West Germany, Italy, 1971
90m (USA), 98m, 2,672 metres
35mm film, Technicolor, 1.85:1
mono
A West German/Italian horror film directed by Mario Bava.
Plot Summary
Peter returns to his native Austria in search of his heritage and winds up at the castle formerly owned by his ancestor, the notorious Baron Blood. The sadistic baron was cursed by a witch who was burned at the stake on his evidence and is now back as a vengeful ghostly presence…
Credits
* = uncredited
Crew
Director: Mario Bava
Dieter Geissler Filmproduktion, Euro America Produzioni Cinematografiche
Executive Producer: Samuel Z. Arkoff
Producer: Alfredo Leone
Script/Story: Vincent Fotre
English Language Version Script: William A. Bairn
Director of Photography: Mario Bava *
Editor: Carlo Reali
Music: Stelvio Cipriani
English Language Version Music: Les Baxter
Make Up: Silvana Petri
Hair: Rossana Gigante
Special Effects: Franco Tocci
Art Director: Enzo Bulgarelli
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)
Humi Raho [real name: Umberto Raho] (inspector)
Alan Collins [real name: Luciano Pigozzi] (Fritz)
Dieter Tressler (Mayor Dortmundt)
Alternative Titles
Baron Blood – USA
Baron vampire – France
Chamber of Tortures
The Blood Baron
The Thirst of Baron Blood
The Torture Chamber of Baron Blood
Verinen paroni – Finland
Links
Extracts included in
Urban Gothic (2002)
Press
1972
Variety 25 October 1972 p.26
[A]n okay horror exploitationer […] Alfred Leone's production, in association with Cinevision Ltd., has some strong visual assets which help overcome weak acting and some plot limps. […] Vincent Forte's story and script, from William A. Bairn's adaptation, has some basic good structure, though the dialog often fumbles. […] Mario Bava's direction has many good moments of mood, but excessive use of zooms is self-defeating, and some shrill histrionics by Cotten and Miss Sommer often send the film into dated meller orbit, even for the film's potential audiences. Supporting players are adequate. Les Baxter's eerie music helps in many places. – from a review by Murf
References
Periodicals
- Bianco e Nero vol.34 no.5/6 (May/June 1973) p.17 – review
- Castle of Frankenstein no.20 p.46
- Cineinforme no.154/155 (July 1972) p.59 – review
- Film Score Monthly vol.3 no.9 (October/November 1998) p.36 – soundtrack review (Citadel's heraldry by Jeff Bond)
- Film Score Monthly vol.5 no.1 (January 2000) p.48 – DVD review (The laserphile: DVD race 2000 by Andy Dursin)
- Shivers no.80 (August 2000) p.54 – illustrated review (The fright of your life by Jonathan Rigby)
- Sight & Sound vol.4 no.2 (February 1994) p.71 – video review
- Variety 25 October 1972 p.26 – credits, review (by Murf)
Books
- American International Pictures: A Comprehensive Filmography by Rob Craig p.48
- American International Pictures: A Filmography by Robert L. Ottoson p.220 – credits, synopsis, review
- The Aurum Film Encyclopedia: Horror by Phil Hardy (ed.) p.263
- Euro Gothic: Classics of Continental Horror Cinema by Jonathan Rigby pp.239-41, 242, 258, 276, 321
- Faster and Furiouser: The Revised and Fattened Fable of American International Pictures by Mark Thomas McGee pp.301
- The Haunted World of Mario Bava by Troy Howarth pp.248-256; 343 – illustrated review; credits
- Horror and Science Fiction Films II by Donald C. Willis p.20
- Horror Films of the 1970s by John Kenneth Muir pp.167-169 – credits, synopsis, review
- Mario Bava: All the Colors of the Dark by Tim Lucas pp.871-893 – illustrated review, synopsis, production notes, credits
- Rock ‘n' Roll Monsters: The American International Story by Bruce G. Hallenbeck pp.241-242
- Unsung Horrors by Eric McNaughton & Darrell Buxton (eds) pp.26-27 – illustrated review (by Michael Wesley)
- The Zombie Movie Encyclopedia by Peter Dendle p.21
