Dracula meets Tarzan!
The Torture Chamber of Dr Sadism (AKA The Blood Demon, AKA The Snake Pit and the Pendulum, AKA Blood of the Virgins, AKA Castle of the Walking Dead)
Christopher Lee, Lex Barker, and Karin Dor star in a West German gothic horror that plays out like a cross between Dracula: Prince of Darkness and The Pit and the Pendulum. In early 18th century Germany the evil Count Regula (Lee, of course) is drawn and quartered for murdering 12 young women, all virgins, who he killed in an attempt to gain immortality. Before he died Regula swore revenge on two people responsible for his death. Thirty-five years later the unknowing descendants of those two people (Barker and Dor) receive mysterious invitations to Regula's castle, although neither of them know who he is. Also along are Dor's maid, and a priest who was simply catching a lift to somewhere nearby. The local villagers claim not to know of the castle, and when the travellers arrive they discover their 'host' has been dead for years. However, Regula's faithful manservant nevertheless keeps the castle running, with the intention of using the 'guests' to revive the dead count. This he succeeds in doing, but only short-term. Turns out Regula needed the blood of 13 virgins to achieve full immortality; he still has the blood of the original 12 but needs one more - Dor - to achieve his goal. Cue a battle for survival and an attempt to stop Regula's diabolical plan...
The cinematography looks like Mario Bava on his best day, and the gothic castle sets are fantastic. An eerie sequence where the travellers' coach is driven through a dark forest with corpses and body-parts hanging from every tree is the stuff of nightmares. It's a shame the pacing feels uneven at times, and the film slumps a bit during the 45 minutes or so that Lee is missing (it runs an hour and a half, with Lee present for around half of that - 10 minutes at the beginning, and the last 25 minutes or so). Still, Barker makes a credible and likeable hero, Dor is stunningly beautiful (she looks like a cross between Claudia Cardinale and Edwige Fenech), and when Lee does finally reappear it's a lot of crazy fun. 7/10.