Monday 1 April 2013

APRIL 1, 2013

 078 DIE SCHLANGENGRUBE UND DER PENDEL/Blood Demon(1967 Directed by Harald Reinl ***

A surprisingly good German horror film - good inasmuch as the photography is excellent, the performances adequate, the direction competent and the story bizarre enough to keep you watching. Of course all this doesn't place it very high in the scheme of things but if you enjoy the genre then there are far worse ways tp spend 90 minutes. Christopher Lee is Count Regula who is executed for the murder of twelve women and is later revived to take his revenge on those who betrayed him and to continue his search for the secret of immortality. Supposedly based on Poe's "The Pit and the Pendulum" the film does, indeed, feature an entertaining array of  torture devices to be used on Lex Barker and Karin Dor (Mrs. Reinl).  Lee, as one might expect, turns in the film's best performance despite having relatively little screen time. The film was a change of pace for Reinl who was better known for his WINNETOU westerns and Edgar Wallace krimis.

DIE SCHLANGENGRUBE UND DER PENDEL

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