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Saturday, November 2, 2013

Location: Castillo de San Felipe


Death Rides a Horse featured many Almeria locations, and one of the most distinctive was that of the prison that LVC is released from at the start of the film. 

In reality of course, it is not a prison.  It is know as Castillo de San Felipe.  It was built in the 18th century by Charles III. Completed in 1765 it complemented Castillo de San Ramon at El Playazo and together with the various watchtowers along the coast provided defence against attacks by the Berbers.

As you can see from the comparisons below, it has been recently renovated (most notably the top).

 wide angle shot from the movie


LVC awaits his $60 horse

One thing that is striking about this location is that this castle is actually located on the beach.  With the creative use of camera angles it was made to appear as in the desert, where in reality it is on the coastline.

LVC's point of view from this location (when he sees the two men on horseback), was filmed elsewhere, probably in Tabernas.

See below for additional pictures of this location.  Click to enlarge!


 
 


 
 
 
 
 
 




6 comments:

  1. Oh this is great Aaron!! I would never have thought the prison (castle) was on the beach, it looks wonderful. :) Did you go for a swim?? :) the second sea picture is so nice, I want to go there!!! Thank you for posting these Aaron! :) :) :)

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  2. Fantastic! I also had no idea this location was at the beach. I wonder if the top was a restoration. Likely the interior shot of Lee Van Cleef asking for his gun & remembering how many bullets he had in that bottom drawer, was shot at the studio in Rome.

    Aaron your trip & pictures make visiting this site ever so nice & educational for a LVC fan. Thank you so much.

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  3. Aaron, what is this like on the inside? Is it like a fortress of some kind? It looks as if it has somewhat of a courtyard.

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  4. Great pics of a great location!

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  5. Alanna, as Aaron rightly pointed out it is a coastal battery built in the early 18th century (in what now is the national park of Cabo de Gata-Níjar) as a defence against north African pirates. In the building, there was accommodation for the soldiers and a kitchen and everything needed by them, and there used to be a drawbridge across a ditch as well. According to http://parquenaturalcabodegata-almeria.blogspot.de/2011/02/bateria-de-san-felipe-de-los-escullos.html the building was restored in 1991. It seems to belong to the province of Almeria and since 1993 it is official cultural heritage in Spain. According to Spanish Wikipedia it also was location to The Daltons, Never say never again and El Coyote. They don't mention DRAH, though. Nowadays it seems to be used as an event location, for further info (also in Spanish) have a look at http://almeriapedia.wikanda.es/wiki/Castillo_de_San_Felipe_o_de_Los_Escullos_%28N%C3%ADjar%29

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  6. wow ..Thanks Great Work

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