Wednesday, June 13, 2012

THE BLACK CASTLE - "Serenata No.13" (1952)

What can I say about a film this classic that you haven't read, heard or seen before? If you haven't seen it, please do so, you can find it on Netflix, and if you have seen it, then watch it again, I'm sure that just like me, you've probably forgotten how good a film it really is!

Here's the star of the movie, William Castle's granddaddy, "The Black Castle" itself!

Besides the people that dwell here, The Castle has issues of it's own! I was just reading about a 45 room place in England for sale, that had no indoor pumbing! Something like 4 and a half million dollars and no bathroom, what a deal!!

You've all heard the song about the "Green Door," but if you really want to get pickled, you need to head on over to the "Green Man" bar! The "Blue Man" group plays there every other Thursday!

On the left is Stephen (The Fiend Who Walked The West) McNally as the oh so sinister Count Karl von Bruno, and on the right is Richard (143 episodes of Robin Hood) Greene as Sir Ronald Burton, alias Richard Beckett, a man out to find out why a couple of his best friends died mysteriously!!

The always amazing Boris Karloff is Dr. Meissen! Boris not only makes a great Frankenstein, he also can play a benevolent Doctor with ease, and he's not messin' around!

Rita (The Body Snatcher) Corday is the evil Count's wife, Countess Elga von Bruno! I can't imagine why Rita changed her name from the name she was born with, Jeanne Paule Teipotemarga!! Even more so, her credits on this film are as Paula Corday!

Well, you can see where this is going, Sir Ronald and The Countess are getting along a lot better than him and The Count for some reason!

This is what you call a very strategically placed clue!!

What a pair of scalliwags! The Count is joined by his best buddy, Michael (Curse Of The Undead) Pate as Count Ernst von Melcher! It's amazing, not only do these two look like brothers, they're in the two movies in title that I always get mixed up about, "The Fiend That Walked The West," and "Curse Of The Undead!"

The duo of doom are joined here by yet another incredibly amazing talent, John (Attack Of The Puppet People, 2 Episodes of The Twilight Zone, and 3 Outer Limits) Hoyt as Count Steiken! It seems like the word Count must have been a pseudonym for stinkin' bastard back in the day! If there would have been two more counts, we could of had a "Psychotic Reaction!"

Okay, if you're not convinced yet, Lon Chaney Jr. is also in this film as the big lummox Gargon always sneaking into somebody's bedroom at night!!

Just in case he's not crazy enough, here's a hint as to why Count von Bruno wears an eyepatch!!

Just for kicks, The Count and his castle also sport an alligator pit that has to be circumvented thusly!!

Now if he just had a computer sitting in front of him, I'd say this is what I look like a lot of the time lately!!

"The Black Castle" might be 60 years olde, but I'm still not going to tell you how it started or ended! It's just that damn good! Don't take my word for it, see for yourself!!

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