Director: Antonio Margheriti
Year: 1963
Country: Italy
Alternate Titles: La Vergine di Norimberga; Horror Castle
Genre: Supernatural
Plot:
Living in a giant castle, a woman is warned by her husband about the castle's past which was home to a ruthless, bloodthirsty warlord that soon enthralls her with his legend, but when she begins to see a strange figure around the castle grounds discovers the truth and tries to stop it.
Review:
This here is one of the best examples of the genre. One of the better elements found here is the strong setup involving the eventual mystery surrounding the actual goings-on at the castle. Starting everything off with the strange incident in the castle basement that brings about the discovery of the chamber and what happened there in the past which spurns her interest in what’s going on here, giving everything the kind of worthwhile starting place that allows the film to wallow in the Gothic atmosphere. The story about the torturer who used to live in the castle and his connection to the fabled statue that started everything for her gives this one a great bit of leeway as the interactions with the deformed servant that lives there bring that along even further to give the story some credence. The sketchiness of his actions the more this goes on, making the husband question whether everything happening is all in her head or actually coming to life, causes quite a lot to like here as the series of revelations made about the connection to World War II finishes everything immensely well.
Another of the main things this gets right is the incredible suspense on display. The opening is a fantastic example with the flowing gown-clad woman following the agonized cries coming from somewhere within the castle and leading her to discover blood flowing into the collection bowl beneath the Virgin of Nuremberg, a fabled iron maiden torture chamber that is now a museum. Opening the spiked door, she is horrified to see the body of a freshly dead woman inside, the corpse's eyes have been gouged out leaving ragged, bloody sockets. It's a fantastic scene, with the endless wandering through an enormous house during a raging thunderstorm, using only a candle for light until they stumble upon a rather shocking and horrific scene. This is really eerie, from the glimpses shown strewn around the house of various torture devices, some with the skeleton remains of victims still there all the way to the creepy and intense reaction to the eyeless corpse hidden in the statue. That goes hand-in-hand with the great sets in here, as every corner and crevice is filled with inky black shadows, pierced only by the glow of a flickering torch or flash of lightning. Thus the look of the film never approaches the surreal, instead remaining much more grounded in realism.
That leads into the other great factor here as this one handily avoids the pitfalls of others out there in the genre and makes marvelous use of the huge, sprawling castle set. Even the outside scenes have a nice feeling to them as the spacious castle grounds mix well with the giant castle looming in the background. The later scenes in the crypt look great, and a very tense stalking scene in the darkness is masterfully played out due to the setting. The film also has a couple of really great shock gore scenes that are a lot more graphic than most others of the time, from the discovery of a victim stuck in a cage where a rat has gnawed away at her face, the initial discovery of the first victim and finally the killer himself unmasked, his face nothing more than a skull covered with the faintest suggestion of skin. These images are really quite out there for the time and make for some great moments. The sequences at the end with the torturer are just as good, being a little creepy with some graphic brutality stakes placed into the film to give it a little extra punch to what's going on. These are what really make the film enjoyable as the only real issue here is where the middle section investigating everything is paced enough to matter.
Overview: ****.5/5
A fantastic Italian Gothic entry that has a lot going for it, this one is a really watchable film that will have a good feel to it as the lack of flaws here is immensely impressive overall. This is highly recommended to Italian Gothic horror fanatics, who appreciate 60s horror in general, or follow the creative crew while only the not-so-fans won't really get into this one.
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