Director: Mario Bava
Year: 1972
Country: Italy/West Germany/USA
Alternate Titles: Gli orrori del castello di Norimberga; The Torture Chamber of Baron Blood; Chamber of Tortures; The Thirst of Baron Blood
Genre: Slasher
Plot:
After arriving in Austria, an American citizen learns that he has inherited a large Gothic mansion in the outskirts of town where he learns the history of the sadistic owner who previously lived there, and after realizing they’ve inadvertently raised him from the dead are forced to stop the bloodthirsty killer.
Review:
There was quite a lot to really enjoy here. One of the best qualities of this entry is the throwback nature here in how this one returned to more familiar Gothic territory. The large interiors, gloomy set pieces, and the spooky atmosphere created by the castle itself lends to the doom and gloom felt throughout the movie. There is a feeling you get from simply looking at the castle that there’s a much older and creakier film here which is a large reason for the success of this one since the interior gives a different feeling than when you see a studio created set. This film delivers the chills you get from when you know it is an authentic setting alongside the fabulous atmospheric enhancements present such as the resurrection of the Baron. The combination of the chilling words used in the incantation, the gloomy basement set in the castle, and the howling wind used to signal his resurrection all combine together with an exceptional sense of where to place a camera and the lighting to make this a truly spine-tingling piece as the fog, the strange noises at the end of the recital, and the lone church bell help the scene tremendously.
As well, the film scores with the implementation of the stalk-and-slash formula onto a fun traditional Gothic horror outing. There's plenty to like here with the horribly scarred and deformed visage of the killer featuring the giant overcoat and fedora so prevalent of giallo killers while the initial attacks here provide a lot of impressive elements. The initial attack on the clueless doctor at his house or the multiple attacks on the various workers hanging around the castle are quite fun, especially the later ones that utilize the castle’s setting to its fullest as the torture devices are quite impressive and several of them do look very dangerous and quite ghastly. Other slasher scenes include the chase by the masked figure through the various castle corridors, a later chase from a hotel room through the creepy fog-laden village roads or a daytime chase through the woods all make for a great time here, with the lead-in to the finale involving a huge reveal about the killer’s identity leaves this one quite fun. Including the action of the big confrontation inside the devilish torture chamber full of macabre devices and a creative manner of resolving everything, these manage to hold this one up for the most part.
There isn’t much to dislike here but it does have some issues. The main thing to gripe about here is the relatively confusing storyline that sets itself up into a disjointed and jarring tempo. While this offsets the trope of keeping the castle instead of selling it when they know something is wrong, the change of ownership does occur quite later than it should so the scenes of them working with the new owner seem quite strange. It doesn’t make any sense of how they would go through what they did and be fine with hanging around the change-of-ownership. Moreover, since that means there’s a lot of scenes without much happening as this all has to be fitted into the film or after the resurrection has occurred trying to get the authorities on their side it tends to drag along. As well, the fact that the ending tends to go for the stroke-of-luck manner of how they defeat the big villain is quite strange which doesn’t seem to invoke any kind of special work on their end to employ and comes across as a whole accident. It makes for a somewhat underwhelming ending to this, holding it back somewhat.
Overview: ****/5
Bava's last masterpiece should be worth the price of admission alone, but yet this is a lost film. Gorehounds will be turned off, but those who enjoy Bava with or without the gore will find that this one will sit comfortably on the shelf alongside his earlier classics. This will also not disappoint any true Bava fan or fans of Gothic-influenced horror.
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