After a short delay John Hudson and I finally sit down to discuss two of director Antonio Margheriti's scary films. This time out we delve into his Gothic Horror output with the Barbara Steele featuring CASTLE OF BLOOD (1964) and Margheriti's remake of that film WEB OF THE SPIDER (1971). Yes, you read that correctly - much like about a dozen other filmmakers Margheriti remade his own film and in this case seems to have used the same script. And the same score too! But since the score is by Riz Ortolani that might be considered a mark of brilliance instead of a cost cutting measure. There are some striking differences though starting with the fact that the first film was made in glorious, shadow-filled black & white while the remake was filmed in color. Does this visual choice end up making or breaking the story?
As you might expect when discussing two separate but very similar films we speak about the points of departure the later film makes from the first incarnation while trying to determine which is a better version of this ghostly tale. There is much to discuss when comparing the legendary Barbara Steele to the beautiful blonde lady that took on her role seven years later. It turns out that French actress Michèle Mercier had quite an interesting career and serving as a replacement for a horror icon might have been a step down for her. In another casting coup, WEB OF THE SPIDER also has the amazing Klaus Kinski adding his thespian skills in a small but pivotal role as Edgar Allan Poe. Yeah- no matter which version you watch this is an interesting story.
If you have any comments or suggestions for future podcasts you can drop us an email at thebloodypit@gmail.com and we'll take your thoughts under advisement. Mr. Hudson and I will be continuing our trip through Margheriti-ville soon by dipping into his westerns so we hope you'll come back for that. Thank you so much for downloading and listening.
3 comments:
I wished that there was a official proper U.S. DVD/Blu ray release of WEB OF THE SPIDER,since the current pan-and-scan Alpha Video budget DVD is in major poor shape(as well as very blurry[ala their DVD of SPIDER'S VENOM,a.k.a.; THE LEGEND OF SPIDER FOREST])and it would certainly benefit from an update to its original widescreen 105 minute version.
Agreed! We got our hands on a full length widescreen copy to watch but it was in Italian with fan made subs. This film needs a good video release more than a lot of things that are getting released these days.
Totally agree with both of you. This deserves a good, US release.
Euro-horror is one of the least-populated sections of my collection, but I'm so glad a lot of it is coming out, as it's one of my "final frontiers" in SF/F/H film fandom.
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