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Better copies out there (12.09.2008)

I have two copies on DVD of Nightmare Castle...

This one from Madacy and another copy found in "Horror Classics Collection: 50 Movie Pack", which is also available from Amazon.

Although, both copies are of the same length, I find the copy in the 50 Movie Pack to be of better quality, and thus recommend you put your money towards the 50 Movie Pack instead.

Yes, it is true that you get extras like a trailer and an image of the movie poster on the copy from Madacy, but I don't think this makes up for the inferior image quality, and besides, you get some pretty good movies with the 50 Movie Pack, like "Tormented", "The Terror", "Carnival of Souls", "Night of the Living Dead", "The House on Haunted Hill", and "The Last Man on Earth", so kind of a 'win-win' situation staying away from the Madacy copy and going with the 50 Movie Pack.

Cheers!

Average horror movie, with a hauntingly strange Steele. (07.06.2004)

[Refers to VHS edition]. This movie of two sisters (both played by Steele) and her scientist husband, concerns her revenge for her husband's killing of her, when he catches her in an act of infidelity. She's strangely attractive, but limited in acting ability. The movie version I have wasn't edited very smoothly, and the sound is a bit slow in places; perhaps it's better on a disc version. The constant music, or theme, running through the movie is a bit overdramatic, and the whole thing can be, in places, a bit much. Overall, it's not great, but not bad. Steele is ok. I'd like to see her in some of her other movies (I'll have to see how many she's made.) Worth a brief look.

Cult Classic Horror From 1965 (07.05.2004)

Nightmare Castle, originally released in 1965, stars Barbara Steele, the leading "scream queen" of the 60's. She starred in countless of horror films through the 60's. With her good looks, sex appeal and mystery, she was perfect in movies dealing with the supernatural and the macabre. This film I first saw in Macabre Theatre, a monster movie showcase in a lesser known station KDOCTV here in Southern California and it's now on cable channel KHIZ. The hosts were Butch Patrick (Eddie Munster from the 60's show The Munsters) and Ivonna Cadaver, a younger Elvira look-a-like. This film does have camp or cult classic value because so much of this material is not considered frightening today. In today's horror movie scene, blood, gore, excessive violence and a scary soundtrack is what does it for today's audiences. But for it's time in 1965 this weird movie must have scared audiences or at least creeped them out. Although it does not reach the heights of horror that Dawn Of The Dead did later in the 60's, Nightmare Castle is chilling, Gothic and genuinely haunting.

The owner of a large castle, a scientist, is happily married to his beautiful wife (Barbara Steele). But while he is away, she engages in an affair with the gardener. When the scientist husband discovers their relationship, he becomes insanely jealous. Unleashing his fury and revenge, he tortures them with electric shock. These scenes are graphic, intense and disturbing, even for a 1965 film. I was very surprised by it. The torture is enough to kill the lovers. Years later, the scientist marries a beautiful replica of his wife (Barbara Steele again) She begins to be haunted by an evil presence in the castle. It becomes so bad that a therapist is hired to help her with what they think is psychological problems. The therapist, however, discovers that the castle is haunted. Guess by who ? The dead lovers that were killed years ago by the jealous husband! Eventually, there is a showdown between the ghosts, the scientist husband, the look-alike wife and the therapist, whom we are lead to believe is her new love interest. After many frightening confrontations, the castle burns down and our heroine Barbara Steele makes it out alive with her therapist boyfriend. This is a truly great film, despite its obscurity and its camp value. For a black and white film, it's visually impressive. The music as one review mentioned, is nothing dissonant or typical of horror movie soundtracks. It's subtle, it's romantic, making use of a lot of piano (Barbara Steele plays the piano in this movie). A must have for fans of Miss Steele or classic horror films.

SEE THIS MOVIE (24.02.2004)

I lovee this movie so much from the opening scene to the credits.Starring legendary horror queen Barbara Steele this movie is quite a laugh with more over acting bad special effects and tacky sets this movie is a B-Movie in the best use of the term but that makes it a classic truly a cult classic

Completely incomprehensible! Must see!! (18.02.2004)

I saw this movie in a dark Dark DARK private club in Chicago recently and have no idea how much of it I might have missed. Nevertheless, for some really hokey electrocution scenes, over the top overacting not seen since the silent films of the 1920's, the completely incomprehensible transformation of the first wife into the second, for the black on black contrast in the film (which was about 97.345567% in shadow), I must rate it five stars.

No, I was not under the influence of anything; but the film did certainly seem to fit right in with the ambiance of that particular evening.

I would recommend buying this masterpiece and viewing it on a dark and stormy night cuddled with a friend or two on a cozy couch. It's right up there with 'Incubus the Movie' (William Shatner's greatest performance in a film voiced entirely in Esperanto).