IL CASTELLO DEI MORTI VIVI

Digitmovies proudly presents on CD for the very first time the complete OST by Angelo F.Lavagnino for the Italian Gothic movie "Il castello dei morti vivi" (aka“Castle of the Living Dead”) directed in 1964 by Herbert Wise (Luciano Ricci) and starring Christopher Lee, Gaia Germani, Philippe Leroy, Jacques Stanislawski, Donald Sutherland, Luciano Pigozzi, Renato Terra Caizzi, Antonio De Martino, Ennio Antonelli, Mirko Valentin, Luigi Bonos. In the early 19th century a caravan of vagabond artists reaches the far-away castle of the count Drago (Lee) who engaged them for a private performance. Dark omens obscure the journey. In fact in the gloomy castle tragic events will happen: The nobleman does not have any interest for dramatic art and he only wants to get new bodies which he can add to his very singular collection of embalmed creatures. Inoculating a serum which he himself has extracted from a very rare plant, the count who is obesessed by the fear of death immediately petrifies every living being he likes to appease by contemplating a fragment of the eternity …Angelo Francesco Lavagnino, one of the most famous film music composers, has written a particularly gloomy OST, performed by few instruments that create gothic atmospheres and almost anticipate by a few years the psychedelia (Tr.3,Tr.5,Tr.6,Tr.11,Tr.12,Tr.14). These sound dimensions of big tension, sometimes aggressively dramatic, sometimes quietly magical, describe all the evil which resides in the castle of Drago, a true demon with a human aspect. As main theme M° Lavagnino has written a ballad with an ancient flavour introduced in “Main Titles” (Tr.1), reprised in Tr.4 and in the conclusive “Finale” (Tr.20). A tech note: The only master tapes which have survived in mono until today, although in good condition, contain a notable hiss which in the slower passages did sometimes cover up the music itself. Therefore, although contrary to our usual approach, we had to intervene by using filters of hiss reduction and we did add some light reverb for a better listening experience of material recorded in those days in 1964 and that gave us the chance to assemble a CD with a total time of 46:31. A proper rescue and preservation of an Italian Silver Age OST and of the music art of Angelo Francesco Lavagnino.