Phasmaphobia

Among the many movies we have seen together in Paris, this one particularly made a lasting impression on both of our lives: Danse Macabre! Look it up today and you can see it described as below:

Fiche technique[modifier]

• Titre : Danse macabre
• Titre original : Danza macabra
• Réalisation : Antonio Margheriti et Sergio Corbucci
• Scénario : Sergio Corbucci et Giovanni Grimaldi
• Production : Marco Vicario
• Sociétés de production : Giovanni Addessi Produzione Cinematografica et Ulysse Productions
• Musique : Riz Ortolani
• Photographie : Riccardo Pallottini
• Montage : Otello Colangeli
• Décors : Ottavio Scotti
• Pays d'origine : Italie, France
• Format : Noir et blanc - 1,78:1 - Mono - 35 mm
• Genre : Horreur
• Durée : 87 minutes
• Dates de sortie : 29 juillet 1964 (États-Unis), 14 avril 1965 (France)

In the US, this Italian/French film is known as "Castle of Blood" and it was heavily edited. The plot was quite simple:

A journalist challenges Edgar Allan Poe on the authenticity of his stories, which leads to him accepting a bet to spend the night in a haunted castle on All Soul's Eve. Ghosts of the murdered inhabitants appear to him throughout the night, re-enacting the events that lead to their deaths. It transpires that they need his blood in order to maintain their existence. Barbara Steele plays a ghost who attempts to help the journalist escape.

As a spolier, I can tell you here that the journalist in the movie lost the bet and paid for it with his life while he was just about to escape through a cemetery.

This movie scared the daylight out of me and I since that day developed a permanent phasmaphobia (fear of ghosts!) Maryse, on the contrary, developed a taste for really scary movies, which was the chagrin of my life. However, if you knew Maryse, you understand now why she was very scared of vampires! That was because of this movie. We left the theater at about midnight and took the Parisian subway to get home. The long and deserted walkway of the Chatelet metro exchange was memorable and we both were so scared we never could forget that night.

We were then too young to realize that the movie was based on a story written by the famous Edgar Allan Poe who had a strong influence on Stephen King, our modern day horror story writer.