Castle of the Living Dead (1964) starring Christopher Lee, Donald Sutherland
A troupe of entertainers finds themselves in peril as guests in the mysterious old Castle of the Living Dead. Their host, Count Drago (Christopher Lee) has an interest in taxidermy …. Doesn’t sound too bad, does it?
Cast of characters
- Christopher Lee (Horror of Dracula, Horror Express) … Count Drago. The nobleman, who invites the troupe of actors to his castle for a command performance. He has a strange fixation with taxidermy …
- Gaia Germani … Laura. The lovely young actress. She’s kind-hearted, looking out for her adopted brother. But attracted to the handsome Count as well …
- Philippe Leroy … Eric
- Mirko Valentin … Sandro. The Count’s somewhat creepy servant. He clearly has a sadistic streak.
- Donald Sutherland … Sgt. Paul / The Witch / The Old Man. Sgt. Paul is a near-moronic police officer. The Witch, however, is quite intelligent. She tries to warn the troupe. And saves the life of Neep.
- Antonio De Martino … Neep. Little person performer in the troupe. A faithful friend, and good performer. A personal favorite character in the movie.
- Renato Terra … Policeman
- Luigi Bonos … Marc
- Ennio Antonelli … Gianni
- Jacques Stany … Bruno. Laura’s adopted brother, and protector. Head of the troupe. But his primary concern is money.
- Luciano Pigozzi (Werewolf in a Girl’s Dormitory) … Dart
Product Description
NOW IT’S YOUR TURN TO DIE…
In the final film of his early ’60s European period, Christopher Lee stars as a 19th century Count who invites a theatrical troupe for a weekend of horrors that boasts an enthusiastically creepy performance by Lee, startling locations in Lazio, Italy’s Orsini-Odescalchi Castle and ‘Park of the Monsters’, second-unit direction by Michael Reeves (WITCHFINDER GENERAL) and the screen debut of Donald Sutherland as both a doofus gendarme and a hunchbacked hag. Philippe Leroy (THE NIGHT PORTER) and Jacques Stany (VIOLENCE IN A WOMEN’S PRISON) co-star in this 1964 French-Italian co-production from American producer Paul Maslansky – who would go on to produce DEATH LINE and the POLICE ACADEMY movies – and fellow expat writer/director Warren Kiefer – after whom Sutherland would name his son – now scanned in 4K from the Italian negative for the first time ever for this 1080p Blu-ray release.