The burning eyes of Bartimore Castle

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Movie
German title The burning eyes of Bartimore Castle
Original title The Gorgon
Country of production United Kingdom
original language English
Publishing year 1964
length 83 minutes
Age rating FSK 16
Rod
Director Terence Fisher
script John Gilling
production Anthony Nelson Keys
music James Bernard
camera Michael Reed
cut Eric Boyd-Perkins
James Needs
occupation

The Burning Eyes of Bartimore Castle (Original title: The Gorgon ) is a British horror film directed by Terence Fisher and produced by Hammer Film Productions . In contrast to other awesome films, which were mostly remakes of horror classics, he uses Greek mythology . The leading roles were played by Christopher Lee , Peter Cushing , Barbara Shelley and Richard Pasco .

action

The film is set in Vandorf, a village in Germany. The artist Bruno Heitz found out one evening that his fiancée Sascha was expecting a child. Then he wants to tell Sascha's father immediately. Sascha wants to stop him because her father will kill him if he finds out. Sascha runs after Bruno. She gets lost in the forest and comes near the abandoned castle Bartimore Castle, where she is killed by a person invisible to the audience.

Inspector Kanof finds the body and takes it to forensic doctor Dr. Namaroff. His assistant Carla Hoffmann is horrified to find that the corpse has been petrified. Dr. Namaroff sees this, but surprisingly reacts very calmly.

Bruno hanged himself in the forest. At a trial that Bruno's father, Professor Jules Heitz, traveled to see whether Bruno murdered his fiancée. Bruno is called a vagabond and a womanizer in court. Several witnesses are called, including Dr. Namaroff. Namaroff reports traces of a fight that he found on the corpse, but he does not mention that the corpse was petrified. Professor Heitz realizes that the judge and the police are corrupt and just want to plausibly explain the case as soon as possible without having any evidence, and vows to restore his dead son's reputation. The judge declares Bruno guilty.

After the trial, Carla speaks to Dr. Namaroff points out that he had kept silent about the fact that the corpse was petrified and that a total of seven people had been found petrified for five years and that a Gorgon was said to be responsible. Namaroff says there is no evidence that it wasn't Bruno and that he doesn't believe in Gorgons.

The villagers storm Professor Heitz's house and want to chase him out of the village. Professor Heitz calls Inspector Kanof, but he also makes it clear to him that he should disappear from the village. During the night, Professor Heitz suddenly hears an eerie chant. He goes outside to see where the singing is coming from. He walks through the forest and finally comes to Bartimore Castle, where the singing also comes from. He goes to the castle where he meets the Gorgon. As he looks into her eyes, he slowly turns to stone. However, he still manages to get back to his house. His butler finds him and sees that Heitz has almost completely frozen to stone. Heitz tells him that he will write a letter to his second son Paul Heitz, who will soon arrive in Vandorf, and that he should hand the letter over to him. It is in great pain that he writes the letter before he finally dies.

When Paul arrived in Vandorf, he reads his father's letter. It says something about the murders in which the victims were turned to stone and that the killer is one of the three Gorgon sisters from Greek mythology. He goes to Dr. Namaroff, who, however, denies the truth of the things in the letter. But Paul believes in the last words of his father. He moves into the same house and continues research for his father. He also meets Carla, who tells him that Inspector Kanof and the rest of the village know about the Gorgon murders, but they all want to cover up the matter because it would be their downfall if they believed in it. Carla later tells Dr. Namaroff from her conversation with Paul.

Paul goes to Bartimore Castle that night. It suddenly starts raining, causing a basin to fill with water. Paul sees the Gorgon in the water. He's running home. Since he only saw the reflection in the mirror, he does not turn to stone, but only falls into a five-day coma. When he wakes up again, he is with Dr. Namaroff, who nursed him to health. Namaroff tells him that he has to spend another three days in bed.

After Paul has recovered, he secretly digs up his father's body at night. He is horrified to see that the corpse has been petrified. But he is now also convinced that his father was right. Carla, who saw him doing it, comes to him. The two have since fallen in love. But Carla says that she can't be with Paul because Dr. Namaroff loves her. When she later returned to Dr. Namaroff is, he asks her where she was. She tells him that she went for a walk alone.

Paul hires Professor Karl Meister, a friend of his, to clarify the case. Professor Meister is familiar with Greek mythology. He explains to Paul that his research found that Carla was suffering from amnesia five years ago when the murders began. Dr. Namaroff treated her and declared her cured a year later. Professor Meister has the theory that the spirit of the Gorgon entered Carla's body five years ago and always takes possession of her during the full moon and turns people to stone.

Paul doesn't want to admit it. He decides to run away with Carla to Leipzig. He has agreed with her that she will take the train to Leipzig, where she will arrive around 5 p.m. Professor Meister tells Paul that he should call the hotel in Zurich at 5:30 p.m. to prove that Carla didn't get there. Master believes that Carla was possessed by the Gorgon again that night. When Paul calls, Carla really has not arrived in Leipzig. He decides to go to Bartimore Castle and wait for Carla there. In the meantime, Inspector Kanof comes to Professor Meister with an arrest warrant for Paul. He refuses to say where Paul is and also flees to the castle. When Paul arrived at the castle, Dr. Namaroff on Carla. He attacks Paul with a sword, but Paul defends himself with a candlestick. After an exciting fight, the Gorgon appears. It only petrifies Dr. Namaroff. Professor Meister beheads the Gorgon, but cannot prevent Paul from being petrified as well. Paul sees the Gorgon's head transform back into Carla's. Professor Meister tells Paul that Carla is now free. Paul eventually dies.

criticism

"Less successful, but atmospheric horror, in which, with Cushing and Lee, the two top stars of the British" hammer "studio cavort."

- cimema.de

"Mediocre horror film that tries at least to achieve atmospheric density."

useful information

The three Gorgon sisters in Greek legend are called Stheno , Euryale , and Medusa . However, in the original English version of the film, they are called Tisiphone, Megara, and Medusa, mixing the Gorgons with the Erinyes , who are called Alekto, Megaira, and Tisiphone. In the German version, the Gorgons have the correct names.

Theatrical release

In Great Britain, The Burning Eyes of Bartimore Castle opened in cinemas on August 21, 1964. The Columbia-Bavaria distributor brought him to the cinema in Germany. August 21, 1964 was also the official German theatrical release of the film.

Publications

The Columbia TriStar label released the film for the first time in Germany on VHS . On January 15, 2009, it was first released on DVD in Germany in a restored version by Sony Pictures .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Critique on cinema.de
  2. The Burning Eyes of Bartimore Castle. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  3. The Burning Eyes of Bartimore Castle - Goofs. In: IMDB. Retrieved July 1, 2020 .
  4. ^ Entry on the German theatrical version in the online film database
  5. ^ Entry on the German VHS by Columbia TriStar in the online film database
  6. ^ Entry on the German DVD from Sony in the online film database