Castle of the Walking Dead

Liked the film very much

Great copy, with the full beginning included...

Interesting movie, I hadn’t ever seen it before and liked it overall.

Castle of the Walking Dead is the most common title given to this little-seen Christopher Lee Eurohorror, variously known as Blood Demon, The Snakepit and the Pendulum, and The Torture Room. I saw this as Torture Chamber of Dr. Sadism on Screaming Yellow Theatre (WFLD-TV Chicago with the great Svengoolie hosting) late at night in the 1970s and it's been etched in my mind ever since. The story (extremely loosely based on Poe's The Pit and the Pendulum) is standard revenge-of-the-executed-warlock hokum, but this is definitely worth a look for Gothic horror/Euroshock fans for its rigorously grisly atmosphere and evocative Middle-European locations and production design/set decoration. The movie begins as Medieval occult practitioner Count Frederic Regula (Lee) is sentenced by judge Reinhold von Marienberg (Lex Barker) to be drawn and quartered for the murders of 12 virgins, but not before a spiked golden mask is thrust onto his face by a red-hooded executioner (reminiscent of the opening of Mario Bava's Black Sunday). Thirty-five years later, von Marienberg's descendent, lawyer Roger Montelise (Lex again), is given a mysterious message concerning his past by a street barker, which sets him off on a journey by coach to Count Regula's castle. Along the way he picks up a companion in hard-drinking "priest" Father Fabian, and saves Baroness Lillian von Brabant (gorgeous Karin Dor; You Only Live Twice, Assignment: Terror) and her maidservant Babette, also coincidentally on the way to Regula's castle, from some Death-like black-robed-and-hooded horsemen. They also encounter some cool (real?) castle ruins and a creepy forest with bodies and body parts hanging/growing from the trees (probably the most indelible image in the movie). The carriage is hijacked with the ladies aboard, and the pursuing Roger and Fabian literally stumble onto Regula's crumbling castle, where they find huge, nightmarish, Bosch-like murals and sculptures; a room where the 12 dead virgins are laid out on slabs; lotsa heavy iron-spiked gates; corridors lined floor to ceiling with human skulls; vultures, rats, lizards, snakes, and spiders; and plenty of convincingly fetid Gothic ambiance. Regula's nasty, green-blooded, undead manservant/henchman Anathol holds Lillian in a drugged/hypnotized state while Babette is gagged and bound to a huge cross, then slowly lowered onto spikes embedded in the floor. (Bondage freaks will love this scene.) Karin Dor handles a live snake, Fabian's true identity is revealed, and Anathol revives the count, who looks very pale and pasty (and still has holes in his face from the spiked mask). Apparently he still needs the blood of a 13th virgin to attain immortality, and has chosen Lillian as revenge for her mother's turning Regula in to the authorities 35 years earlier. Montelise is strapped to a dungeon floor as a huge swinging pendulum blade descends toward his chest, and Lillian is confined on a retractable gangplank over a pit filled with snakes (to "increase her fear" before she is murdered). The scenes of bondage and torture create a palpable feeling of sadism that's pretty potent for a movie of its day. Veteran director Harald Reinl (Invisible Dr. Mabuse, Return of Dr. Mabuse, Die Nibelungen) keeps the story moving (although logic suffers a bit at times) and seems to borrow a few more bits from Bava (lotsa swirling smoke/fog and vivid, unnatural, primary-colored lighting schemes). But what really makes this movie are the authentic and imaginatively detailed settings (some of which appear to be actual locations and castle interiors). I can think of only a few other horror films (White Zombie and Franco's Count Dracula come to mind) that so convincingly appear to have been shot on the actual locations in which they supposedly take place. My only real criticism of Walking Dead is the light pop-jazz (more suited to a goofy comedy) that accompanies a number of scenes, somewhat undermining the otherwise unwholesome atmosphere of dread and decay created by the visuals. Overall, an underappreciated and sorely neglected Euroshock gem.The good news on this DVD is that the transfer is surprisingly satisfactory, though it's not the widescreen restoration one would hope for. The image is cropped to 1.33:1 from the original 2.35:1, but the framing suffers little and the sharpness and detail of the (16mm?) print are quite acceptable, if not razor sharp. Some heavy lining mars the first minute or so of the movie, then diminishes rapidly and disappears almost completely after about five minutes; I didn't find it distracting after that point. There is the usual light speckling and blemishing and a few emulsion dings here and there but no other noticeable defects in the source print. Color is surprisingly well-saturated and acceptably balanced and the audio is clear and full with negligible background noise. (Thankfully, though everyone's post-dubbed throughout, we get to hear Lee's and Barker's own distinctive voices.) All in all, very watchable, easily as good or better than you remember from TV, far better than the lousy VHS copies I've seen, and to be honest, much nicer than I was anticipating from a "no-name" video company (the only identifier on the DVD and case says "Aikman Archive" and Internet retailers all give conflicting info on this DVD's manufacturer [it's the "Eclectic" edition on Amazon]). There are no extras other than 12 chapter stops and a Chris Lee "bio" that's scant on biographical detail but does contain a fairly comprehensive filmography. Not a definitive release but worth the price and good enough to tide fans over until someone (Image, are you listening?) digs up some pristine widescreen elements.

THANK YOU

I too like this movie a lot. Unfortunately, this DVD edition has been sourced from an edited Tv print of the movie. Magnum Video's long OOP VHS version (under the title TORTURE CHAMBER OF DR SADISM) is about 12 minutes longer than the DVD.Hopefully someone will put out an anamorphic widescreen uncut version someday. Until then, track down the Magnum tape and avoid this DVD. The picture quality on the DVD isn't great anyway.

As I said.....What a Disappointment!!I have this film on VHS, from many years back, and have watched it about half a dozen times in the 20-odd years, right up until the tape was chewed up by the old player last month.I then ordered this copy on DVD, and the same day that it arrived, I put it on to have a look, only to be completely disappointed by the blurry image, which was so reduced as to be almost square in shape. Not only that, but the thing was in unclear and washed out Black and White!!!! Now, there's nothing wrong with Monochrome when a film is shot in Monochrome, but the original was in full, vibrant colour, and this was one of the striking points about it.How these people managed to make such a sub-standard copy of this old schlock-classic is completely beyond me!I will attempt to repair the VHS copy,even if it does leave a slight glitch where the cut-out section was.Do yourself a favour, and don't bother with this money waster from SinisterCinema!!!

Not bad mid-60's West German-made, English-dubbed color horror film starring Christopher Lee. He plays an evil necromancer condemned to a hideous death for performing unholy acts upon innocent women. Before he dies he lays the requisite curse on the hanging judge, the judge's sister, and their descendants. Twenty to thirty years later those descendants arrive at the undead sorcerer's castle, unaware of what awaits them. At times has spooky atmosphere and scenes. The Aikman Archive DVD (pictured below) is good quality, but needs re-mastering and is 71 minutes long. I believe there may be a longer version available. Still, worth getting.

Finally found dvd format. Had this VHS years ago. Happy in my collection.

the film was good not the best of all christopher lees films not as good of dracula or dr terrors house of horrors

Quality of the image is mediocre

!!! WARNING. MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS. !!!When the monstrous Count Regula(Christopher Lee) is about to face his horrific execution, he places a curse on the families of those who brought him to justice. Thirty five years later, the descendants of his tormentors, Baroness Lilian von Brabant(Karin Dor) and Roger Mont Elise(Lex Barker) recieve mysterious letters summoning them to the Castle Andomai. After getting little or no help from shifty villagers, Roger finds a local priest called Father Fabian(Vladimir Medar) who is willing to guide him to the castle. After Lilian and her servant Babette are attacked by highwaymen, Roger and Fabian rescue them. All four make their way to the Castle Andomai, the place where they will meet their destiny....I do have a big problem with this release. This has nothing to do with the film itself, a highly entertaining piece of Euro-shlock, that delivers cheese and chills in equal measure. Whilst every hoary old cliche in the book is used as a plot device, scenes such as the mist enshrouded trip through a forest where bodies and skeletons hang from the trees are memorable and dripping with atmosphere.No, my problem is regarding the product information. Apparently uncut this film runs for 85 minutes. If you read the info on this particular release from Cornerstone Media, it has the running time as 81 mins. However, this version of the film runs for only just over 70 mins, so obviously much has been lost. Perhaps, it would be advisable to seek out an alternative European release with less cuts. As for the picture quality, well I would say that was pretty good when taking into consideration the archive nature of the source material. So thgis release is strictly for fans of Euro horror, who need this film to complete their collection. You might need to be in quite a forgiving mood when watching it, as the acting ranges from wild and wooly(Vladimir Medar) to wooden as a plank(Lex Barker). Fans of Christopher Lee might also be disappointed to find out, that despite being top billed, he has very little screen time. There are compensations, however, as atmosphere drips from the cobwebbed walls of the Castle Andomai.A guarded welcome for this release. Perhaps someone more enlightened about the history of this film might let me know if a more complete version is available commercially. No extras. 3 out of 5.

Superb performances from Sir Christopher Lee a excellent spine chilling story.