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Baron Blood
Baron Blood
Credits
Title: Baron Blood
Directed by: Mario Bava
Written by: Mario Bava; Willibald Eser; William A. Bairn; Vincent Fotre [1]
Produced by: Sam Lang; Alfred Leone; J. Arthur Elliot
Music by: Stelvio Cipriani; Les Baxter
Cinematography: Antonio Rinaldi
Edited by: Carlo Reali
Production
Production: Euro America
Leone International
Dieter Geissler Filmproduktion
Cinevision Films
Distributors: American International Pictures
Astral Bellevue Pathe
Jumbo Cinematografica
Released: May 27th, 1972
Running time: 90 min.
Country: Italy/Germany
Language: Italian
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Baron Blood is an Italian and German co-produced feature film of the supernatural thriller subgenre of horror. It was directed by Mario Bava with a screenplay written by Bava and Willibald Eser based on a story treatment by Bava and Eser. For the English version, it was adapted for the screen by William A. Bairn with Vincent Fotre righting the screenplay. The movie was produced by Euro America, Leone International, Cinevision Films and Dieter Geissler Filmproduktion. It was first released in Milan, Italy through Jumbo Cinematografica on May 27th, 1972. It made its U.S. premiere on October 27th, 1972. The film stars Joseph Cotten as Alfred Becker, with Antonio Cantafora as Peter Kleist, Elke Sommer as Eva Arnold, Massimo Girotti as Karl Hummel and Rada Rassimov as Christina Hoffmann. Joseph Cotten also portrays Baron Otto von Kleist - the antagonist of this film.

Plot[]

Cast[]

Notes & Trivia[]

  • The original Italian title of this film is Gli orrori del castello di Norimberga, which redirects to this page. It translate into English as The Horrors of Nuremberg Castle.
  • The tagline to this film is "He sought the ultimate in HUMAN AGONY... with instruments of TORTURE ghastly beyond belief!"
  • There are a total of thirteen credited cast members in this film.
  • Production on Baron Blood began on September 2nd, 1971 with filming commencing on October 2nd, 1971. Shooting went for thirty-nine days, concluding on November 9th, 1971. The movie was shot on-location in Vienna, Austria. Filming wrapped three days ahead of schedule and came in under budget. [2][3]
  • This movie is included in the Mario Bava Collection, Volume 2 DVD box-set, which was released on October 23rd, 2007.
  • The castle used for the film is Burg Kreuzenstein. [4] It is located in Leobendorf in Lower Austria and its construction dates back to the 12th century.
  • On Rotten Tomatoes, Baron Blood holds a Tomatometer score of only 14% based on only 7 posted critic reviews. It has 1 fresh review and 6 rotten reviews. The film has a Popcornmeter score of 34% based on more than 1,000 user ratings, averaging 2.9 out of 5. [5] To keep things in perspective, Plan 9 from Outer Space has Tomatometer score of 66%; It has a 52% higher rating than Baron Blood. Let that sink in for a bit.
  • On Letterboxd, Baron Blood has a weighted average review score of 3.02 out of 5 based on 5,941 user ratings.
  • On U.S. prints, actor Umberto Raho is credited as Humi Raho.
  • Actor Luciano Pigozzi, who plays Fritz, is credited as Alan Collins in this film.
  • Actress Nicoletta Elmi is also known for playing Renata and Albert's daughter in A Bay of Blood in 1971.
  • This is Mario Bava's twelfth horror film as a director. Bava also worked as a cinematographer on the film, though he is uncredited in the movie in this capacity.
  • Director Mario Bava makes a cameo appearance in the film as a man walking past the castle. He is uncredited in the film in this capacity.
  • Sometime around 1997, there emerged a massive Internet hoax which claimed that a Siberian borehole had penetrated the Earth's crust into Hell itself, with "proof" being an audio recording of the screaming souls of the damned. This urban legend (variously known as the "Siberian Sounds of Hell" or "The Well to Hell" hoax) featured in many tabloids, and was even cited by some Christian groups as hard proof of a real Hell. The sound effects supposedly recorded within the borehole were actually a combination of story elements from a radio broadcast "Quiet Please - The Thing on the Fourble Board", and audio lifted from this film.

External Links[]

References[]

  1. Curti, Roberto (2017). Italian Gothic Horror Films, 1970-1979. McFarland. ISBN 978-1476629605
  2. IMDB; Baron Blood (1972); Filming locations. Filming dates.
  3. IMDB; Baron Blood (1972); Trivia.
  4. Hughes, Howard (2011). Cinema Italiano – The Complete Guide From Classics To Cult. London & New York: I.B.Tauris. ISBN 978-1-84885-608-0.
  5. Rotten Tomatoes; "Baron Blood (Gli Orrori del Castello di Norimberga)".

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This article relates to the works of Mario Bava.