La cripta e l'incubo
Lonely Laura Karnstein [Audry Amber] is having nightmares in which she sees members of the Karnstein family being murdered. This time it is cousin Tilda. Concerned that his daughter is possessed by the witch Scirra of Karnstein, who centuries ago cursed the Karnstein family, Count Ludwig Karnstein [Christopher Lee] hires Friedrich Klaus, a scholar of ancient and medieval history, to reconstruct Scirra's life and to search for a portrait of her. When a carriage breaks down outside the Karnstein castle and passenger Lyuba [Ursula Davis] becomes a houseguest, her company begins to cheer Laura and make her laugh again. In fact, Lyuba becomes the most important figure in Laura's life, more so than her father or her budding romance with Friedrich, so much that when Lyuba suggests she and Laura visit the ruins of the village of Karnstein, Laura actually agrees to go although she fears the place immensely.Unfortunately, they find that a peddlar has been hung from a bellpull and his right hand cut off. The hand is being used by the faithful housekeeper Rowena to pray to her master Satan. "Reveal to me the truth," she bequests. "Lead me to the murderer of the peddlar." Hoping beyond hope that the murderer is NOT Laura, Rowena is murdered before she learns the truth. About this time, Friedrich runs across a picture of the long dead Scirra who strongly resembles Lyuba.In the meantime, Lyuba persuades Laura to run away from the castle with her. As they escape toward the village, Count Karnstein and Friedrich search the cellars for Scirra's tomb. Instead, they find cousin Franz Karnstein, Tilda's father. He is also searching for the murderer of his daughter. Together, they locate Scirra's tomb and pry it open to find Lyuba lying there. They drive a stake through her body just as Laura is about to enter Lyuba's black carriage. Suddenly everything disappears, and Laura is left standing alone (and exonerated) beside the roadside. [Synopsis by bj_kuehl]
gothic