killol @ nosologore.com wrote: |
 Director : Jorge Grau Interpretes : Lucia Bose Karl Ziemmer Ewa Aulin Ana Farra Silvano Tranquilli Lola Gaos Franca Grey Angel Menendez Es éste quizá uno de los títulos más prestigiosos del boom del cine fantástico español del período, pero, aun reconociendo que su calidad es bastante superior a la de la media de producciones de la época en este país, a mí siempre me pareció una película fallida y cuyo resultado final queda por debajo de las expectativas del espectador. La última revisión del filme ha confirmado mis impresiones de cuando lo vi por vez primera. La acción se sitúa en 1807 en un lugar indeterminado de Centroeuropa que parece tratarse de Hungría, pero que no puede parecerse más a España; y no sólo por las localizaciones (la película fue rodada en Madrid y alrededores), sino también por los interiores, el mobiliario y no digamos el vestuario de los campesinos. En una aldea se localiza la tumba de un pretendido vampiro, se desentierra el cadáver y, después de un juicio grotesco por lo legalista (incluso se llega a interrogar al muerto; éste no responde, claro), el cuerpo es reducido a cenizas. elink: ed2k://|file|ceremonia%20sangrienta%20-%20Blood%20Castle%20(VHSrip%20spanish)%20by%20bofh666%20( http://www.abandomoviez.net).avi|595531714|CC20BBCA1BE5F1EEDB484A1A5FC148DD|/ buena descarga |
Also Known As:
Blood Castle (video title)
Bloody Ceremony
Countess Dracula
The Bloody Countess
The Female Butcher
The Legend of Blood Castle
Vergini cavalcano la morte, Le (Italy)
Runtime: 102 min / Spain:92 min
Country: Spain / Italy
Language: Spanish
Color: Color (Eastmancolor)
Sound Mix: Mono
Certification: USA:R
User Comments:
2 out of 2 people found the following comment useful:-
Kicks Hammer's Butt, 8 April 2004
Author: Steven Nyland (Squonkamatic) from Syracuse, NY USA
This is a painful, cold, unpleasant but ultimately fascinating entry from the Spanish horror boon that is probably the definitive Elizabeth Bathory treatment, making Hammer's COUNTESS DRACULA look silly and trite in comparison; that film is a period costume romance compared to BLOOD CASTLE. This is a serious movie that lacks a single light hearted moment, and is a great example of the unbearably suffocating sort of period horror suggested by Michael Reeves' CONQUEROR WORM, which uses the conventions of period horror -- castles, nightgowned beauties, foggy wastes -- to con the viewer into thinking that they are going to get the push-up bras and lesbian nuzzling that these movies usually involve.
What you get is actually anti-erotic, much like Reeves' film, unless the idea of watching people suffer is something that gives you a rise. I like this movies' lack of sensationalism, giving us a straightforward almost scientific explanation for the vampirism in question, and providing a sort of tragic Spanish soap opera element to give us the motivations for the murders. The film is indeed slow, but fans of this kind of stuff will be drinking it in, with Jorge Grau's astute eye for period detail, lighting and atmosphere easily putting this on the same plane with films like COUNT DRACULA'S GREAT LOVE, COUNT DRACULA and the Rollin efforts as amongst the most distinctive films from the Eurohorror boon. No other movie looks quite like LEGEND OF BLOOD CASTLE [or FEMALE BUTCHER, as it is known in it's uncut form], and few have such an unrelenting, claustrophobic air of dread and sheer decrepidness as BLOOD CASTLE, which completes the CONQUEROR WORM comparison chart by culminating in a series of Inquisitional torture scenes that far surpass the vampire murders in terms of brutality and horror.
So perhaps that is Grau's ultimate comment: yes, the Bathory legend speaks of just awful, depraved atrocities, but nothing is quite as atrocious & barbaric as Man's own inhumanity to their fellow Man, and especially with the hipocrisy of the Church feeding the fires of hate.
HIGHLY recommended, but not for those with short attention spans or the squeamish alike.
*** out of a possible ****
Audio is Original Spanish
