TERROR IN THE CRYPT is a fine addition to the Italian gothic cycle that suffers nothing from being cliched and overly familiar. Guest star Christopher Lee - who dubs himself in AIP's English version - plays Count Karnstein, a man who resides in a forbidding old ancestral home and lives in fear of an ancient curse coming true. He employs a historian to find out the veracity of said curse, and the pot boils from there. This is basically a collection of gothic tropes and imagery, played out one after another. There are shadows, empty rooms, spectral events, bats, mysterious characters, a hunchback, a beggar, a murder, a Hand of Glory, familial secrets, a murky crypt, a coffin, vampirism, witch burning a la BLACK SUNDAY, black magic, and more cobwebs than you can throw a candlestick at. It's a lot of fun to see Lee playing a human character for once during this part of his career and the supporting cast are well picked too. Sit back and just soak up the atmosphere.
Review of Crypt of the Vampire
