Starring - Rossana Podesta (Hercules. Man of the Year), Georges Riviere (Agent 3S3: Passport to Hell, Castle of Blood), and Christopher Lee (The Hunting of the Snark, Dark Shadows)
Release Date - 1963
Genre - Horror
Tagline - "Women's virtues made him a killer"
Format - Bluray (Personal Collection) (Screener)
Rating (out of 5):
When I received The Eurocrypt of Christopher Lee Volume 3 from Severin Films, I expected to see several titles that were completely new to me. However, I'm surprised by how many of these films in this set that I had actually seen. I had just finished Beat Girls and The Hands of Orlac when I decided to continue on with 1963's The Virgin of Nuremberg. This was a movie I thought I had never seen before but I soon realized that it was very familiar to me. After a quick search I learned that the film was also released under the title Horror Castle. This was a film I had previously watched back many years ago and completely forgot about it. It was awesome getting to revisit it in this amazing set from my friends over at Severin.
The film follows a young American bride who is taken to her husband's German castle after their marriage. She soon learns of the rich history the castle has and how one of the properties long time employee was once disfigured by Nazis during World War II. While exploring the castle and it's many rooms, she finds a woman bound and tortured but when she returns with her husband the woman is nowhere to be found. She then learns about the castles "secret" from decades before when an evil man known as "The Punisher' would torture people in the castle's dungeon. While the more superstitious employees say that he is back, the young woman suspects that her new husband or one of his employees are responsible for the heinous acts.
I was not expecting to see this one when I hit play on The Virgin of Nuremberg but it was pretty cool to revisit this one after all these years. It's a fantastic film but it's nowhere near the top 20 of Lee's best performances. I do enjoy it and can see this set being worth it just for this film alone but in the 70 years Lee was in film, it's not even a speck on his career. The acting in this one is solid but not the best I've seen. Many, like myself, will be tossing this one in with hopes of seeing a fantastic performance from a young Christopher Lee. He delivers a solid enough performance but his character is not that memorable and he doesn't really get the screen time fans would have liked. However, Georges Riviere is great in her role. She does a great job carrying the scenes and shows a wide array of emotions. I've always liked her in this film but can't think of a reason why I have yet to look up other films of hers. The supporting cast is decent but we do get a lot of cheesy performances from many of them. It's not the worst I've scene but early 60s cinema is a lot of camp. The story for this one is one that was pretty popular in the 60s where we follow a woman in an old castle where something sinister once took place. It's not the most original story I've seen from the time but I do enjoy the Nazi addition to the story to give the film real world lore. It has great atmosphere and tension but the predictability and poor pacing in some scenes does stop it from reaching it's full potential. Finally, the film has some solid make-up effects and light blood but doesn't really deliver on the gore. Early 60s genre films were more about locations, atmosphere, and story over blood and gore. Overall, The Virgin of Nuremberg is an effective gothic horror title with some great atmosphere and tension but does have issues with it's pacing. While Lee does appear in the film, he does not have as much screen time as I would have liked. Regardless, it's a fun film that deserves to be seen.
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