This is only the second William Castle horror film I’ve watched (following the superior HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL [1958]), one that’s clearly indebted to two of my all-time favorites – Paul Leni’s THE MAN WHO LAUGHS (1928) and Georges Franju’s EYES WITHOUT A FACE (1959).
The trio of male leads give full-blooded, committed performances: the ill-fated Ronald Lewis is a sturdy, handsome hero if perhaps too young to play a knighted surgeon; Guy Rolfe is an appropriately suave, brooding villain who succeeds in being menacing despite his physical limitations; and Oskar Homolka, particularly delightful as Sardonicus’ henchman who gleefully tortures the maiden with a bevy of ‘friendly’ leeches. Another notable featured player is Vladimir Sokoloff in the all-too-brief but pivotal role of Sardonicus’ father.
The Gothic atmosphere is laid on pretty thick (courtesy of master cinematographer Burnett Guffey), especially in the central graveyard sequence and the torture-chamber set towards the end. The “sardonic” make-up is quite effectively disturbing, but the reason behind it proves disappointingly – not to mention, unconvincingly – psychosomatic in nature rather than a physical affliction (though it does lead to a delicious twist ending).
William Castle was a pioneer of interactive cinema and, here, he amusingly introduces the film “live from London” in the prologue and interrupts the proceedings before the climax to take a “Punishment Poll” – wherein members of the audience are invited to decide Sardonicus’ fate (invariably, the “thumbs down” verdict is the winner)! The film’s trailer is in a similarly jokey vein.
I would certainly like to watch the other Castle films available on DVD – THE TINGLER (1959), 13 GHOSTS (1960; I had downloaded this from the Internet but, ironically, the image wouldn’t appear!), HOMICIDAL (1961), STRAIT-JACKET (1963) and I SAW WHAT YOU DID (1965) – but, perhaps, not enough to buy them and, in any case, a couple of these are already out-of-print!! Incidentally, I almost rented the William Castle-produced BUG (1975) at the same time as MR. SARDONICUS; however, I decided that one title from him was enough for the present...
The trio of male leads give full-blooded, committed performances: the ill-fated Ronald Lewis is a sturdy, handsome hero if perhaps too young to play a knighted surgeon; Guy Rolfe is an appropriately suave, brooding villain who succeeds in being menacing despite his physical limitations; and Oskar Homolka, particularly delightful as Sardonicus’ henchman who gleefully tortures the maiden with a bevy of ‘friendly’ leeches. Another notable featured player is Vladimir Sokoloff in the all-too-brief but pivotal role of Sardonicus’ father.
The Gothic atmosphere is laid on pretty thick (courtesy of master cinematographer Burnett Guffey), especially in the central graveyard sequence and the torture-chamber set towards the end. The “sardonic” make-up is quite effectively disturbing, but the reason behind it proves disappointingly – not to mention, unconvincingly – psychosomatic in nature rather than a physical affliction (though it does lead to a delicious twist ending).
William Castle was a pioneer of interactive cinema and, here, he amusingly introduces the film “live from London” in the prologue and interrupts the proceedings before the climax to take a “Punishment Poll” – wherein members of the audience are invited to decide Sardonicus’ fate (invariably, the “thumbs down” verdict is the winner)! The film’s trailer is in a similarly jokey vein.
I would certainly like to watch the other Castle films available on DVD – THE TINGLER (1959), 13 GHOSTS (1960; I had downloaded this from the Internet but, ironically, the image wouldn’t appear!), HOMICIDAL (1961), STRAIT-JACKET (1963) and I SAW WHAT YOU DID (1965) – but, perhaps, not enough to buy them and, in any case, a couple of these are already out-of-print!! Incidentally, I almost rented the William Castle-produced BUG (1975) at the same time as MR. SARDONICUS; however, I decided that one title from him was enough for the present...