About to close for good, a group of theater performers invited out to an appreciative Count's castle find themselves subjected to a family curse about women being beheaded which comes to pass once again when the guests suddenly start turning up dead.
This here was quite a decent if somewhat bland semi-slasher effort. One of the few things this one does get right is the absolutely stellar Gothic imagery, as there's almost more at play here in that regard than there is in terms of it being a slasher. Taking place during the turn of the century and at a glorious, splendid castle it fits more at home with the tales of the Corman/Price/Poe films of the decade previous where it's Gothic majesty in the setting and locations gives off that same style and feel quite readily here. Once it brings up the cursed plot line and the family history involving the adulterous relatives repeating themselves it causes this one to really sell that kind of feel and tone for that movement quite easily. Once it turns into a somewhat slasher effort later on, the setting of this giant castle makes for some pretty suspenseful times that play far more in line with the supernatural than an actual murder mystery which takes on that kind of classic feel with the way the body count is found throughout here in the later stages strewn throughout the castle in bloody manners strewn in here at quite regular intervals during the final half. Alongside this is a rather healthy dose of nudity from the girls where it shows them undressing and indulging in some fondling for each other which manages to add a different feel to the Gothic atmosphere by going to far sleazier levels than those ever could've done. Still, even with all this fun stuff there's some problems. One of the main issues here is the fact that there's just not a whole lot of action transpiring here for long sections of the film's running time. The first murder doesn't occur until nearly an hour into it, so the rest of the time is spent with it really just dragging out with the group being recruited towards going to the castle and then the staff's reaction towards them which not only gets dragged out but isn't all that original and creative which really strikes this down somewhat more. There's even more here lowering this one when it comes to the final rampage where it keeps most of the death's off-screen and then stumbling upon the bodies later, which carries on for nearly all the remaining kills here and does bring this one down somewhat, though it's mostly the other issue that stops this one.
Rated Unrated/R: Violence, Nudity and Language.
This here was quite a decent if somewhat bland semi-slasher effort. One of the few things this one does get right is the absolutely stellar Gothic imagery, as there's almost more at play here in that regard than there is in terms of it being a slasher. Taking place during the turn of the century and at a glorious, splendid castle it fits more at home with the tales of the Corman/Price/Poe films of the decade previous where it's Gothic majesty in the setting and locations gives off that same style and feel quite readily here. Once it brings up the cursed plot line and the family history involving the adulterous relatives repeating themselves it causes this one to really sell that kind of feel and tone for that movement quite easily. Once it turns into a somewhat slasher effort later on, the setting of this giant castle makes for some pretty suspenseful times that play far more in line with the supernatural than an actual murder mystery which takes on that kind of classic feel with the way the body count is found throughout here in the later stages strewn throughout the castle in bloody manners strewn in here at quite regular intervals during the final half. Alongside this is a rather healthy dose of nudity from the girls where it shows them undressing and indulging in some fondling for each other which manages to add a different feel to the Gothic atmosphere by going to far sleazier levels than those ever could've done. Still, even with all this fun stuff there's some problems. One of the main issues here is the fact that there's just not a whole lot of action transpiring here for long sections of the film's running time. The first murder doesn't occur until nearly an hour into it, so the rest of the time is spent with it really just dragging out with the group being recruited towards going to the castle and then the staff's reaction towards them which not only gets dragged out but isn't all that original and creative which really strikes this down somewhat more. There's even more here lowering this one when it comes to the final rampage where it keeps most of the death's off-screen and then stumbling upon the bodies later, which carries on for nearly all the remaining kills here and does bring this one down somewhat, though it's mostly the other issue that stops this one.
Rated Unrated/R: Violence, Nudity and Language.