Scream of the Demon Lover Blu-ray Movie 
Il castello dalle porte di fuocoSeverin Films | 1970 | 98 min | Not rated | No Release Date

Price
Movie rating
| 6.4 | / 10 |
Blu-ray rating
Users | ![]() | 0.0 |
Reviewer | ![]() | 3.0 |
Overall | ![]() | 3.0 |
Overview click to collapse contents
Scream of the Demon Lover (1970)
A beautiful young woman travels to a remote estate to seek employment as a biochemist for Baron Janos Dalmar. She finds herself attracted to him, so immerses herself in her work to suppress her lusty desires. A rash of rather brutal murders occurs in the area and she soon discovers that the Baron is not what he seems. Not long thereafter, the Baron transforms into a demon, and the beautiful young woman becomes his very own love slave.
Starring: Erna Schurer, Agostina Belli, Antonio Jiménez Escribano, Mariano Vidal Molina, Enzo FisichellaDirector: José Luis Merino
Horror | 100% |
Specifications click to expand contents
Video
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.86:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Audio
Italian: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
Subtitles
English SDH
Discs
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Playback
Region A (B, C untested)
Review click to expand contents
Rating summary
Movie | ![]() | 3.0 |
Video | ![]() | 3.0 |
Audio | ![]() | 3.5 |
Extras | ![]() | 4.0 |
Overall | ![]() | 3.0 |
Scream of the Demon Lover Blu-ray Movie Review
Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman May 25, 2023 Note: This film is available on Blu-ray as part of Severin's Danza Macabra: Volume One — The Italian Gothic Collection.
Severin has fired up its trusty candelabra and gone exploring in another bunch of nooks and crannies in whatever castle it keeps it stash of Italian
Gothic horror films, and come up with this interesting quartet of offerings, two from the mid-sixties and two from the early seventies, though rather
interestingly given this set's title of Danza Macabre, there's no inclusion of Castle of Blood, which, as of the writing of this review, is available only as a bonus feature on Severin's release of Nightmare Castle. While the films
themselves in this set may be hit and/or miss for some (maybe even many), they all have moodiness and even style on occasion, and as usual,
Severin has
aggregated some really interesting supplemental features to help sweeten the pot (cauldron?). The fact that this collection has been branded with a
noticeable Volume One probably suggests more exploring in dim, dusty, cobweb laden corners may be in store, though wearing sheer
negligees may
be optional, based on your own preferences with regard to apparel.

About as close as the Danza Macabra set comes to offering a film with a tether to that particular title is this film, which like many Italian offerings saw releases with a number of alternate monikers, including Killers of the Castle of Blood, which of course was probably meant to evoke mysteries of the Barbara Steele outing mentioned above. Adding to this titular hilarity is the fact that Scream of the Demon Lover evidently had at least video releases under the titles Blood Castle and, yes, you guessed it, Castle of Blood, though when all is said and done this story actually plays like a mashup between Jane Eyre, Madame Curie and any given marauding monster flick, and, no, that isn't a typo.
Ivanna Rakowsky (Erna Schurer, billed as Jennifer Hartley) is a 19th century biochemist (take that, Marie) who goes to work for dashing scientist Janos Dalmar (Carlos Quiney). Ivanna starts having nightmares almost as soon as she arrives at Dalmar's castle involving a misshapen, horribly disfigured individual, and ultimately a connection to some Dalmar family history is disclosed. This is a rather interesting outing despite some unintentionally comic aspects that offers a kind of proto-feminist heroine who is not a traditional "damsel in distress". Dalmar's "mad doctor" proclivities turn out to have at least a reasonably noble motive, but there's also a psychosexual element to the proceedings that is kind of like the Italian Gothic version of New Cinema, seventies style.
Scream of the Demon Lover Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Scream of the Demon Lover is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Severin Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.86:1. The back cover of this release touts that this is the film's "North American Blu-ray premiere" and that this was "scanned in 4K from the negative for the first time ever". That said, before videophiles get their hopes up, a disclaimer text card at the opening of this presentation states:
Scream of the Demon Lover Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Scream of the Demon Lover features Italian and English language options in DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono. Toggling between the two tracks discloses a much more noticeably bright and tinny sound in the English track, and I personally found the Italian track to offer a more convincing midrange and nicer, more mellow high end. There's some very minor crackling and distortion that can be discerned in some of the music. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.
Scream of the Demon Lover Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

- Audio Commentary with Rod Barnett, Film Historian and Co-Host of Naschycast, and Robert Monell, Writer and Editor of I'm in a Jess Franco State of Mind
- Scream Erna Scream! (HD; 19:18) is an interview with actress Erna Schurer. Subtitled in English.
- In the Castle of Blood (HD; 38:59) is a video essay by typically knowledgeable Stephen Thrower, author of books on Jess Franco and Lucio Fulci.
- Trailer (HD; 2:53)
Scream of the Demon Lover Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

There are provocative aspects to this story that might have been exploited by someone like, say, Jess Franco to even more prurient extremes, but one way or the other Scream of the Demon Lover is a bit more on the smarmy, tawdry side than some of its siblings in the Danza Macabre collection. Color is the strongest point of this video transfer, but audio is generally fine and the supplements are extremely well done, for anyone who may be considering making a purchase.
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