- Directed by Roger Corman, Francis Ford Coppola
- Written by Leo Gordon, Jack Hill
- Stars Boris Karloff, Jack Nicholson, Sandra Knight
- Run Time: 1 Hour, 21 Minutes
- Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2YRo6dskac
Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone
It’s got ghosts, witchery, murder, a bit of a mystery. There’s powerhouse direction and actors. Great sets and location. It should be really good, right? Well… It’s really talky, low on action, slow on horror. For long stretches it seemed like it could have been a stage play. Watchable, but not great.
Synopsis
Baron von Leppe wanders around his castle on the cliff. He enters a secret chamber. He follows a trail of blood, and he finds an ancient-looking skeleton. Credits roll.
Lt. Andre Duvalier rides his horse along the beach. He’s lost his regiment and needs directions. He spots a silent woman and follows her; she is Helene. He watches her walk into the ocean and disappear; he looks but can’t find her.
He awakens in the care of an old woman in the forest. Her bird’s name is Helene, and she has a nearly-mute assistant named Gustav.
That night, he finds Helene (the girl) again, and they kiss. He follows her through the woods until Gustav stops him from walking into quicksand. Gustav explains that the girl is possessed and can’t help herself. She’s being held in the castle. The old woman warns him not to go to the castle, as the girl isn’t real. Duvalier insists and goes looking for the castle.
Duvalier soon finds it (it’s pretty hard to miss). Baron von Leppe answers the door and tells Duvalier to go away. Duvalier uses his military influence to force his way in. Von Leppe denies there are any women in the castle, but Duvalier knows what he saw. Von Leppe shows her a painting of his wife, dead for ten years. It’s her.
That night, Duvalier hears some creepy weirdness outside his door. The door is locked, so he can’t check it out. When he finally gets the door open, no one is there. He spots Helene outside and follows her into a crypt where he finds the Baroness’s tomb.
Duvalier confronts Stefan the servant, and the servant begs Duvalier to just leave his old master alone. Instead, he goes straight to the Baron, who is evasive. Eventually, the baron admits his wife and her death. He murdered her and her lovers when he caught her cheating. He hasn’t left the castle in twenty years. The ghost has been appearing for about two years.
Gustav runs into Helene/Ilsa. He wants to help her, but she explains the old woman commands her now. Stefan goes to see the old woman and sees her hypnotizing the girl. The old woman wants vengeance on the baron. Stefan comes in and confronts the old witch; he wants her to move out by tomorrow.
Duvalier hears Helene’s voice calling for him to help her. Later, he hears the baron talking to her in the same room, but he goes in and she’s not there.
Helene the bird pecks out Gustav’s eyes as Duvalier watches him fall off a cliff. Helene the girl comes to Duvalier and tells him the crypt must be destroyed. She says she’s dead, but he tries to convince her that she isn’t.
Duvalier goes downstairs and follows the baron into his crypt chambers under the castle. He hears Helene talking to the baron. “You must do it. It’s the only way we can be together,” she says. Duvalier rushes in, but she’s gone.
Duvalier and Stefan go into the chapel behind the sealed crypt. They go back into the castle and look into the Baroness’s bedroom. Helene appears again, telling the baron to kill himself to be with her forever.
Duvalier catches the old witch in the cemetery. This whole thing is a plot to trick the baron into killing himself. This is all in revenge for killing her son along with the Baroness.
Stefan runs inside to stop the baron but gets locked out instead. Stefan reveals that it was actually Eric who killed the baron twenty years ago – he took the baron’s place. The witch has tricked her own son into killing himself. Lightning strikes her and she bursts into flame.
The baron plans to flood the cellars and crypt with seawater. Stefan and Duvalier try to break in and stop him. The baron opens the floodgate and dies battling Helene.
Duvalier breaks in just in time to save Helene. He tells her “You’re free now,” and she turns into a rotten corpse. Oops, she was dead after all.
The water pressure is too much, and the whole castle collapses on top of the baron and Stefan.
Commentary
Jack Nicholson spoke in a monotone throughout the film. I wonder how many films he did before he learned to act? He wasn’t very good in The Raven , but that was a small, mostly-comedic role— this is a starring role.
There’s mystery and suspense here, but it’s all stretched out for far too long. Many scenes feel like filler, and the acting feels like a high school stage play. It’s so talky, and there’s no action.
It’s really all an overly-convoluted twenty-year plan for revenge that really doesn’t pay to overthink.