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Baron Blood
Master Bava is always
unique, even when things do not go well. As in the case of 'Baron
Blood', which is certainly not the film for which we remember him as
one of the great masters of cinema. And on the other hand, both
Morandini and Ebert spoke ill of it.
But at the same time it is a film that has a number of pleasing, well thought-out things about it.
I will state the obvious but Bava's hand can be seen and felt in almost
every shot. There is great attention to detail, environments and
staging. There is a creeping irony that is never exaggerated and there
is a cast that does its duty with Joseph Cotten and Elke Sommer and
horror babe Nicoletta Elmi. All in a gothic work, one of the last in an
elegant and charming package.
But there is also a story that is a little too obvious, which loses
bite and is a little predictable. At times banal and unexciting.
Peter (Von) Kleist (Antonio Cantafora) is a descendant of Baron Von
Kleist. A cursed baron who lived in Nuremberg Castle. Peter has a
parchment from his distant relative that, apparently, if read in a room
in the castle can bring the dark baron back to life.
And Peter, back in Nuremberg and a guest of Professor Karl Hummer
(Massimo Girotti), tries it for fun, in the company of Eva (Elke
Sommer) a student he has just met. After a couple of rehearsals gone
wrong, it seems to work and in fact three people are killed in the
city. And above all, a man in a wheelchair buys the castle. Is he the
reincarnated uncle? As the little girl played by Nicoletta Elmi says?