![]() It deals with a family curse, its is set at an eerie castle where lives Karnstein family, the father Count Karnstein (Christopher Lee), his daughter Laura (Adriana Ambesi) and his lover (Vera Valmont). It is freely based on the known novel ¨Carmilla¨ by Sheridan Le Fanu. However, I personally enjoyed it and I think that many of my fellow fans of Italian 60s Gothic Horror might see it the same way.Ī precious Gem of the classy Italian Gothic with the great Christopher Lee and a good cast of most Italian and some Spanish actors. Overall, "Crypt of the Vampire" is by no means a must-see or even a very good film. As said, the film's strong point lies in the atmosphere. The female cast members are entirely hot, but none of them is extremely talented. More screen time for the great Christopher Lee would certainly have helped the film. Even so, it is a fun element of the film. Also, while the (implied) lesbianism is a nicely exploitative element in this film, the explicit stuff that became common practice in Exploitation cinema only a few years later in the late 60s makes it look very harmless. The female cast in this film are beautiful, but not comparable to Barbara Steele (I can't stop praising her) and Margarete Robsahm who stunned viewers in "Danza Macabra". Castle of Blood"), this film has a certain lesbian subtext. As it was the case with a truly brilliant Gothic film from the same year, Antonio Margheriti's "Danza Macabra" (aka. Also, there are some nicely demented characters, such as a disfigured beggar. It is always atmospheric though, and the film really catches up in the second half, and gets quite creepy in some parts. ![]() The film's major weakness is that it is too slow-going, especially in the first half. The young lady Karnstein has been tormented by terrible nightmares, and it is believed that she is possessed by the evil spirit of a dead ancestor. Count Karnstein (Christopher Lee) has sent for a doctor to help his daughter Laura (Adriana Ambesi). Again, he did so more impressively in "Un Angelo Per Satana", but one has to admit that this film is also highly atmospheric. One has to give it to director Mastrocinque that he was capable of creating an uncanny atmosphere in spite of an obviously low budget. Yet "Crypt of the Vampire" has many qualities. It can in no way compete with Bava's masterpiece, of course, nor with the many other Italian Gothic highlights from the day, be it Bava's, Antoino Margheriti's, or Riccardo Freda's films of even with Mastrocinque's own "Angelo Per Satana". ![]() ![]() "Black Sunday of 1960 (probably my choice for the greatest Horror film of all-time, and, of course, it also stars Barbara Steele). This "Crypt of the Vampire" very obviously borrowed many story-elements from another Italian Gothic Horror film, Mario Bava's unequaled masterpiece "La Maschera Del Demonio" aka. This is one of only two Horror films by director Mastrocinque, the other being the vastly superior "Un Angelo Per Satana" of 1966 starring Genre-Goddess Barbara Steele (my favorite actress). Fact is, however, that this country, time and sub-genre stands for many of the greatest Horror films ever brought to screen, and even many of the lesser productions, such as this film, are entertaining films as such. ![]() For understandable reasons as the film, which stars Horror icon Christopher Lee, certainly doesn't range among the most memorable efforts in Italian Gothic Horror from the 1960s. Many of my fellow Eurohorror enthusiasts seem to have been disappointed by Camillo Mastrocinque's "La Cripta e l'incubo" aka. ![]()
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