Customer Reviews

Track of the Vampire/Nightmare Castle [VHS]

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I was really excited when I read a review stating that this is the best Track of The Vampire has ever looked on home video. This is true, but it's also missing a fairly substantial amout of footage. The second victims drowning on the beach is missing a chunk, the scene where the Sordi cathes the nightclub act of the stripper is gone, there's an obvious jump in the scene where one of Sordi's future victims is researching his history, and the murder of one of the models is also cut short. Add to this some pretty so-so audio and the annoying cartoon Drive-screen that the film starts out in, you may find this release of Track a bit disappointing. That said, that this found it's way on to DVD at all is something to be grateful for.

I must admit, I bought this DVD because I loved the cover! Rather like one would admit going to see a Drive-in movie because they loved the poster. The ballyhoo worked in this case. I also figured for 10 bucks, how could I go wrong? After all was said and done, the movies were wonderfully terrible as I expected. What surprised me was the QUALITY of the transfer, albeit from worn material. TRACK OF THE VAMPIRE looked especially impressive, even presented in widescreen! There is nothing memorably awful about the film unfortunately and its foray into the "artsy fartsy" horror genre pales in comparison to the moody and stylish NIGHTMARE CASTLE a film more concerned about its creepy visual style than creating anything remotely plausible. If this sounds enjoyable to you, then this is 10 bucks well spent. Those who fear Madacy discs, don't fret too much here. They've actually done a smashing job with this DVD.

This is one of those atmospheric horror films churned out from AIP during the 60's heyday which made its way to late night TV. It has had a fascinating history being culled from numerous sources and creative hands. (Video Watchdog magazine had an excellent multipart chronology on its making.)That being said, why on earth did Madacy not transfer a complete version of this film to DVD? The rights were available on VHS from Sinister Cinema distributor and that version is complete.

How can the DVD be missing chunks of original footage that was available even on tv? They need to recall the current crop and rerelease it correctly. Dream on.

The film itself is not great or best of vampire films, but it had a dark mood and some chilling scenes that mixed eroticism with suspense. Don't look too closely for the plot and the overall feel of the film does crawl under your skin. I recommend Dementia 13 for folks who like this flick.

Kind of a mixed bag here. One one hand, it's cool to be able to see these rare films again, and at a great price. On the other hand, the prints leave something to be desired. Also, the visual conceit of being at the drive-in, while cute, makes the mistake of shrinking down the first 10 seconds or so of each movie inside a cartoonish drive-in graphic. Future releases might want to keep the drive-in vibe, but leave the movies unscathed. The cartoons in between features and the additional trailers are a nice touch, though. Three stars just to see these rarities again.

Track of the Vampire (1966) aka Blood Bath

Produced by Roger Corman, co-written and co-directed by Jack Hill (Spider Baby) and Stephanie Rothman (The Student Nurses), the films stars (and I use the term liberally) William Campbell (Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte) and Lori Saunders ("Petticoat Junction"). Also appearing is former playmate Marissa Mathes (Ride Beyond Vengeance), Karl Schanzer (Dementia 13), Sandra Knight (Frankenstein's Daughter), Sid Haig (Spider Baby), Patrick Magee (A Clockwork Orange), and Roger Corman, himself, in an unaccredited role playing a character in a flashback sequence.

The film begins with a man, dressed like Zorro, creeping around darkened alleys of what looks to be a European city, given all the stonework present. He attacks a buxom girl, baring some fangs, so I guess this is the vampire the title refers to...after that we are now in a shabby bar populated by beatnik artist types, Sid Haig being one of them (he even has hair!). It's here we meet Daisy (Mathes), disenchanted girlfriend to one of the `artists'. After this interlude we then switch to Zorro chasing a girlie in an area that looks a lot like California. This chase sequence goes on for quite awhile, but, eventually, the man catches the girl on the beach and...now we're in a dance studio witnessing some pretty young things doing some sort of experimental boogie, and we get to meet Dorean (Saunders), Daisy's former roommate. Then we're back on the street with Daisy and she meets Antonio Sordi (Campbell), an artist who paints the most unusual pictures, known for their gruesomeness. Apparently he's looking for a new model, and Daisy fits the bill...we get a flashback, and then bye bye Daisy...some other junk happens, Patrick Magee shows up at Sordi, a jealous vindictive husband type who ends up taking an hot wax bath, then back to the beatniks, then Zorro attacks yet another woman...oh my aching head...the artist is looking for his missing girlfriend, and so on...sound confusing? Try watching it...eventually, like all things (notice I neglected to say `good' things), the film does come to an end, but hardly one worth sitting through all this celluloid mish mash.

If I had to choose one word to describe this film, I think confusing as hell (I know, I know that's three) fits the bill. After awhile things do sort of make sense, as you become aware there are like at least two separate movies here spliced together. It appears Roger Corman bought a European film, took the footage for a film Jack Hill was shooting, and gave it to Rothman, who then proceeded to shoot even more footage, and then edit it all together in a rather incomprehensible mess. I guess it seemed like a good idea at the time. Pretty much all you can do is sit back, disconnect your logic circuits, and go along for the ride, if you're intent on watching this movie all the way through, like I did...I found some beer certainly didn't hurt, either. The main gist seemed to be an artist, with a strange ancestry, suffering from occasional vampiric possession, murders his models and then creates hideous paintings...or perhaps he paints and then kills the models, I'm not quite sure...I suppose it doesn't really matter. One thing this film has a lot of (besides confusion) is chase sequences, and really long ones, too. Seems like every ten minutes Zorro is chasing some other little girlie around. One thing I did learn while watching this film is that William Campbell runs like a girl. Seriously...watch the latter segment of him on the beach and Dorean and she's trying to get him to jump her bones...he flips out and runs down the beach arms a flailing...it's pretty funny. All in all, this is a good film if you're not particular about storylines, plots, and such...if you're looking for a more conventional tale, then you might try...

Nightmare Castle (1965)

Co-written and directed by Mario Caiano (Ulysses Against the Son of Hercules, Train for Durango), Nightmare Castle actually goes by quite a few names including The Faceless Monster, Night of the Doomed, Lovers Beyond the Tomb, Lovers from Beyond the Tomb, Orgasmo, and then the original Italian title Gil Amanti d'oltretomba. Starring in the movie is Barbara `I once worked with Fellini!' Steele (Black Sunday, The Pit and the Pendulum), along with Paul Muller (Barbed Wire Dolls), Helga Liné (Agent 077 - Mission Bloody Mary), Rik Battaglia (Shoot, Gringo... Shoot!), and Laurence Clift in his only on screen appearance.

The story begins pretty well, with some really creepy organ music, followed by the opening credits. After this we see a couple Stephen (Muller) and Muriel (Steele) Aerosmith (rock on!)...er, wait, it's Arrowsmith...he's a scientist, and she's, as far as I can tell, a boozehound (she'll later add trollop to her repertoire). Anyway, the two don't seem to get along too well, punctuated by what has to be the most awkward onscreen kiss I've ever seen (their lips don't actually touch so much as they mash their faces together), and we learn Stephen is preparing to leave for a conference or something, which he does, thus leaving his wife in the amorous arms of David (Battaglia), the strapping young stable hand...actually, he's really not that young, more like middle age, but he's a hell of a lot younger than Stephen. The two pitch their smoochy smoochy woo tent in the greenhouse, only to be caught by Stephen, as he really didn't leave at all (the sneak), and thus begins the whippings, and various other forms of tortuous punishment (Stephen is vindictive, if nothing else). Muriel and David do end up dying (sort of) for their transgressions, and normally the handsome estate and family fortune, which was all in Muriel's name, would go to Stephen, but because of her underlying hatred towards her husband, Muriel had fortuitously changed her will prior her demise, leaving everything to her up until recently institutionalized stepsister Jenny, who happens to look exactly like Muriel, the only difference being Jenny has blonde hair (Steele plays a dual role, donning a blonde wig to play the part of Jenny). Stephen plans now include marrying Jenny, preying on her delicate mental state, driving her back to the asylum, and assuming control of the family fortune...that is to say unless Muriel has anything to say about it...and she does...the vengeful little minx (I should say dead minx)...

Creaky doors, darkened crypts, dungeons, laboratories, hypodermic needles, candelabras, transfusions, whippings, electrocutions, bloodcurdling screams, acid drips, dead bodies...this film would seem to have it all...so why was I kinda down on it? Perhaps it was its excessively talky, painfully expository nature. Criminey...this is one of the more verbose movies I've seen in awhile. I don't mind a lot of communication if there's something to say, but for cripes sakes this is supposed to be a horror film...hit me with the scary visuals and some tension. Don't bore me to tears telling me what you're going to do (in great detail) prior to actually doing it...to be fair, the dialog was dubbed over, and poorly so...perhaps the original dialog with subtitles would have gone down better, but whatever....actually the first 20 minutes contained a whole lot of material, but then things slowed down, only picking up again within the last 15 minutes. There are a lot of things to like about this film, the main thing being Ms. Steele herself. She's very attractive, having a most distinctive appearance fitting ever so well within the genre, especially in term of her large, saucer-like, expressive peepers. She did pretty well here, presenting two, separate characters in Muriel, the saucy, strong-willed, sexy philanderer, and Jenny, the malleable, weak-willed bubblehead with the fractured psyche. As for the rest of the cast, they did so-so, the only other standout being the hammy (on rye bread, please) Muller as the wormy Stephen, who, incidentally, looks as if he could be a distant relative to Don Knotts. He really wasn't all that frightening as a villain type, but he was awfully sleazy, getting it on not only with the housekeeper, but also hooking up with his recently departed wife's stepsister. Part of his masterful plan involved inviting Jenny's therapist Dr. Derek Joyce (Clift) from the asylum to stay at the castle, which I didn't quite understand, but, apparently it was important to the plot that he be around, as to be the sane half of our protagonist duo. I did like the set pieces, along with the exteriors, as they really helped set the moody, gothic tones of the story, along with the creepy organ music. I did not like the piano music, though...it wasn't so much the piano music itself (which was pretty pedestrian), but the fact the same bit of music was used like 20 times...talk about monotonous. If you're a Steele fan, then you'll feel compelled to check this out, but if you're a casual viewer, you might want to start with Black Sunday (1960), an infinitely better film, and a lot more fun. My favorite scene involved Stephen hotwiring a bath for Dr. Joyce, and then things going not quite as planned...

Of the two features on this Madacy Entertainment release, Track of the Vampire definitely looked better, as the print of Nightmare Castle used for this DVD looks the same as it does on the Alpha Video release, that is murky, fuzzy, hazy, and altogether pretty poor. The audio is about the same on both, passable, but not great. In terms of special features, there are trailers for the two films, along with one for a movie titled Blood of Dracula (1957), which actually doesn't look half bad. There is also a Betty Boop cartoon (?!) titled Betty Boop's Bamboo Isle. Seems like a bizarre inclusion, but what they hey?

Cookieman108

This review covers Nightmare Castle only, not Track of the Vampire, which is included on the 2 movie dvd.

This is a surprisingly creepy and effective movie. Barbara Steele play two characters to great effect and after watching the movie twice I am calling it one of the best European gothic horrors of the 60's... once you get past the terrible dubbing and grainy print that is. There is a little bit of haunted house, crazy doctor, depraved torture, gorgeous babe and a story that is actually interesting and compelling.

Barbara Steele plays two sisters, Jenny and Muriel. Muriel is married to a scientists, Dr. Arrowsmith (Paul Mueller), and they live in a castle along with a maid, butler and handyman. Muriel is having an affair with the handyman and they are caught by the doctor. He chains them up and tortures them for awhile before Muriel tells him that she has changed her will, and the castle and all of her money have been left to her sister, Jenny, who has been living in an asylum because she is somehow feeble. The doctor then kills both Muriel and her lover and next thing we know he arrives home with Muriel's sister, Jenny, as his new bride.

The maid at at the house, Solange, has a severely scarred face and the doctor is working on some sort of serum based on human blood to restore beauty to her face. They also have plans to get Jenny committed permanently to the asylum so they can take over her newly inherited fortune. They start doing little things to push her over the edge and Jenny starts having strange nightmares.

Jenny's doctor from the asylum, Dr. Joyce, is sent for by her husband to witness how unstable she has become. He arrives at the castle and after a day or two starts figuring out that Dr. Arrowhead and Solange are up to no good. Around this time the dead Muriel and her lover make an appearance at the castle seeking their revenge. Without spoiling the movie too much, I will say that Solange and Dr. Arrowhead start getting what is coming to them.

The movie is 80 minutes long and I read at one review website that apparently there is another version on VHS with more footage. But this dvd version along with Track of The Vampire is barely more money than a rental which makes it a worthwhile purchase, especially because there are no plans at the moment for any company to re-release an longer version of this gem of a movie.

First, let me say that this DVD is itself a nightmare regarding navigation -- there's a bunch of nonsense right up front (video clips from the distributor) and then all manner of old drive-in theater nostalgia and trailers play through. Some of it can be sidestepped but it takes some doing.

On to the films, taking *Nightmare Castle* first:

This is the USA version of the black-and-white 1965 release of the Italian film that originally ran (in Italy) for 104 minutes. Unfortunately some imprudent editing has clearly diminished several of the finer points of the film, shaving my rating down to 4 stars instead of 5. Normally the American version is 92 minutes but somebody transferred a bad source print in this case and so it's only 90. Deduct another star.

It's essentialy a terrific classic horror film, very gothic, and a bit of a psycho-thriller to boot. One big plus is the superb filmscore by none other than Ennio Morricone, (The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.)

The story: An evil and depraved Count with a large estate, (who also happens to practice a sort of Frankenstein-ish medicine), catches his cheating wife [Barbara Steele] with her lover. He tortures and kills them, draining his wife's blood (more on this later) but he's nettled to discover that his wife has written him out of her will (she was very rich), having awarded all her riches to her step-sister who is locked away in a mental asylum.

The hag of an aged housekeeper had been helping the Count to do his wife in because he had promised her a cut of the inheritance when his wife met her demise. *But* he also had a means, by using his wife's blood, of making this decrepit witch young and beautiful and he does so [This point is not all that well-made in this version of the film].

Then the Count elects to bring the step-sister [also Barbara Steele but now with a blonde wig] home, as she has somewhat recovered her sanity, and he plans to gain control of the estate through her. Much to the displeasure of the housekeeper (now young and beautiful) the Count unexpectedly marries the attractive step-sister during the carriage trip home. [For reasons unexplained, the step-sister looks exactly like the first wife, blonde hair aside, which should not be since they were not blood relatives... oh well -- it was probably "half-sister" before the translation went awry.] The Count pacifies the housekeeper as the plan is cemented between the two of them to drive the new wife crazy again, making it easy for him to access her inheritance.

The final Macguffin occurs when the Count invites his new wife's asylum doctor to his estate to care for his unstable wife. That drives up the suspense a notch or two since this unwitting physician is now in jeopardy too.

I like this film a lot but there certainly are some abrupt transitions. And I would re-alert you to the fact that this is a marginal copy and there are much better ones out there.

In summary, I can definitely recommend this creepy drive-in film for fans of the genre (if you get this one: Nightmare Castle.) The setting is first-class and the terrific filmscore is just icing on the cake.

As for *Track of the Vampire*, it has a very sordid history. The film stars William Campbell (in a way) and you'll also find this movie under the title *Blood Bath*. The film initially launched as as psycho-thriller which, when it was finally released in the USA, was entitled *Portrait in Terror*, starring William Campbell and Patrick Magee. It was all about a demented artist in Italy who thought he was one of his more dark and nefarious ancestors -- so he goes around strangling people. Producer Francis Ford Coppola didn't wholly like this first film (even though he eventually released it) and so he hired another director to come in and "touch it up a bit." She did, and she even got back some of the original cast (not Campbell) and shot some pick-ups. The ultimate sad result was that she changed it into a *California vampire film*!

As you might suspect, the continuity on this movie is pretty atrocious as is the overall storyline and most of the acting. So I give this one a single star, and that only because William Campbell is an old pal of mine. But I can assure you that if Bill could somehow extricate this film from the face of the planet then he would promptly do so. If you wish to see a great old William Campbell horror flick (also with Patrick Magee) grab a copy of Dementia 13. Coppola made that one too, (as director.)

Do I think you should buy this DVD? No. Get a better copy of "Nightmare Castle* elsewhere and forget all about the infamous *Track of the Vampire*. That's my best advice.

I remember watching "Nightmare Castle" years ago, and was very pleased to come across this DVD recently (through an online rental site). Anyway, another reviewer has done a thorough job on his review of this DVD, so I shall just focus on a couple of points. I found the audio and print quality of "Track of the Vampire" to be much better than the audio and print quality of "Nightmare Castle". The dubbing on NC was just terrible, and the picture was grainy with a lot of background noise, all of which detracted from my enjoyment of the story.

"Track of the Vampire" which was produced by Roger Corman is a serial killer/vampire/ cursed artist movie of sorts, and I have to say that it is one of the most confusing and addled movies I have ever watched! The plot jumps from one story arc to another, from one scene to another, with barely any coherence, and I could not make much sense of it. I did figure things out eventually, but also got a headache in the process,lol.

On to "Nightmare Castle" - oh, I hope there is a better print of NC out there somewhere because I actually liked this B-horror classic. Mostly because Barbara Steele plays the dual role of sisters here - one brunette (Muriel) and the other blonde (Jenny). The brunette has an affair, and ends up being tortured and murdered (together with her lover) by her jealous scientist husband. Later, the husband marries the blonde sister (also Ms Steele) of his late, murdered wife which is all part of an evil plan to lay his hands on his late wife's fortune. He has an ally in a disfigured woman, Solange (Helga Line, who almost steals the show from Ms Steele) but of course, this is a B-horror movie after all - the dead return to exact their revenge!!!

I persevered in watching NC because I loved the story and acting, but I hated the bad dubbing job, and the grainy print quality. Hopefully, I'll be able to track down a more decent and watchable version of NC.

The common denominator for this Killer Creature Double Feature is that both "Track of the Vampire" and "Nightmare Castle" are black & white movies. Otherwise one is a low-budget American psycho-killer movie cut together with footage from a Yugoslavian vampire movie he was trying to make with Francis Ford Coppola or somebody and the other is a dubbed Italian movie that looks like it was shot on videotape. One has a woman doing a ballet dance on the beach for no good reason and the other has sadistic torture to extract a gruesome revenge. Finally, one has William Campbell and the other has Barbara Steele and as near as I can tell why you might like one of these films the possibility of liking both of them might be a statistical impossible.

I liked "Track of the Vampire" (a.k.a. "Blood Bath") better, although knowing that there was some creative post-production editing helps you gloss over some of the problematic elements, otherwise you are going to get confused at times. At the heart of the confusion is brooding artist Antonio Sordi (William Campbell) whose best work is of naked female corpses. Painting them is not enough, so after Sordi kills them he dips them into hot wax to preserve his memories. Meanwhile, the local hippies are grooving onto Sordi's artwork and suddenly I am thinking did I not see this 1966 movie last month when it was a 1959 called "A Bucket of Blood?" No wonder this film was called "Blood Bath"; Roger Corman produced both of them (and directed the earlier one).

Again, knowing that Corman bought an unfinished European movie named "Operation Titian" with Patrick McGee, combined it with the movie Jack Hill was shooting about the killer artist, and then hired Stephanie Rothman to shoot more footage that ties the artist to an ancestor who was burned at the stake for being a witch and ended up as a vampire. There has to be something in that mix that appeals to you. What I liked was that Sordi has a girlfriend, and she keeps complaining that he does not want to paint her. So Sordi does not kill every woman he meets, just every woman he paints. I think the movie would be a lot more effective without the vampire bit, but that does make for several halfway interesting chase sequences as the vampire tries to get the girl. Just because you cannot always figure out what is going on is no reason you cannot enjoy trying to make all the mismatched pieces in "Track of the Vampire" work. Besides, a role like this is perfectly suited for Campbell.

"Nightmare Castle" (Originally "Amanti D'oltretomba," but a.k.a. "Night of the Doomed," "The Faceless Monsters," and "Lovers From Beyond the Tomb") is where Dr. Arrowsmith (Paul Müller), discovers his wife, Muriel (Barbara Steele), in the arms of her lover, David (Rik Battaglia). There is a lesson to be learned her regarding trying to make out in secret in a greenhouse. So the doctor decides to torture and then electrocute them to death as part of his scientific experiments. Then he drains their blood from their corpses, throws their hearts into an urn, and injects the blood into Solange (Helga Line), his loyal but ancient servant. She was Arrowsmith's lover in the good old days and the blood transforms her back into a beautiful woman. Then Arrowsmith discovers that according to her will his wife's fortune goes not to him but to Jenny (Barbara Steele in a blonde wig this time), who is a bit off of her rocker. So Arrowsmith marries her so that he can drive her mad by giving her hallucinogenic drugs and finally get his hands on that inheritance. However, Derek Joyce (Lawrence Clift), Jenny's doctor, stands in the way of the plan working. Then Jenny starts having strange dreams about murders in the greenhouse, Joyce discovers the two hearts in the urn, and Solange needs another blood transfusion.

If this is your first Barbara Steele film it may well end up being your last. The story is a hodge-podge of more familiar and better told tales from that period. Steele already played both the good and the evil girl in her best known film, "Black Sunday," you can name your haunted house movie where past crimes are remembered, and if you want to try and take the high road you can see some parallels with "Rebecca." Besides, the film is not only in unglorious black & white, it looks like it was shot on videotape and I kept thinking this is what "Dark Shadows" would have looked like if it had been on television in the 1950s. Director Mario Caiano does nothing here to impress you and once you get past the initial sadistic torturing of the lovers if you were expecting the film to take advantage of Steele's looks you would be sadly mistaken.

This video comes with a trailer for what might be an even worse black & white vampire movie. Intermission consists of a Betty Boop cartoon that has cute African natives singing strange songs. Since it is also a black & white cartoon that would seem to be the simple justification for its inclusion, because thematically no other explanation would suffice. Fans of Corman or Steele would find their respective films of moderate interest, but can probably do without the other one, so know that before you sit down to watch this Killer Creature Double Feature.

This review covers Nightmare Castle only, not Track of the Vampire, which is included on the 2 movie dvd.

This is a surprisingly creepy and effective movie. Barbara Steele play two characters to great effect and after watching the movie twice I am calling it one of the best European gothic horrors of the 60's... once you get past the terrible dubbing and grainy print that is. There is a little bit of haunted house, crazy doctor, depraved torture, gorgeous babe and a story that is actually interesting and compelling.

Barbara Steele plays two sisters, Jenny and Muriel. Muriel is married to a scientists, Dr. Arrowsmith (Paul Mueller), and they live in a castle along with a maid, butler and handyman. Muriel is having an affair with the handyman and they are caught by the doctor. He chains them up and tortures them for awhile before Muriel tells him that she has changed her will, and the castle and all of her money have been left to her sister, Jenny, who has been living in an asylum because she is somehow feeble. The doctor then kills both Muriel and her lover and next thing we know he arrives home with Muriel's sister, Jenny, as his new bride.

The maid at at the house, Solange, has a severely scarred face and the doctor is working on some sort of serum based on human blood to restore beauty to her face. They also have plans to get Jenny committed permanently to the asylum so they can take over her newly inherited fortune. They start doing little things to push her over the edge and Jenny starts having strange nightmares.

Jenny's doctor from the asylum, Dr. Joyce, is sent for by her husband to witness how unstable she has become. He arrives at the castle and after a day or two starts figuring out that Dr. Arrowhead and Solange are up to no good. Around this time the dead Muriel and her lover make an appearance at the castle seeking their revenge. Without spoiling the movie too much, I will say that Solange and Dr. Arrowhead start getting what is coming to them.

The movie is 80 minutes long and I read at one review website that apparently there is another version on VHS with more footage. But this dvd version along with Track of The Vampire is barely more money than a rental at around[X]which makes it a worthwhile purchase, especially because there are no plans at the moment for any company to re-release an longer version of this gem of a movie.