The Long Hair of Death

1964 "Terrifying! Witches unleash horrific vengeance!"
6.3| 1h36m| PG| en| More Info
Released: 30 December 1964 Released
Producted By: Cinegai
Country: Italy
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Info

In a 15th century village, a woman is accused of witchcraft and put to death. Her beautiful older daughter knows the real reason for the execution lies in the lord's sexual desire for her mother.

Genre

Horror

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Director

Antonio Margheriti

Production Companies

Cinegai

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The Long Hair of Death Audience Reviews

Karry Best movie of this year hands down!
Stometer Save your money for something good and enjoyable
Smartorhypo Highly Overrated But Still Good
filippaberry84 I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.
christopher-underwood Very disappointing and surely one of Antonio Margheriti's less effective films. The beginning is great and the ending even more so, while Barbara Steele looks fantastic throughout. Its what happens between the start and finish that is of concern. This is a revenge movie where the main protagonist appears not to realise there is a task in hand. Lots of walking along corridors and up and down stairs and stone steps - some admittedly stylishly Gothic with flowing robes and dark shadows. But we seem to be treading water all the time, silently urging Babs to get her act together. Watching Steele go about the castle it is once again so evident that that face can literally convey fear, excitement and terror all at the same time. It is quite uncanny, but sadly not made enough of here.
Rainey Dawn I think this is one of Barbara Steele's better horror films. It does have a creepy Gothic atmosphere - and great Gothic music to go with it. I like quite a few of the Italian horror films from the 1960s - 1970s - this is one of them.This film surrounds a witch and lust. A woman with two daughters is taunted by a man who lusts for her - so much so he would force her into making love to him. She refuses him and is accused of witchcraft and therefor put to death. The older daughter is later put to death and leaving the youngest daughter alive. She grows up and marries... later on the older daughter (apparently a witch) comes back from the dead to seek revenge on those who harmed her family.Good late night flick!! 7/10
mark.waltz Well, the answer to that question is probably once per individual film, but I am delighted to say that "The Long Hair of Death" was surprisingly good. The back story is set up with a chilling scene of supposed witch Barbara Steele facing the wrath of society for a crime she claims she did not commit, set to face the ultimate Godly test while being surrounded by fiery bales of hay. As the aging count prepares to make love to her own daughter (also Steele), she calmly bellows out her final curse which includes famine, plague and pestilence. Later, the count brutally murders her oldest daughter and makes the mistake of taking in the younger daughter (Halina Zalewska) whom his heir (George Ardisson) is very much in lust with and ultimately marries. On the eve of the old count's painful death from plague, a crash of thunder and lightening reveals the presence of a dark, ailing woman entering the castle, and with his last vision of earth, the old baron sees that it is the apparent return of the older daughter from the grave. Ardisson, not having any idea of who she is, begins to have an affair with her and together they plot the death of Zalewska who is really a part of the plot to solidify the curse and bring an end to this evil royal family's reign of terror.Steele, the queen of 1960's Gothic horror, acted mainly with her eyes, so deeply set into her face and filled with hatred in each of the films for the men who had abused her or lead her along into paths of self-destruction. You never know with her villains if they are simply just evil or insane with anger, lust and greed, and even with her heroines, there's something inside them that makes you not fully trust them. She should have been utilized in more than just campy horror films; Imagine her playing some of the greatest seductresses of history who were only using men to get their own power. Ardisson is handsome yet cold in his desire for lust and power, and as the supernatural element of revenge takes its own force against him, the fear of what he is facing becomes very much written on his face. One horrific scene only involves eyes of fear as the character's destiny becomes apparent to them, even with an inside glimpse of their hidden tomb that nobody is aware contains anything living. While Zalewska is beautiful and vulnerable as Steele's younger sister (apparently unaware she even had a sister), I really wanted to see Steele in all three parts, altered to look more innocent as the younger sister. But when you've got Steele as two characters, that's sinister enough, and I certainly got my money's worth for chills in this one.
Scarecrow-88 Perhaps director Antonio Margheriti's answer to Mario Bava's BLACK Sunday, THE LONG HAIR OF DEATH features a witch destroyed for the death of Count Humboldt's brother, framed for the murder by the real killer, Kurt Humboldt(George Ardisson)vying for a power of position in the kingdom. The witch vows revenge, cursing the Humboldts and calling on her daughter, Helen(Barbara Steele)to wreak vengeance on them. Having failed at her attempt to dissuade Count Humboldt of passing sentence on her innocent mother, Helen is then pushed off a cliff, into a rushing river, by him. Poor Elizabeth Karnstein(Halina Zalewska), as a child, had to watch her mother burn alive, and attend the funeral of her sister, Helen. As an adult, life hasn't improved much as Elizabeth has followed the commands of Count Humboldt, often fighting off the sexual advances of Kurt, who proclaims his intended desire to have her regardless of the young woman's disgust towards him. Under marriage, Elizabeth endures Kurt's control over her body, awaiting possible revenge down the road..it comes in the form of Mary(Barbara Steele). Helen's body awakens as the rains fall bringing hope to a village riddled with the black plague, and her corpse rises in the form of Mary, interrupting a church sermon, causing an already guilt-stricken Count Humboldt to collapse in a state of shock, his death providing Kurt with the throne. Kurt becomes enamored and infatuated with Mary, lustfully desiring her, soon plotting to kill Elizabeth. Mary, at first hesitant, soon joins Kurt in his scheme to poison her, suffocating her within a closed crypt. Thoroughly pleased with their "success", Kurt awakens the next morning in horror as the maidservant, Grumalda(Laura Nucci)exits her room after having a conversation with Elizabeth! How could this be?! The rest of the film shows Kurt's progressive state of unease as others mention seeing and talking with a wife that's supposed to be dead.Admittedly, Margheriti's film takes it's time developing the plot, but I truly enjoyed the Gothic trappings of the massive castle and the secret walls which seem to exist throughout, leading to rooms as an exit from the burial chamber. Steele is featured in quite a grand style, Margheriti allowing her to seduce Kurt with her feminine wiles(..she is positively beautiful in this movie, and enchanting)and embellish in his torment at the end as a spirit whose finally seeing her enemy squirm. Ardisson, as the conniving, lecherous, egotistical, back-stabbing, underhanded Kurt Humboldt is a perfectly loathsome creature easy to root against, with the ending providing a feeling of satisfaction that justice was served. I wonder if those behind THE WICKER MAN saw the ending to this movie. I would definitely warn those with little tolerance for characters moving throughout a castle at great length, because this film follows them almost from one complete place to another. I had a feeling that Margheriti wanted to establish the importance of a medieval palace and how the characters move throughout, displaying the ability to cleverly hide adultery and fornication, while also showing how one could concoct a scheme to successfully murder someone without getting caught. And, to be honest, I think Margheriti simply enjoyed shooting within the castle, hoping to engage the viewer in the atmosphere within the walls. Above all, THE LONG HAIR OF DEATH is still a revenge story through and through, with the director building his story, bit by bit, allowing Kurt to follow his rotten father(..who at least felt sorrow and guilt for actions he committed)to his own tragedy, just as the witch he put to death promised.