Villian(s)  Reanimated man cursed by witch

Actor(s):  Joseph Cotten, Elke Sommer, Massimo Girotti, Antonio Cantafora

Brief Description  Baron Blood (originally titled Gli orrori del castello di Norimberga / The Horrors of Nuremberg Castle) is a 1972 Gothic horror film directed by the legendary Italian filmmaker Mario Bava. An international co-production between Italy and West Germany, the film stars classic Hollywood actor Joseph Cotten and Euro-horror icon Elke Sommer. It is celebrated for its dreamlike cinematography and vibrant lighting, blending traditional 1960s Gothic aesthetics with the fast-paced, violent sensibilities of the 1970s giallo genre.

Plot:
Peter Kleist (Antonio Cantafora), a young American university student, travels to Austria to visit his ancestral home and research his family history. He learns about his notorious 16th-century ancestor, Baron Otto von Kleist (nicknamed "Baron Blood"), a sadistic nobleman who delighted in torturing and impaling local villagers. Legend states the Baron burned a witch, Elisabeth Holle, at the stake. Before dying, she cursed him to suffer a violent death and an eternity of torture if he ever returned. At the castle, Peter meets Eva Arnold (Elke Sommer), a college student working to restore the estate into a modern tourist hotel. Over dinner, Peter reveals an ancient parchment containing an incantation capable of resurrecting the Baron. Out of reckless curiosity, Peter and Eva break into the castle at midnight and read the spell aloud. The ground shifts, and a horrific figure rises from the cemetery. Terrified, they attempt to reverse the spell, but a sudden gust of wind blows the parchment into a fireplace, destroying the reversal incantation forever.

The reanimated Baron wanders into the local village and kills a castle caretaker. Needing a physical cover to blend in, he targets a wealthy, disabled philanthropist named Alfred Becker (played by Joseph Cotten in a dual role). The Baron Murders Becker, steals his identity, and buys the ancestral castle at an auction. Masquerading as the wheelchair-bound "Becker," the Baron begins to systematically stalk Eva and Peter, while quietly rebuilding his subterranean torture chambers. Desperate for help, Peter and Eva consult a local clairvoyant medium, Christina Hoffmann (Rada Rassimov), who is a direct descendant of the witch Elisabeth. Christina uses her powers to locate a magic amulet that is the key to destroying the Baron. The Baron captures the heroes and drags them into his dungeon, shackling Karl (Peter's uncle) to a rack and preparing to execute Peter. Just in time, the magic amulet is activated with blood. The spirits of the Baron's past victims violently rise from their coffins, overpowering the Baron and tearing him limb from limb. Peter, Eva, and Karl escape into the night as the castle's curse is finally broken.