The Long Hair of Death

I really felt inspired by last week's entry, Mario Bava's Black Sunday, so when I found:

The Long Hair of Death (1965),

I watched it. Directed not by Bava, but by Antonio Margheriti who is known as the number two of Gothic Italian horror behind Bava, this movie also stars Barbara Steele. Also starring are George Ardisson, Halina Zalewska, Umberto Raho amongst others.

The film is set in the 1400's in what I assume is some Germanic country. A woman is being dragged to the stake, accused of witchcraft. Her older daughter Mary (Steele) rushes to the local lord, Count Humboldt, pleading for her mothers life. The count agrees if she sleeps with him, which she does, but her mother is burned anyway. Dying on the flames, the woman curses the house of Humboldt, as they tend to do. The count kills Mary as well, in the first of a series of moves the characters do that make no sense to me. The youngest daughter, Lisabeth, is taken in by the Humboldt's for some reason.

Cut to when Lisabeth is an adult. The count's son, Kurt is determined to possess Lisabeth, despite pretty much laughing as her mother burned to death. She makes it clear that she hates him so of course Kurt arranges for them to be married. After the wedding night, he is dismayed to learn that she still hates him... What a shock!

At this time, the dead mothers curse comes to pass and a gruesome plague sweeps the area. To make matters worse, Mary returns from the dead in a pretty damn cool scene. No one seems to recognize her except the old count as she introduces herself as Helen Rochefort, and Kurt is immediately smitten by her.

This is as much of the plot as I'm willing to “spoil”.

The Long Hair of Death is a mixed bag for me. On one hand it is a Gothic masterpiece, a delightfully dark dream of wonderful imagery. On the other hand it is a fairly predictable story dotted with some completely dumbfounded decisions and details that aren't explained at all. There is a priest in the castle, Von Klage, who for some reason seem to have more power than the count and no one ever explains why that is. There is a murder plot that is ridiculously convoluted. Things like that does detract from the over all enjoyment.

The actors do a creditable job, I can't complain, and the music is... passable but if it wasn't for the incredible scenery, this movie would be a complete joke. I mentioned last week that despite filming in black and white, Bava painted the set of Black Sunday in those colors to heighten the effect. The Long Hair of Death doesn't do that and it amazed me to see that I could tell the difference.

So, do I recommend this movie? To fans of the genre, yes, I liked it, but to casual movie watchers, no. I'd say that The Long Hair of Death is a bit of an acquired taste and if Gothic dramas aren't your thing, you'll probably be a bit bored. You can't compare a movie like this to modern horror, that would be unfair, but if that is what you want, this isn't for you.

That's that and all that. Join me again next time and until then, have a great and safe week!