Web of the Spider

Web of the Spider is a gothic horror directed by Antonio Margheriti. It didn’t take me long to realise this was a remake of his 1964 film Castle of Blood.

This time the cynical journalist Alan Foster, who accepts a wager to stay in Blackwood Castle, is played by Anthony Franciosa. It is a scene-for-scene update and, ironically, the original film has a better print online, plus Barbara Steele as Elisabeth, who literally steals every scene she is in. In the remake, Michele Mercier plays Elisabeth to a lesser degree.

The ghosts are murderous, as they need blood to return the following year, but Foster is not giving in easily. Klaus Kinski plays Edgar Allan Poe, Foster’s friend and chronicler of his misfortune.

In essence I preferred the original, and would have been happy to see Barbara return in a colour print. Despite the poor quality of the film, it still carries the malevolence of the ghosts, and Riz Ortolani provides suitably spooky music as you would expect from him.

Watch the original: the black and white adds more texture to the story, unless you can find a decent print on your film archive site.