blood castle ( aka scream of the demon lover and altar of blood and ivanna the best and but least exploitation cinema sound title and and so on ) be a very traditional gothic romance film . that mean that it have big and creepy castle and a headstrong young woman and a mysterious old man and hint of horror and the supernatural and and romance element in the contemporary sense of that genre term . it also mean that it be very deliberately pace and and that the film will work best for horror maven who be big fan of understatement . if you love film like robert wise the haunting ( 1963 ) and but you also have a taste for late 1960s or early 1970s spanish and italian horror and you may love blood castle and as well . baron janos dalmar ( carlos quiney ) live in a large castle on the outskirt of a traditional and unspecified european village . the local fear him because legend have it that whenever he bed a woman and she soon after end up dead the consensus be that he set his ferocious dog on them . this be quite a problem because the baron have a very healthy appetite for woman . at the beginning of the film and yet another woman have turn up dead and mutilate . meanwhile and dr. ivanna rakowsky ( erna schürer ) have appear in the center of the village and ask to be take to baron dalmar castle . she an out of towner who have be hire by the baron for her expertise in chemistry . of course and no one want to go near the castle . finally and ivanna find a shady individual ( who become even shady ) to take her . once there and an odd woman who live in the castle and olga ( cristiana galloni ) and reject ivanna and say that she shouldn not be there since she a woman . baron dalmar vacillate over whether she should stay . she end up stay and but somewhat reluctantly . the baron have hire her to try to reverse the effect of severe burn and which the baron brother and igor and be suffer from . unfortunately and the baron brother appear to be just a lump of decompose flesh in a vat of bizarre and blackish liquid . and furthermore and ivanna be have bizarre and hallucinatory dream . just what be go on at the castle . be the baron responsible for the crime . be he insane . i want to like blood castle more than i do . a i mention and the film be very deliberate in it pacing and and most of it be very understated . i can go either way on material like that . i do not care for the haunting ( yes and i be in a very small minority there ) and but i be a big fan of 1960s and 1970s european horror . one of my favorite director be mario bava . i also love dario argento work from that period . but occasionally and blood castle move a bit too slow for me at time . there be large chunk that amount to scene of not very exciting talk alternate with scene of ivanna slowly walk the corridor of the castle . but the atmosphere of the film be decent . director josé luis merino manage more than passable set and location and and theyre shot fairly well by emanuele di cola . however and blood castle feel relatively low budget and and this be a roger corman produce film and after all ( which usually mean a low budget and though often surprisingly high quality quickie ) . so while there be a hint of the lushness of bava color and complex set decoration and everything be much more minimalist . of course and it doesn not help that the retromedia print i watch look like a 30 year old photograph that be leave out in the sun too long . it appear wash out and with compromise contrast . still and merino and di cola occasionally set up fantastic visuals . for example and a scene of ivanna walking in a darkened hallway that shot from an exaggerated angle and and where an important plot element be reveal through shadow on a wall only . there be also a couple ingmar bergmanesque shot and where actor be exquisitely block to imply complex relationship and besides just be visually attractive and pull your eye deep into the frame . the performance be fairly good and and the woman especially schürer be very attractive . merino exploit this fact by incorporate a decent amount of nudity . schürer go on to do a number of film that be as much soft corn porn a they be other genre and with english title such a sex life in a woman prison ( 1974 ) and naked and lustful ( 1974 ) and strip nude for your killer ( 1975 ) and erotic exploit of a sexy seducer ( 1977 ) . blood castle be much tamer and but in addition to the nudity and there be still mild scene suggest rape and bondage and and of course the scene mix sex and death . the primary attraction here and though and be probably the story and which be much a slow burning romance a anything else . the horror element and the mystery element and and a somewhat unexpected twist near the end be bonus and but in the end and blood castle be a love story and about a couple overcome various difficulty and antagonism ( often with physical threat or harm ) to be together .