Gli orrori del castello di Norimberga (1972)

Director:

Mario Bava

Writers:

Vincent Fotre (screenplay)
Vincent Fotre (story)

Release Date:

27 October 1972 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

He sought the ultimate in HUMAN AGONY... with instruments of TORTURE ghastly beyond belief!

Plot:

A young man, Peter, returns to Austria in search of his heritage. There he visits the castle of an ancestor...

Plot Keywords:

Torture | Curse | Witchcraft

Cast

Joseph Cotten	...	Baron Otto von Kleist / Alfred Becker
Elke Sommer	...	Eva Arnold
Massimo Girotti	...	Dr. Karl Hummel
Rada Rassimov	...	Christina Hoffmann
Antonio Cantafora	...	Peter Kleist
Umberto Raho	...	Inspector (as Humi Raho)
Luciano Pigozzi	...	Fritz (as Alan Collins)
Dieter Tressler	...	Mayor Dortmundt

Also Known As:

The Torture Chamber of Baron Blood (USA) (long title)
Baron Blood (USA)
Chamber of Tortures
La sete del barone Blood (Italy) (working title)
The Blood Baron
The Thirst of Baron Blood

Runtime:

Italy:98 min | USA:90 min | Argentina:92 min

Country:

West Germany | Italy

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Germany:16 | Argentina:18 | Netherlands:16 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | USA:PG | Australia:M | Italy:VM14 | Norway:16 (cut) | UK:15 (video rating) | USA:Unrated (uncut video version)

Filming Locations:

Burg Kreuzenstein, Leobendorf, Lower Austria, Austria

Company:

Dieter Geissler Filmproduktion

Goofs:

Continuity: Eva's hairstyle markedly changes in a matter of minutes: from the dinner scene at Karl's house to just a few minutes later when she and Peter are inside the castle, her hair goes from a wavy perm to being nearly straight-combed.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Young, Hot 'n Nasty Teenage Cruisers (1977)

Bava's Best

This 1972 film is the best film Mario Bava ever made if you ask me (and I like most of his films). I first saw it on TV when I was 10 years old and got lost in the parts about the witch but don't worry, those parts don't take up much of the film and it gets itself back on track quickly for a really great, cool climax that was truly ahead of it's time. Best of all, it is SCARY! Scenes of the heroine being hunted by the living dead Baron Von Kleist still make me nervous and I must've seen this film 20 times ( I own a VHS and a laserdisc copy of it if that shows how much I enjoy it). Joseph Cotton gives a really fine performance as Mr. Becker, the man who wishes to restore the Baron's castle, and the other main characters are likeable (important if you are to care whether or not they die). Bava is in top form here with some of the best horror film lighting ever done and builds suspense time and again. Don't watch it if you are going to be distracted because you do have to pay attention if you don't want to get lost but if you watch it closely, it's pretty easy to follow. Recent copies of the film are widescreen which is good, but have the original Italian score. The earlier pan and scan tapes are the American International Pictures version which contains a much scarier score by Les Baxter. The widescreen copy is supposedly uncut but I can't tell any difference other than the framing and the score. Either way though, it is a scary, fun horror masterpiece that I always enjoy watching again and again. If you've never seen it before, I dare you to watch it alone late at night.