{"id":35344,"date":"2015-11-17T11:36:22","date_gmt":"2015-11-17T18:36:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=35344"},"modified":"2020-12-15T11:20:58","modified_gmt":"2020-12-15T18:20:58","slug":"baron-blood-1972","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=35344","title":{"rendered":"Baron Blood (1972)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;I would not play with the occult if I were you. One&#8217;s obsession with it can be the real danger.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Baron-Blood-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Baron-Blood-Poster-198x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"198\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-35345\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Baron-Blood-Poster-198x300.jpg 198w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Baron-Blood-Poster-84x128.jpg 84w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Baron-Blood-Poster-675x1024.jpg 675w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Baron-Blood-Poster.jpg 989w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 198px) 100vw, 198px\" \/><\/a><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nA young nobleman (Antonio Cantafora) visiting his uncle (Massimo Girotti) enlists the help of a plucky architecture student (Elke Sommer) in bringing his infamous ancestor &#8220;Baron Blood&#8221; &#8212; who was cursed by a witch (Rada Rassimov) &#8212; back to life. A rash of hideous killings soon erupts, and Cantafora and Sommer try to reverse their error while warning the mysterious wheelchair-bound millionaire (Joseph Cotten) who has purchased the baron&#8217;s castle.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Horror Films<\/li>\n<li>Joseph Cotten Films<\/li>\n<li>Mario Bava Films<\/li>\n<li>Royalty and Nobility<\/li>\n<li>Serial Killers<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nMario Bava was lured to Vienna to make this Gothic horror flick, which <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1973\/02\/08\/archives\/baron-blood-here-from-austria.html\">the New York Times<\/a> referred to in its review as &#8220;spectral schlock&#8221;. As noted in <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cathoderaytube.co.uk\/2013\/05\/world-cinema-classics-baron-blood-mario.html\">Cathode Ray Tube&#8217;s detailed review<\/a>, Bava draws upon many of his own previous works &#8212; as well as other horror favorites &#8212; in his imagery, which is consistently atmospheric and creative (see stills below). Unfortunately, the storyline leaves much to be desired: beginning with the two reckless would-be lovers stupidly messing with black magic time and again, we can&#8217;t help feeling like the entire narrative is simply an excuse to show off gory violence and impressive sets (most of the film was shot on location in the spooky Austrian castle <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Burg_Kreuzenstein\">Burg Kreuzenstein<\/a>). Meanwhile, it&#8217;s a bit painful watching Cotten &#8212; third choice for the role after Vincent Price turned it down and Ray Milland was unavailable &#8212; mouth lines like: &#8220;Now you shall taste the pain &#8212; the exquisite agony!&#8221;, especially knowing that he for some reason omitted this title from the filmography in his autobiography. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Note:<\/strong> In his <em>Cult Movies<\/em> book, Peary refers to <em>Baron Blood<\/em> simply as &#8220;terrible&#8221;, lamenting the fact that Bava never made another film half as good as <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=35358\"><em>Black Sunday<\/em> (1960)<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Fine location shooting at Castle Kreuzenstein in Austria<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Baron-Blood-Sets.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Baron-Blood-Sets-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-35349\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Baron-Blood-Sets-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Baron-Blood-Sets-128x72.jpg 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Baron-Blood-Sets-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Baron-Blood-Sets.jpg 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Atmospheric cinematography and direction<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Baron-Blood-Cinematography.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Baron-Blood-Cinematography-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-35350\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Baron-Blood-Cinematography-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Baron-Blood-Cinematography-128x72.jpg 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Baron-Blood-Cinematography-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Baron-Blood-Cinematography.jpg 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Baron-Blood-Cinematography2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Baron-Blood-Cinematography2-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-35351\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Baron-Blood-Cinematography2-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Baron-Blood-Cinematography2-128x72.jpg 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Baron-Blood-Cinematography2-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Baron-Blood-Cinematography2.jpg 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Baron-Blood-Cinematography3.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Baron-Blood-Cinematography3-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-35347\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Baron-Blood-Cinematography3-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Baron-Blood-Cinematography3-128x72.jpg 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Baron-Blood-Cinematography3-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Baron-Blood-Cinematography3.jpg 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Baron-Blood-Cinematography4.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Baron-Blood-Cinematography4-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-35348\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Baron-Blood-Cinematography4-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Baron-Blood-Cinematography4-128x72.jpg 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Baron-Blood-Cinematography4-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Baron-Blood-Cinematography4.jpg 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nNo; this one is only must-see for Bava fans, though the imagery is consistently haunting. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0069048\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.dvdtalk.com\/dvdsavant\/s4047bloo.html\">DVD Savant Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.dvdtalk.com\/reviews\/62100\/baron-blood\/\">DVD Talk Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1973\/02\/08\/archives\/baron-blood-here-from-austria.html\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/brightlightsfilm.com\/mario-bavas-baron-blood-dvd\/#.Vkq_H_mrQU0\">Bright Lights Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/moria.co.nz\/horror\/baron-blood-1972-gli-orrori-del-castello-di-norimberga.htm\">Moria Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.cathoderaytube.co.uk\/2013\/05\/world-cinema-classics-baron-blood-mario.html\">Cathode Ray Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;I would not play with the occult if I were you. One&#8217;s obsession with it can be the real danger.&#8221; Synopsis: A young nobleman (Antonio Cantafora) visiting his uncle (Massimo Girotti) enlists the help of a plucky architecture student (Elke Sommer) in bringing his infamous ancestor &#8220;Baron Blood&#8221; &#8212; who was cursed by a witch (Rada Rassimov) &#8212; back to life. A rash of hideous killings soon erupts, and Cantafora and Sommer try to reverse their error while warning the&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=35344\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35344","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35344","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=35344"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35344\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":58029,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35344\/revisions\/58029"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=35344"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=35344"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=35344"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}