The Legend of Blood Castle

Ceremonia sangrienta

Spain, Italy

1973

88 Min

Color

Spanish

Currently 3.9/5 Stars.
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DP Fernando Arríbas, Oberdan Troiani

CAST Lucía Bosé, Espartaco Santoni, Ewa Aulin, Ana Farra, Silvano Tranquilli, Lola Gaos, Enrique Vivó, María Vico, Ángel Menéndez, Adolfo Thous, Ismael García Romen, Raquel Ortuño, María Dolores Tovar

After learning that the blood of her servants keeps her skin looking fresh and gorgeous, Countess Erzsebet Bathory (Lucia Bosé) enlists the aid of her husband, Karl (Espartaco Santoni), to murder nubile girls and snatch their blood. But one comely lass, an innkeeper’s daughter named Marina (Ewa Aulin), ends up snatching Karl’s affections in this gory chiller from Spanish cult auteur Jorge Grau.

Director

Jorge Grau

Jorge Grau (born Jorge Grau Solá, 27 October 1930) is a Spanish director, scriptwriter, playwright and painter. In 1973, he directed Bloody Ceremony (aka Legend of Blood Castle, aka The Female Butcher). In 1974, he directed his horror masterpiece, The Living Dead at the Manchester Morgue (aka Let Sleeping Corpses Lie, aka Don’t Open the Window.) —Wikipedia

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Scout

14Nov12

I'd recommend it on the basis of Ewa Aulin with dark hair alone but the real treat is Jorge Grau turning what was routinely rote into something multi-layered and fascinating, as he did with Manchester Morgue. A better print is needed to appreciate the design, but his critique of law & order (clearly Spanish, no matter the setting) and royal decadence are bold and horrific. The trial sequences are genius.