Baron Blood (1972)

dir. Mario Bava cast Joseph Cotten, Elke Sommer, Massimo Girotti, Antonio Cantafora

Italian director Bava made his international reputation through atmospheric Gothic chillers such as Black Sunday (1960) and Kill, Baby, Kill! (1966), then switched gears with Twitch of the Death Nerve, released in 1971. It portrayed gruesome, bloody murders, mostly by sharp implements, on an isolated island and, thus, is often considered an ancestor of 80's slasher movies. In Baron Blood, though, Bava seemed to be trying to return to his Gothic roots, although the film takes place in the present.

Peter Kleist, who has been attending college in the US, returns to his ancestral hometown in Austria. Welcomed by his uncle, and a beautiful architect named Eva (Sommer), he visits the crumbling castle of his ancestor, Baron Otto Von Kleist, nicknamed Baron Blood. The good Baron was a sadistic torturer and murderer, who was burned alive by his own peasants when they tired of his nocturnal activities. The castle is about to be sold at auction.

Peter has some ancient documents that he found which supposedly contain an incantation for resurrecting the Baron, and another one for sending him back to the grave. Despite the warnings of his uncle, Peter and Eva, decide (for no very good reason), to go to the castle at midnight and read the revival incantation.Although they do not actually see the Baron, something seems to be happening and Eva urges Peter to read the other passage. Before he can so so, a gust of wind blows the paper into the fire. Subsequent scenes make it clear that Peter and Eva have indeed unleashed Baron Blood back onto the unsuspecting village, and the Baron resumes his campaign of torture and murder. Peter and Eva gradually realize what is going on, but, predictably have a hard time convincing anybody, including the elderly wheelchair-bound businessman (Cotten) who has bought the castle.

Bava does manage to showcase some of his old flair for creepy atmosphere that helped make Black Sunday and Kill, Baby Kill! so effective. The crumbling, dark, cobwebby castle, with its myriad staircases and dungeon full of rusty torture implements, is marvelous, lending a Gothic air to a story set in the early 1970s. I also liked the look of the revived Baron; he's mostly seen as a shadowy figure in long cloak and broad-brimmed hat, invoking the old 1940's radio character the Shadow, or perhaps Vincent Price in House of Wax. The scene where he chases Eva through the fog-shrouded streets of the village is nearly as good as anything Bava ever filmed. The very brief glimpses we get of his face and hands reveal the effects of the fire that killed him. The acting is acceptable, though Cotten makes his character sound disturbingly like Mr. Magoo! Sommer was quite simply one of the most gorgeous actresses in the long history of film, and frequent closeups of her beautiful face certainly, for me, added to the visual appeal of the film.

Unfortunately, the film also has weaknesses which keep it from being top-drawer Bava. There are many gaping plot holes. There doesn't seem to be any clear motivation for Peter and Eva to go to the castle at night and read the incantation. Peter's young cousin claims to have seen the Baron, but this is before the incantation is read. Don't the characters wonder how Cotten is able to get around the castle when he's confined to a wheelchair and the castle seems to consist mostly of stairs? Like many horror heroines, Eva seems to be initially set up as a capable, smart, and brave woman, but when the chips are really down, all she can do is scream (in one hilarious line, Peter tells her "pull yourself together" after she's witnessed events that would unhinge just about anybody). The film also tends to descend into dullness when the Baron is not lurking about. The Baron himself seems a pretty impersonal menace until near the very end of the film.

This can't really hold a candle to the legendary Bava's best films, such as the ones mentioned above, but it's a good movie nonetheless. If you, like me, enjoy Gothic horrors with lots of creepy atmosphere, this may not make your Top Ten, but is still worth checking out.