Baron Blood

Baron Blood (original title: Gli orrori del castello di Norimberga “The Horror of Castle Nuremberg”) is a 1972 Italian/German horror film directed by Mario Bava from a screenplay by Vincent Fotre. It stars Joseph Cotten (Lady Frankenstein), Elke Sommer (Lisa and the Devil), Massimo Girotti, Rada Rassimov and Antonio Cantafora.

The Italian version was scored by Stelvio Cipriani (A Bay of Blood; Night Hair Child; Tentacles) whereas the US release by AIP was re-scored by Les Baxter (as were Bava’s earlier films Black Sunday and Black Sabbath).

Plot teaser:

American Peter Kleist travels to visit the castle of his Austrian ancestor Baron Otto Von Kleist who had a reputation that earned him the nickname “Baron Blood” and who was cursed by a witch, Elisabeth Holle, for his evil deeds against the villagers before he burned her at the stake.

Peter is shown a parchment with a spell reputed to have the power to bring Baron Blood back to life. As a lark with Eva, a female architect renovating the castle for a hotel project, he reads the invocation out loud in the castle. Frightened by an unseen presence, they read the spell to send him back. They later read the invocation again, only this time the parchment is burned before they can read the dismissal.

The revived corpse-like Baron goes into town and murders a doctor, starting a reign of terror against the villagers. With each murder victim he becomes more human yet can revert to his hideous appearance…

Arrow Video Blu-ray + DVD release:

High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD presentation of three versions of the film: Bava’s original version Gli orrori del castello di Norimberga with Italian audio, The European Export Version of Baron Blood with English audio, and, on home video for the first time, the re-edited and re-dubbed AIP Version of Baron Blood with alternate score by Les Baxter
Three audio versions: Optional Italian, European English and AIP English re-dub and re-score
English SDH subtitles and a new English subtitle translation of the Italian audio
Audio Commentary with Bava biographer and expert Tim Lucas
Introduction to Baron Blood by author and critic Alan Jones
Delirium Italian-style: Ruggero Deodato on Mario Bava and the golden age of Italian genre films
Mario Bava at work – a photo gallery of Bava behind the scenes on his films
Trailers for Baron Blood
Baron Blood Radio Spots
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Graham Humphreys
Collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by critic James Oliver, illustrated with original archive stills and posters

Buy Baron Blood on Arrow Blu-ray from Amazon.co.uk

Reviews:

“Baron Blood’s beautiful, atmospheric visuals render it, at the very least, an entertaining instalment in his later filmmaking period. A chase sequence in the fog-filled alley, the Baron’s resurrection, and the corpses around the castle all make for very fine set pieces. All the ingredients are present, and even though they don’t completely add up, a mediocre Bava film still plays better than even the best of most horror directors.” Samm Deighan, Diabolique

“Fortunately, the movie is buoyed a little by fun performances like Cotten, Sommer (who makes an excellent old-school horror actress—dumb, with screaming abilities that are practically operatic) and Rada Rassimov as a kooky witch who can channel the spirits of the dead. Despite its numerous issues, which include being not in the least scary, Baron Blood is kind of fun to watch. It’s cheesy, creepy enough to give you a fun shiver or two, and has a villain that at least looks scary, even if his acts aren’t.” Abby, No More Popcorn

“From a production stand point there are not that many areas in which this film does not hold really well. The visuals are first rate, pacing is never an issue as things move briskly from one revelation to the next and once again Mario Bava excels, when it comes to the murder set pieces. Outside of the deliriously over the top performance from Joseph Cotton (Citizen Kane, The Third Man) in not one, but two roles. None of this film’s other performance leave that strong of an impression and they tend to come off as to mechanical in their delivery.” Michael Den Boer, 10k Bullets