Synopsis: A young man visits the castle of a murderous ancestor in Austria. After reading an incantation he accidentally brings the relative back to life. Setting him loose in search of new victims.
Tonight we are taking a look at Baron Blood from the Master of the Macabre himself, Mario Bava. If you aren’t familiar with his work, he directed a string of horror films throughout the 60’s and early 70’s. Essentially creating modern horror. Honestly, I think most of his films should be required viewing for any horror fan. His ability to build beautiful imagery with contrasting colors is legendary. Whether it be his early giallo work, his science fiction horror or what some would consider one of the earliest slasher films Bay of Blood, he is often duplicated but rarely replicated.
Taking a break from his college studies, Peter (Antonio Cantafora) decides to investigate his family’s history in Austria. Upon arrival, he learns from his uncle Karl (Massimo Girotti) that his great grandfather was the notorious “Baron Blood”. The sadistic murderer that tortured the villagers of his town. Legend has it that he burned the witch Holle, who laid a curse upon him. Allowing him to rise from the dead just so she could eternally enact her revenge.
Peter meets Eva (Elke Sommer) who is in charge of keeping the Baron’s castle’s architecture intact during renovations. After hours, Peter convinces Eva to take him to the room where the Baron was burned to death. In order to read the resurrection incantation he found amongst his grandfather’s things. As they do, they hear heavy footsteps outside the door and the reverse incantation is blown into the fireplace.
The recently resurrected Baron secretly enters the castle and kills the man in charge of the restoration. The next day a mysterious millionaire named Alfred Becker purchases the castle and hires Eva to restore it to its original glory. The Baron continues to terrorize Eva, stalking her and eventually forcing her to leave her job.
Turns out that Alfred and the Baron are one in the same. So now it’s a race against the clock to harness the witch Holle’s power. So they can destroy the Baron before he gets to them.
The stunning Gothic imagery and moody lighting in Baron Blood isn’t enough to draw attention away from a boring plot and a pretty bland bad guy. I’m generally a Bava fan but this one ranks on the lower ends of the scale for me. Borrowing elements from the Vlad the Impaler legend it garners enough macabre moments to keep me interested. But overall I wasn’t feeling this one. Shame really, because I’m generally a fan of his work.
For some reason it never made it to the top of my queue until now. But being a bit of a completionist, I had to watch this one. Even though I didn’t enjoy it, I’m sure there are fans out there that do. If you are looking to experience Baron Blood for yourself, you can find it streaming on Prime as of this writing.
2 out of 5
So grab your popcorn, kill the lights and join me again tomorrow as we continue our journey on this strange little trip down the 31 Days of Horror rabbit hole. See you soon…
