Baron Blood

1

Thank you.

Mr Peter Kleist.

Mr Peter Kleist, please report

to the centraI information desk.

Thank you.

Excuse me.

You called Peter Kleist?

Ah, yes. This gentleman here

is looking for you.

Ah, Peter!

- I'm KarI HummeI.

- Uncle KarI!

I really didn't expect you

to meet me personally.

A nephew I've never seen -

my curiosity got the better of me.

- Any more bags?

- No, just these.

Oh, but you...

Welcome to Austria, Peter.

- And how's my sister?

- Mother's fine. She sends you her best.

She wrote saying that you were

awarded your master's degree.

We're all very proud. Education is a long

and honoured tradition in our family.

Yeah, Uncle,

but I've had enough of it for a while.

Then you're not going on

for your doctorate degree?

I'm going on for some rest.

Some relaxation, some fun.

Back to the earth, back to my roots.

So that's why

you've come here to Austria, hmm?

We all want to know

where we come from...

and from whom.

I'm particularly fascinated by that

ghoulish baron on my father's side.

Hmm... Otto von Kleist.

The baron's name is not exactly popular

around these parts.

To the villagers, he was not

a fictionaI character, but reaI,

and his victims were reaI people.

Even now, they all go out of their way

to avoid going to the castle at night.

I heard the castle's being made

into a hoteI.

Yes, that's so.

But a hoteI for foreigners,

not for the locals.

How do you feeI about it?

We pass it along the way.

Would you like to take a look?

Yeah, between us we might even

conjure up an ancestraI ghost or two.

Hey, Uncle,

what are they gonna call the hoteI?

- Von Kleist Horror House?

- No.

But the castle has always been called

Schloss des Teufels.

Schloss what?

Schloss des Teufels,

Castle of the Devils.

That's not

too inviting either, is it?

It's good for tourists.

Look, there's your castle.

Schloss des Teufels.

Could we go up, do you think?

Yes, we have a little time.

Eva, did they

put up those partitions yet?

Eva, please, please.

No, no, no, no, and I say you cannot

make these changes in the cellar.

Frulein, you're just a child,

an attractive child,

but I don't like you threatening me.

I am not threatening you, Herr Dortmundt,

it's only that the law says...

- Herr Dortmundt. Eva. Good day.

- How are you?

May I present my nephew,

Peter Kleist, from America.

- Herr Dortmundt.

- It's a pleasure.

- Frulein. Nice to meet you.

- And you.

Eva's one of my

prized architecturaI students.

She represents me on the Commission for

the Preservation of NationaI Monuments.

Kleist? Peter Kleist?

Peter is a direct descendant

of Baron von Kleist.

- Oh, really?

- Yes.

SeveraI great-grandfathers back,

of course.

Baron Blood, they called him.

Well, I hope you haven't inherited

his disposition.

One never knows!

They say

one of his favourite pastimes...

was to impale anyone who incurred

his displeasure on stakes...

planting their bodies up on this tower...

as a warning to others.

- Sweet guy!

I imagine if he was around to see what

Herr Dortmundt was doing to his castle...

he might get the same idea again.

Hey, that might be a good gimmick

to attract people to the castle again.

Oh, sure, sure.

Herr Dortmundt likes the idea.

He would stick all of womanhood up there.

I think I'd better go and check

what his workers are destroying

in this part of the castle.

Go on, busybody.

Go ahead and spy on me!

Ah, she can be

so exasperating at times.

Will you please close that door!

Why do you keep opening it all the time?

- To see you come in.

- Really now...

Hey... hey!

Somebody!

Open the door!

Do you hear me?

Somebody, please!

Open the door!

Fritz!

Fritz! Don't you ever, ever dare

do that to me again!

Eva, what is it?

That stupid fiend,

he frightened me out of my mind.

Oh, that's just Fritz,

the caretaker.

He's gotten into the bad habit

of scaring intruders.

Fritz, come back here!

I wonder how many victims

the baron tortured with these trinkets.

- Are you all right now?

- I'm sorry, I know.

Er, Peter...

If you think you can tear

yourself away for the time being...

my wife has been waiting to give you...

a sample of some

truly Austrian home cooking.

Eva, how about you joining us?

Not you, buddy.

- Some more cheesecake, Peter?

- Oh, no, thank you.

If I eat any more,

I'll get as fat as the old baron.

The baron was a tall man,

but he wasn't fat.

Well, listen to her now.

How would you know?

The child is right.

Von Kleist was tall and thin.

She must have seen

a painting of him somewhere.

No, I didn't.

Well then, child,

how do you know what he looked like?

I've seen him at the castle.

Gretchen, I don't like you

telling stories like that.

But I have seen him,

sometimes on my way home from schooI.

I can see him

looking out from the castle wall...

just like the nice witch said.

Ah, so, that explains it.

She's been hearing too many stories

about Elisabeth Hlle.

Then you, too, know about her.

When the baron

had her burned to death...

KarI! Such talk at the dinner table.

Martha's right, I'm sorry.

Come, Gretchen,

time to go to bed.

- Excuse us. Peter...

- Of course.

- Eva...

- Good night, Mrs HummeI.

- Good night.

- Good night, Gretchen.

- Good night.

- Good night.

- Good night.

- Bye!

Well, I'm glad

the name of Elisabeth Hlle came up.

There's something I want to show you.

Oh, but before I show you this,

suppose you tell me

what you know about Elisabeth Hlle?

As legend has it, she was a witch...

put at the stake by the baron,

because he was afraid of her.

Is that all?

Well, no, before she died

she put a curse on him...

promising he would suffer a hundred times

as much as any of his victims, and...

he did die a horrible death.

They tortured him,

then burned him in his own chambers.

Fortunately for the castle,

a storm extinguished the fire...

before it spread too far.

The baron's body was never found.

But Elisabeth Hlle left an incantation

that would bring him back...

to suffer again and again.

This is it.

Looks authentic enough.

Kunik Sator Holmat...

- Where did you get this?

- Up at my grandfather's place.

I was just a kid then,

but I never threw it away.

Since I was coming here to Austria,

I thought I'd bring it along...

and scare up a little family history

while I was at it.

Hmm... very interesting.

Seems authentically old.

Worth trying out,

or too dangerous?

We live in an enlightened age, Peter...

where science not only reveals

the old mysteries as mere superstitions...

but, little by little, discovers

the true mysteries of the universe.

However...

I would not play with the occult,

if I were you.

One's obsession with it

could be the reaI danger.

It's getting late, and I still have

my lectures to prepare for tomorrow.

- No, don't get up.

- I'll get Eva home safely.

No, no, that won't be necessary,

because I live right close by.

Well then, stay as long as you like,

unless you have to rush off somewhere.

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