'Castle of the Walking Dead'

'Die Schlangengrube und das Pendel' ('Castle of the Walking Dead' Directed by Harald Reinl 1967)
Superb German gothic 60's horror starring Lex Barker, Karin Dor and Christopher Lee. Lee is actually only in the film for about twenty minutes but his screen presence is brilliant - he plays Count Frederic Regula, a man sentenced to death by being drawn and quartered (limbs pulled apart by horses in a town square) - his crime? murdering twelve young maidens in the search for eternal youth. Before his said death penalty he swears to get revenge on the man who sentenced him and the woman who trapped him (gorgeous eurostar Karin Dor)... Thirty years later (to cut a long story short) Roger von Marienberg (Lex Barker), Baroness Lilian von Brabant (Karin Dor), her servant 'Babette' and a thief masquerading as a priest are travelling through a forest towards the Count's castle... (On their journey the trees in the forest are covered in body parts!). At the castle all manner of fiendish traps await them, set by the Count's assistant 'Anathol'. A lot of the scenes are reminiscent of Mario Bava films. Some of the jolly soundtrack is so out of place, but kind of works with the film. I loved the snake-pit scene, the Count's return to life in a glass coffin and the corridor of skulls. The German DVD which I had won on ebay (second time lucky) was lovely, superb picture quality (E.M.S. releasing) and had a whole bunch of extras including a vintage interview with the cast ( Christopher Lee's dubbed in German). Director Harald Reinl did a whole bunch of Edgar Wallace films that I look forward to viewing...