rising (is this a case of Bava being ahead the pack again?). This one goes down a bit too smoothly, but others rate it as one of Bava's best, so it's just a case of taste. I'm a big fan of his last film, Shock, and I'm sure others are down on that one.
Also - you can't go wrong with a zombified Luciano Pigozzi! I suppose most people also point out that this isn't as gory as some of Mario Bava's films too.