Mr. Sardonicus Movie Review
After attempting to rob the grave of his father, Baron Sardonicus (Guy Rolfe, who you will know as Toulon from the Puppet Master films) is cursed with a hideous, permanent smile on his face. This 1961 horror flick comes to us from legendary gimmick master William Castle (House on Haunted Hill, The Night Walker), so we know we're in store for something...different, and this film doesn't disappoint. We get a bit of an introduction from Castle in the beginning, and the real gimmicky stuff comes in at the end...but more on that in a moment. Back to the story--Sardonicus, who wears a mask to hide his condition, seeks out the assistance of physician Robert Cargrave (Ronald Lewis) to cure him.
Can his face really look worse than this mask?
This films moves at a surprisingly quick pace, and includes some rather intense scenes--if you're scared of leeches, and lets face it, who isn't, you may want to fast forward through some parts. A fair bit of tension leads us to the inevitable reveal, and it doesn't disappoint!
Let's take a smile off that face!
...
The movie has a decent little twist after the encounter between Sardonicus and Cargrave, and an even better one in the final scene. So remember when I said Castle was the master of gimmicks? After the reveal and fallout of it, Castle joins us once more and asks the audience, via a thumbs up or thumbs down card, if they want to see Sardonicus punished, or if they want to have mercy on him. After pausing for the vote, Castle declares the audience has voted to punish the villain, and we see the result of that...while it doesn't hold up on home video for obvious reasons, this gimmick must have been a really cool experience for people actually in the theater when this came out. Mr. Sardonicus is a fun movie with a few thrills, and was much better than I expected it to be.
On A Scale Of One To Ten: 7
Mr. Sardonicus Movie Trailer (With a special introduction from William Castle)
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