Danza Macabra: The Reevaluation of Antonio Margheriti through His Film Castle of Blood

Abstract

Antonio Margheriti is an Italian film director who has not been the recipient of much academic or critical reassessment. Despite being a director for forty years, single handedly creating Italy's sci-fi genre, and being the first Italian director to make films critical of the Vietnam War, his contributions to Italian film canon are unrecognized. This thesis attempts to remedy this by examining one of his films, <italic>Castle of Blood</italic>, in order to set the foundation for future academic work on reassessing not only Antonio Margheriti, but other Italian genre directors as well. This thesis uses the vernacular film theory instead of the traditional auteur theory when analyzing Margheriti and <italic>Castle of Blood</italic>. The conclusions drawn from the thesis is that <italic>Castle of Blood</italic> is an important film in bridging the sexuality gap in Italy during the 1960s, despite a period of influence from the Christian Democratic Party who regulated much of the cinema. The effects of <italic>Castle of Blood</italic> of challenging sexual notions in Italian film cement Margheriti as an important director and worthy of additional reconsideration.