Christopher Lee stars as Count Regula, a demented madman who, at the beginning of the film is drawn and quartered for the killing of 12 virgins in his torture chamber.
Flash forward 35 years later when a man named Roger Von Marienberg ( Lex Barker) who arrives in a small European town and receives an invitation to a castle that the locals call the castle of blood.
He journeys to the castle with another man claiming to be a priest. On their way to the castle they have to rescue two beautiful women from highwaymen. The women are Baroness Lilian von Brabant (Karin Dor) and her servant Babette (Christiane Rucker). Roger learns that the Baroness has also been invited to the mysterious castle.
Upon arrival they both find themselves at the mercy of a revived Count Regula who is seeking revenge on both of them as they are descendants of the people who has him executed.
There are some excellent set pieces in this film such as a forest full of corpses, a castle full of mysterious rooms, vultures in a hallway and much more.
Karin Dor is incredibly beautiful as usual and the film flows along very well. I was first introduced to this movie way back in the mid 1980's on a heavily edited VHS tape that ran only 70 minutes.
The Blu-ray release from Severin is very welcome and it is sourced from 2 different 16mm prints. I know the "fanboys" have already been complaining, but there is simply nothing wrong with the print. This is an exclusive release included only with the Hemisphere Horrors set. It is not sold separately.
If you're a Christopher Lee fan, or horror fan in general, I recommend this gem.
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