Goth Queen Barbara Steele Stars in Nightmare Castle
Where has 1960s gothic cinema been all my life. Romance, horror, love, murder, betrayal and revenge! All the elements of classic gothic cinema are alive and present in this 1965 Italian film titled Nightmare Castle. The first lady of the gothic film, Barbara Steele, stars in dual roles of two sisters who marry the same cold-blooded count. One after another. The plot is as follows:
“A sadistic count tortures and murders his unfaithful wife and her lover, then removes their hearts from their bodies. Discovering that his wife drew up a new will giving her fortune to her institutionalized sister, the count marries her and the new wife experiences nightmares and hauntings. The ghosts of the slain return to exact their bloody revenge, until their hearts are destroyed.”
Who isn’t up for some bloody revenge? Steele, known as ‘the first goth’ for her legendary status as a gothic cinema star, performs a character very familiar to her in this film. Her reputation for playing either a cheating wife with a husband seeking revenge, or a cheating wife seeking revenge on her husband was well known. This sort of type-cast wore on her. Barbara once commented that she never wanted to “climb out of a f–king coffin again.” But even though she gained a loyal following for her goth films, she never had much success as an actress outside of the genre. Here is the Nightmare Castle trailer. Watch the entire movie on Classic Horror — all on MeVIO Men. The film even includes the soundtrack by Ennio Morricone.
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