Writer, director, and actor Don Cunningham takes the cinematic grammar of F.W. Murnau and even Fritz Lang in certain poetic transitions, crafting something new for a crossover where vampire meets lycanthrope with the stylish short, The Castle of Baron Finch.
Paralleling Murnau’s Nosferatu, Cunningham as Dr. Christopher Cushing hurries to the homeland of the infamous Baron Janos Finch (Jay Pennington), who has villainously absconded with Cushing’s wife, Isobel (Elisabeth Anne Steigelman). Rushing to her aid, the good doctor has no conception of the horrors his beloved has already been exposed to.
Along the way, Dr. Cushing stumbles into the company of Waldemar the Woodsman (Brad White), who guides him toward the castle of the Baron. But the villain’s charms and shadowy sorcery have already transformed the good doctor’s one true love into something else.
“… a crossover where vampire meets lycanthrope …”
As the doctor hurries to either rescue his love or seal his doom, he shall confront the terrors of the Baron’s keep, battle beasts ready to kill for his blood, and bring an end to Finch’s reign of darkness over the surrounding lands. But Cushing soon uncovers the inconceivable truth of the fate of his wife. Together with the help of Waldemar the Woodsman, Cushing must square off against his vampiric nemesis and risk his mortal soul in a duel he can’t afford to lose.
Cunningham and company deserve to be commended for flavoring a classically composed piece of cinema with infusions of contemporary genre mashing. The adherence to now archaic film-making methods, especially in the era of digitally drenched movies, is a bold and clever choice. If imitation is the ultimate form of flattery, then The Castle of Baron Finch gifts us the audience with something old, made new. The grey and grainy quality of the images, combined with a bombastic, passionate score, helps deliver a little vampire movie that’s a fun-sized bite.
"…a little vampire movie that’s a fun-sized bite..."
