Scarecrow-88 Terror awaits a troupe of street performers, and a wandering sojourner accompanying them, when they accept an invite to the mysterious Count Drago's castle. They will receive quite a nice wage for their performances as they attempt to supposedly entertain Drago, a scientist who enjoys the art of embalming animals of all kinds as a way of capturing their eternal beauty. This unhealthy obsession yields a terrifying secret..Drago wishes to add the troupe to his collection! Drago has perfected a unique formula which, after injection, causes the victim to freeze instantaneously, forever as they were without the threat of old age removing their beauty and form. Like mannequins, Drago has a whole room enshrined with the bodies of victims he has froze! Will our troupe be able to escape? Drago has a sadistic henchman-manservant Sandro(Mirko Valentin)he uses to capture and kill victims. Donald Sutherland is a treat in dual roles..one as an idiotic officer who bumbles through a sure crime practically right in front of him(..it's unclear just how many times Drago has duped him)and a vengeful witch who seeks retribution towards Drago who once tried out his experiments on her. Gaia Germani portrays the lovely Laura, who Drago obsesses over due to her beauty. Phillippe Leroy is Laura's love-interest, Eric, a former soldier traveling the roads until he met the troupe as two of their group were into an altercation over wages from a street performance. Sutherland's witch forewarned the troupe against going to the castle, but they do not heed her warnings. She informs the troupe's dwarf that he would remain unharmed thanks to an amulet she gives to him.Okay little low-budget horror outing. To be honest, I found it unspectacular with a pace that drags a bit..the film felt much longer than it actually was. But, the castle setting is quite well utilized; I thought the premise was ghoulish enough. Lee was alright, but I thought Mirko, as his cruel lieutenant, stole this feature.

whpratt1 Secured this film off E-Bay and enjoyed this film from the beginning to the end. If you are a Christopher Lee fan and enjoy some of his early works, this is the film you will be interested in, as well as, the fact that Donald Sutherland, (Sgt. Paul/The Witch/Old Man) "Ask The Dusk", gives an outstanding role in this picture as many characters. This story is about a Count Drago, (Christopher Lee), "Charlie & the Chocolate Factory", who preserves many animals and keeps them in their natural appearance. You would probably say it was taxidermy, but this is another form of transformation that works and in an entirely different way. The Count invites a carnival group to entertain him at his mysterious castle where the carnival act shows a man being hanged and brought back to life. Gaia Germani, (Laura) gives a great supporting role as the attractive female who is adored by Count Drago and some other weird and sick looking people. This is a rather early film for Christopher Lee and Donald Sutherland and you can see from their performance they were going to be great stars on the Silver Screen. Great Classic Horror Film.

RGHeller50 Ambiance is what it's all about, and this film has plenty of it. The setting is Europe during the Napoleonic era. A traveling circus troop has been invited to perform at a mysterious castle for a Count and his sleazy looking sidekick. This appears to be Donald Sutherland's first film, and he does a terrific job in a dual role. His presentation of an old hag-like witch is unforgettable. After seeing the movie, I found myself repeating some of the macabre rhymes, such as "Some will live and some will die before the morning sun is high." The acting is solid throughout. Don't expect a lot of action or violence. There's plenty of suspense throughout, however. The female minstrel is most exotic looking, and one watches in anticipation that she might eventually hike her skirt. The tension generated is occasionally broken by comic relief; some of it unintentional no doubt. There is a bit of sword play at the end, which appeared very awkward, but the awkwardness seemed to enhance the realism in a most peculiar way. It had been years since I had seen this film, and I fondly recalled it. I was successful in locating a reasonably crisp copy on DVD. I plan on watching it again soon. I easily rate it a 7 out of 10 based on entertainment value. After all, how many films can offer up their own midget toss?

Jerry-93 Back in the '50s and '60s, these Evil-Count-Doing-Something-Bad movies were a dime a dozen. Nowadays, you're lucky if you get one every five years. Which is not necessarily a bad thing if all the entries turned out like this one.The movie involves a traveling band of minstrels traveling to the castle of Count Drago (Christopher Lee, sporting an odd makeup job) to perform. Once there, they find that the Count has an interesting taxidermy hobby. As you will have figured out in the first 15 minutes, the Count has more in store for the minstrels than they expected.This movie isn't so much about Lee's plans to turn everthing into a statue (his creations aren't stuffed carcasses; they're permanently frozen while living); it's about the stupidity of the minstrels. Look at these examples of how they completely miss the fact that they are in danger:* they don't suspect anything being invited to a remote castle for a private appearance for three gold pieces (!!), or when they're warned by an old hag (Donald Sutherland, for Christ's sake!!) that they will die if they go to the castle;* when Lee tells the lead minstrel that he has started using humans, but substitutes the word "animal" for "human", the minstrel doesn't catch on;* the strongman/firebreather doesn't notice the evil henchman standing 10 feet away, preparing to shoot him in the eye with a crossbow;* the female minstrel doesn't realize that a man she knew is dead, even though he is completely immobile and attached to a stand, nor does she catch on when the Count talks of giving her "eternal beauty" as codewords for killing her.This film does have other problems. The print I saw looked like it had been through the washing machine (I really don't see a big preservation movement for this one). The acting is pretty wooden (the terrible dubbing doesn't help either). Sutherland (who plays a soldier as well the hag) plays the soldier role with all the seriousness he played the surgeon Hawkeye Pierce. There are a few redeeming moments, though: when the henchman throws the midget minstrel off the top of the castle (he lives, but it's nice to believe that he won't), and the great expression Lee has to hold at the end of the movie (he sure is shaking a lot for a statue). Other than that, there no reason to recommend this movie. Die-hard Lee fans may not even enjoy it.