BLOOD CASTLE

Details

• Release Year: 1972
• Genre: Horror
• Plot: Torture chamber nightmares, disrobed women, a mysterious baron, a sinister castle: what more could one ask for in an Italian-Spanish Gothic film from 1970? Ivanna (Eran Schurer), a biochemist, arrives at the castle Monte Cristo to work in the laboratory of Baron Janos Dalmar (Charles Quiney), prime suspect in the disappearance of the neighboring town's beautiful women. Passion and panic await her once the castle doors are closed. With its Italian locales, sadistic sensualism and female perils in moody surroundings, BLOOD CASTE (Italian title: IL CASTELLO DALLE PORTE DI RUOCO; Spanish title: IVANNA) calls to mind the work of the Italian master of the genre, Antonio Margheriti (THE VIRGIN OF NUREMBERG, CASTLE OF BLOOD), despite being a Spanish co-production and employing Spanish talent. Roger Corman bought the film, sight unseen, for less than $25K ito pair it at theaters with THE VELVET VAMPIRE in the early 1970s. The American title, courtesy of Corman's story editor, Francis Kimbrough, is remembered as one of the most deliriously exploitative of the time: SCREAM OF THE DEMON LOVER. Director Jose Luis Merino, already adept at helming westerns and war films, would go on to make another horror cult favorite three years later, THE HANGING WOMAN, while Erna Schurer and Agostina Belli found more employment in roles that demanded liberation from clothing, with Belli, in particular, zeroing in on erotic icon status in such outings as BLUEBEARD, NIGHT OF THE DEVILS and THE SEDUCTION OF MIMI; Mirek Lipinski - Latarnia: Fantastique International
• Cast: Erna Schürer, Carlos Quiney, Agostina Belli, Cristiana Galloni, Antonio Jiménez Escribano, Mariano Vidal Molina, Ezio Sancrotti, Renato Paracchi, Javier de Rivera, José Luis Merino
• Director: José Luis Merino
• Runtime: 1:30
• Company: Retromedia Entertainment
• Media Format: Movie