British actress Barbara Steele starred in a total of nine Italian gothics between 1960 and 1966. Her foreign horror canon started with the legendary BLACK SUNDAY under the direction of Mario Bava and was followed by THE TERROR OF DR. HICHCOCK by Riccardo Freda (made during the filming of Fellini's 8 1/2). She would also go on to make LONG HAIR OF DEATH and CASTLE OF BLOOD (both for Antonio Margheriti), THE GHOST (Freda again), TERROR-CREATURES FROM THE GRAVE (Ralph Zucker), THE SHE BEAST (Michael Reeves), and her final hurrah, AN ANGEL FOR SATAN (Camillo Mastrocinque). However, NIGHTMARE CASTLE (directed by Mario Caiano, not Allan Grunewald, which was merely a fabricated pseudonym) is easily one of her finest turns in the horror genre, essentially because of the generous amount of screen time given to the actress and her alluring features.

Dr. Stephen Arrowsmith (Paul Müller) is a daffy scientist living in a large villa with his beautiful raven-haired wife Muriel (Barbara Steele), suspected of infidelity. Pretending to leave their home for a stretch, he is able to catch his unfaithful wife getting it on with the beefy gardener (Rik Battaglia) in the greenhouse. After some prolonged torture, he ultimately electrocutes the couple to death with the knowledge that Muriel has bequeathed her fortune, and their precious home, to her look-alike step-sister Jenny. The good doctor ends up seeking Jenny (Steele in a blonde wig) and marrying her, with plans to drive her mad and take her for all she's worth. Jenny has wild nightmares involving persecution by a faceless assailant, and when a helpful young doctor (Marino Masé using the pseudonym Laurence Clift) comes to visit and surmises that Jenny is possessed, an attempt is made to rub him out. But Dr. Arrowsmith’s troubles are only beginning, as the dead will not rest easily and soon return to assure that this wicked scoundrel get his just desserts!

The majority of Steele’s Italian-made horrors involve the melodramatics of estranged couples, extramarital relationships, complex revenge, and the bitter dead returning to life. NIGHTMARE CASTLE (also known as THE NIGHT OF THE DOOMED as well as THE FACELESS MONSTER) is no exception to this rule. The screenplay is rather contrived and familiar territory if you’ve seen Steele’s previous gothics, but with those profitable efforts and the writings of Edgar Allan Poe as suitable inspiration, the film as a whole is involving enough to keep the viewer interested, and the visuals alone make this an essential example of the golden age of Italian horror.

Director Mario Caiano, whose forte was largely Spaghetti westerns, obviously had a flair for atmospheric horror, here reassured by the customary creaky doors, concrete crypts and lit candelabras. But there’s more substance than just that. Caiano (who also co-wrote the screenplay) not only makes ample use of his lead actress (in two very different roles for the price of one), but effectively sets up a number of moody shocks and sometimes misogynistic setpieces which function as highlights throughout the running time. Take for example the demise of Steele’s character Muriel: we witness her chained to walls, flagellated with chains, starved, disfigured with acid and finally executed with her equally defeated lover squirming above her bondaged body. Stark, superbly framed cinematography by Enzo Barboni (DJANGO) and some proficiently ghoulish make-up (the image of the half-disfigured face of Muriel’s ghost is unforgettable) are two more of the film’s finer assets for your checklist. With this effort, the legendary Ennio Morricone composed his first original score for a horror movie, and with its haunting organ theme and assorted intense crescendos, is perfectly in tune with the macabre goings-on. The gothic villa in which the film was shot in and around, seemed cater-made for horror outings, and it could be later seen in such films as BLOOD FOR DRACULA and BURIAL GROUND.

Steele is both bewitching and beautiful in the dual roles, and seeing Muriel relentlessly tortured in gloomy black and white can be quite unsettling or fetishistic, depending on the viewer. With the blonde step-sister Jenny, a character who takes up more screen time, we benefit from hearing Steele's true speaking voice which she was able to dub in the post syncing. In a ridiculous-looking hairpiece, Paul Müller (here billed as the more American-friendly “Paul Miller”) obviously relished playing a murderous mad scientist. With his awkward, lanky and somewhat homely appearance, the Swiss-born actor would find himself playing similar treacherous types in a number of genre films, many for director Jess Franco. Also no stranger to the genre, sexy Helga Liné plays Solange, Dr. Arrowsmith’s maid/mistress whom he transforms from old hag to radiant stunner through innovative blood transfusions. Liné would soon become a popular (and often nude) figure in Spanish horror, starring in such titles as HORROR RISES FROM THE TOMB, THE MUMMY’S REVENGE, THE LORELEI'S GRASP and many others. Appearing here under the one-off “Laurence Clift” moniker, Marino Masé is another familiar Italian character actor with an endless career, though horror fans will most likely recognize him as Rosalba Neri’s desirable creation in LADY FRANKENSTEIN (also starring Müller).

NIGHTMARE CASTLE has been available on DVD through various companies who specialize in public domain features. Often seen in edited and poor quality presentations, Severin Films’ back-cover exclamation of, “Throw away all those inferior transfers from censored TV prints: This is NIGHTMARE CASTLE like you've never seen it before!” is absolutely accurate. The HD transfer is presented in its correct 1.66:1 aspect ratio with anamorphic enhancement, and is something of a revelation when compared to previous home video versions. The black and white image is crisp and well defined, and the orginal negative source is in spectacular condition, aside from a handful of fleeting blemishes. The mono audio presents a clean replication of the English language track, with no mentionable shortcomings. No subtitle option is provided. This is the fully uncut and restored version, running over 104 minutes and the print maintains the original Italian credits (under the title "Amanti D'Oltretomba").