Cathardincu Surprisingly incoherent and boring

Stometer Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Nessieldwi Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

Dana An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

kevin olzak In comparing this 1971 remake with its 1964 original, one immediately misses the presence of Barbara Steele, although in both titles the 'heroine' only makes her first appearance at the half hour mark. Director Antonio Margheriti must have felt the absence of color in "Castle of Blood," and really adds little else to this new version, with Michele Mercier's Elisabeth fleshed out to some degree, as we see more of her absent husband, barely seen in the original. All the plot elements are virtually identical, right down to the lesbian love scene, resulting in three corpses lying on the floor in roughly two minutes of lustful activity. It was definitely daring in 1964, but here is treated in such timid, predictable fashion that it loses all the bite of the original. The guest filled ball is the one sequence that adds more running time here, 106 minutes over 1964's 89, Elisabeth juggling multiple affairs while her husband is away in America, and both male and female lovers equally jealous to the point of murder. The main weakness in both versions remains the same, a skeptical journalist who doesn't engender audience empathy with his failure to discover what the audience already knows. I would recommend the black and white version with Barbara Steele over the color one, both of which aired twice on Pittsburgh's Chiller Theater, between 1976-1982.

Aaron1375 The guy who was Poe was certainly the highlight of this very dull flick. Unfortunately, he is not in it enough to save the pick, rather he is sort of a movie bookend. For the rest of the movie we have a guy trying to win a bet by staying at a haunted house. A house no one has ever gotten out of alive...so basically he has to survive the night to win the bet. If he loses, well losing will be the least of his concerns. As soon as he arrives at the castle he meets lovely ladies and later a scientist who explains the situation. All the while nothing all that horrifying really occurs as we are treated to a few flashback like scenes. Truly a boring spectacle awaits you when you watch this flick...at least for me. Sure the scientist guy was kind of interesting too, but this is a movie that could use maybe a killing or two more, maybe a bit of nudity, certainly some time cut from its running time would have helped. Still though it ends interestingly enough and there are some people who may like this kind of horror drama hybrid.

david melville The opening of this film treats us to Klaus Kinski in twice his usual state of delirium - thrashing about in a shadowy, cobweb-laden crypt. He's playing Edgar Allan Poe, and he looks the very embodiment of an absinthe-soaked poete maudit. His role, alas, turns out to be little more than a glorified cameo! Still, he sets the tone admirably for the next 90 minutes of flickering candelabra, ethereal vampire beauties and white muslin curtains billowing softly by moonlight.It would be easy to dismiss this movie as a compendium of Gothic horror cliches. Easy but unfair, I feel. Like any other highly stylised art form (Romantic ballet, bel canto opera...) a Gothic tale rests on a set of unreal and perhaps arbitrary conventions. Much of a fan's pleasure depends on how faithfully, how stylishly, these conventions are played out. In truest Gothic horror tradition, Nella Stretta Morsa del Ragno does very little that's new - but does it in grand style!In a nutshell, the fiendishly deranged Poe inveigles a young journalist (Anthony Franciosa) into spending a night in a creepy old mansion. The family who inhabit this mansion seem to spend all their time dying and coming back to life. The rest of the 'plot' is predictable enough, but Michele Mercier (as the most glamorous ghoul) looks stunning whether dead or undead. Her romantic agonies are offset by Ottavio Scotti's splendid Gothic art direction. If the editing and camerawork look a little choppy at times, I blame the ghastly pan-and-scan job on my video copy.

Snake Plisken This is one of those terrible 70's films where every shot is a close-up.Terrible is the only way to describe it. Kinsky is a terrible Poe.The haunted house consists of people dancing.Avoid at all costs...really, I mean it!