Bloody Pit of Horror (1965)

Simply Perfect

Just perfect...

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

The opening credits read, "Based on the writings of the Marquis de Sade." Well yes, in that they both come from Europe. But I'm guessing de Sade never created a character known as the Crimson Executioner. (Haven't read the man, so I can't say for sure.)The plot: in rural Italy, a publisher, his photographer and models come to a centuries-old castle to take pictures for the book jackets of a horror series. The castle's owner, Travis Anderson (Mickey Hargitay), believes that he is descended from the Crimson Executioner, a 17th-century madman whose torture and killing of young women earned him death by the Iron Maiden. The clearly insane Anderson takes it upon himself to pick up where the CE left off. He spends the night torturing his houseguests in the castle's well-equipped dungeon until he is killed in "the poison embrace of the Lover of Death," one of his numerous torture devices.Once Anderson "becomes" the CE, he stops referring to himself in the first person. Now it's, "The Crimson Executioner will torture you," or, "No one escapes the wrath of the Crimson Executioner!" Makes me wonder if Bob Dole ever saw this film.The dialogue is dreadful, and not just due to the execrable dubbing job; I suspect it was written that way in the original Italian. Example: "I had to abandon the world. Mankind is made up of inferior creatures, spiritually and physically deformed, who would have corrupted the harmony of my perfect body!"The castle provides a suitable backdrop for what is supposed to be a Gothic horror story but is nowhere near horrifying. The suspense scenes offer no suspense while the torture scenes are surprisingly mild-- even when the torture devices themselves are diabolically clever. One scene offers the most hilariously inept fake spider ever to grace the big screen.This movie is so awful, I wouldn't like it even if it were good.

When a group of photographers and models sneak into an apparently abandoned castle to do a photo-shoot, they are immediately asked to leave by the castle's inhabitant, Travis Anderson (Mickey Hargitay). But when he recognises his ex-fiancé Edith (Luisa Baratto) amongst the group, he changes his mind and gives them the freedom of the castle. Lurking in the castle's dungeons, where the group have set up, is the preserved body of an executed serial-killer named The Crimson Executioner, and when his coffin is disturbed, his spirit is released and enters the body of Travis. Soon enough, bodies are dropping like flies while the 'hero' Rick (Walter Brandi), desperately attempts to save them.Former Mr. Universe Mickey Hargitay made a moderately successful career for himself after appearing in the excellently madcap Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? (1957) with his wife Jayne Mansfield. He was mainly employed in B-grade Italian horror movies such as the twisted Delirium (1972), and he is just about the only good thing is Bloody Pit of Horror, also known as The Red Hangman, A Tale of Torture, and most hilariously, Some Virgins for the Hangman. Although his role is completely ridiculous, he has a hulking presence that brings a likability to Travis, even when he is wide-eyed, tightening the hold of a rack. Plus I couldn't imagine anyone else being able to pull off those red, spandex pants.The sets have a bright, technicholour warmth about them, reminiscent of some of the classic Hammer horrors and Roger Corman's Poe adaptations, that give the film a nicely Gothic, if slightly camp, feel. But ultimately it is as effective as wrapping a ribbon around a turd, failing to cover up the sheer atrocity of its direction. It is so over- the-top and silly that the film ends up feeling like a cartoon, containing torture scenes that include a woman stuck in a giant web with a spider so badly constructed, I don't know if it was meant to be real or not. That said, I still found this quite fun, but I don't feel good about it.www.the-wrath-of-blog.blogspot.com

I'm not sure whether the version I saw on archive.org was uncensored, but whatever version I saw, it's obvious that the film makers pulled out all the stops on this one. Which is to say that this is trash, but it's high energy, entertaining trash.We've got Mr. Second String Bodybuilder Guy playing (actually, I think he looks great for the part, but he's no Steve Reeves) a homicidal maniac who believes that he is possessed by the spirit of another homicidal maniac from medieval times. He kills off his guests when one of them turns out to be a girlfriend from his previous life. He left her and withdrew from the world, you see, because she was corrupting his bodily fluids or some such.(BTW,how does a "strongman" get the money to buy and maintain an ancient medieval castle and a couple of henchmen,anyway?) The sight of her is too much for him, and he apparently feels that their presence imperils the purity of his bodily fluids again, so nothing will do but that he entrap and torture and/or kill the guests one by one.Anyway, the character is a real piece of work, and the actor who plays him is a hoot - he chews the scenery, flexes his nice shiny oiled muscles, and leaps around his torture dungeon to work on his victims with a glee befitting a 6 year old on Christmas.Gets extra points for a few nicely imagined death-traps and an admirable hero who tackles each new challenge and set back with stoic resolve. Docked several stars for some of the lamest choreographed fight sequences you can imagine - seriously, the last three deaths make no sense at all in terms of the laws of physics. Also docked for some crummy dubbing and sound sync - there are some pretty lame instances where the English words continue long after the actor has finished moving her lips. Still, if you are into crypto-gay S&M porn, or even if you aren't but just want some good, irresponsible fun, this movie should be right up your alley.

It's really hard to score THE CRIMSON EXECUTIONER. On one hand, it's a horribly made little film that is embarrassingly bad. On the other, it's so terribly funny because it is so bad! The film begins with some really obnoxious people breaking into an old castle to take some publicity pictures. However, it turns out the place is NOT unoccupied and the crazy owner tells them to get lost. Oddly, however just moments later he asks them to stay. So, they do and over the course of an evening, the crew members and models are killed off one at a time by the crazy homeowner--who thinks he's the reincarnation of a sicko named the Crimson Executioner. Actually, the guy's outfit makes him look a lot like Diabolik from another Mario Bava film, but that's neither here nor there.The film is filled with lots of sadistic torture and is reminiscent of the German film, THE TORTURE CHAMBER OF DR. SADISM (talk about a great title). However, unlike the German film, this one is much sillier and the horrible punishments really don't look all that realistic--just cheesy. But, because it is made so poorly (with horrible dialog and action throughout), it is worth seeing to have a few laughs. Otherwise, if you do skip it, your brain might appreciate it!