Crypt of the Vampire [La Cripta e l’Incubo] [Terror in the Crypt] ** (1964, Christopher Lee, Adriana Ambesi, Ursula Davis, José Campos, Véra Valmont, Friedrich Klauss, Angel Midlin) – Classic Movie Review 4450

Christopher Lee is the ideal star as Count Ludwig Karnstein in director Camillo Mastrocinque’s atmospheric but slackly paced 1964 Italian Gothic horror film La Cripta e l’Incubo, aka Terror in the Crypt or Crypt of the Vampire. Adriana Ambesi (billed as Audry Amber) plays the Count’s sick daughter Laura Karnstein, supposedly possessed by the spirit of a dead ancestor, Carmilla, who is forcing her to kill.

It is the third adaptation of Sheridan Le Fanu’s novel Carmilla, following Carl Theodor Dreyer’s Vampyr and Roger Vadim’s Blood and Roses.

Also in the cast are Ursula Davis, José Campos, Véra Valmont, Angel Midlin, Pier Anna Quaglia, and Friedrich Klauss.

Screen-writers Tonino Valerii and Ernesto Gastaldi (credited as Robert Bohr and Julian Berry) claim that their screenplay was written in just 24 hours after they had told a producer the script was already ready. Valerii was also assistant director and claims that he shot several scenes.

It is hard to get a definitive English language title on this one. It was originally released in UK cinemas as Crypt of Horror. But it was released on DVD in 2012 by Retromedia/Image in the US with the title Crypt of the Vampire though the credits still call it Terror in the Crypt. 

La Cripta e l’Incubo, aka Terror in the Crypt, Crypt of Horror or Crypt of the Vampire, is directed by Camillo Mastrocinque (credited as Thomas Miller), runs 84 minutes, is made by E.I. Associates Producers, Hispamer Films and Alta Vista, is distributed (dubbed) by Eagle Films (UK) and American-International Television (US), is shot in black and white and colour by Julio Ortas, is produced by Mario Mariani, is scored by Carlo Savina and is designed by Demofilo Fidani.

See also Christopher Lee’s La Vergine de Norimberga [Horror Castle] (1963) and The Castle of the Living Dead [Il Castello dei Morti Vivi].

© Derek Winnert 2016 Classic Movie Review 445o

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