Mr. Sardonicus (1961)

Sorry, this movie sucks

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Blistering performances.

In the Nineteenth Century, in London, the prominent medical doctor Sir Robert Cargrave (Ronald Lewis) receives a letter from his former sweetheart Baroness Maude Sardonicus (Audrey Dalton) with the invitation to visit her husband Baron Sardonicus (Guy Rolfe) and her at his castle in Gorslava. Soon Sir Robert learns that the notorious Baron is an appalling man that frightens the local population. On the arrival in the castle Sir Roberts sees Sardonicus's servant Krull (Oscar Homolka) torturing a maid with leeches in a weird experiment. He meets Maude and her husband that wears a mask covering his face. Sir Robert has a private conversation with Sardonicus and he learns that the Baron was the peasant Marek Toleslawski that lived in a poor house with his wife Elenka Toleslawski (Erika Peters) and his father Henryk Toleslawski (Vladimir Sokoloff), who gives a lottery ticket as a gift to Elenka and dies. Months later, Marek and Elenka learn that they have won the lottery; however the ticket was buried with Henryk. Marek decides to retrieve the ticket in his father's grave and when he sees the face of Henryk, he freezes his face with a horrible grimace. Sardonicus wants Robert to recover his face; otherwise he will destroy Maude's face. Will Sir Robert succeed?"Mr. Sardonicus" is a creepy horror film directed by William Castle. The story is a sort of combination of the story lines of "Nosferatu" (or "Dracula"), "The Man Who Laughs" and "Les Yeux Sans Visage" among others. William Castle plays with the audiences asking for the fate of Sardonicus. The make-up of Sardonicus is impressive. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "A Máscara do Horror" ("The Mask of the Horror")

Ronald Lewis stars as Sir Robert Cargrave, a highly esteemed doctor / surgeon sought out by the Baron Sardonicus (Guy Rolfe). The Baron had, once upon a time, given in to greed and robbed a grave, and he therefore met a nasty fate: his face froze into a hideous, toothy grin. Usually keeping his visage hidden under a mask, The Baron indulges in some cruel practices that upset the good doctor. He's prepared to follow through on various threats that he makes, should Cargrave refuse to come to his aid or not succeed in the attempt.The legendary schlockmeister William Castle was a man who truly understood the value of showmanship. Here he once again utilizes a gimmick, albeit one that he saves for the final few minutes of the picture. This one is called the "punishment poll", wherein audience members could vote on whether our villain had received enough payback for his misdeeds. As one can see, the gimmick is nothing more than a joke.Another good thing that could be said about Castle was his penchant for giving his fright flicks a respectable fun factor. "Mr. Sardonicus" is heavy on story (and back story) for a while, but it kicks into another gear whenever The Baron is at his cruelest and most sadistic. One unfortunate servant girl must endure leeches on her face for no good reason.Rolfe is delicious in the title role, and is a good sport considering that he must wear the mask most of the time. (The reveal of his affliction is a memorable one indeed.) Lewis is passable as our protagonist, as is the beautiful Audrey Dalton as Maude, the woman Cargrave loves who had married The Baron to appease her father. Oscar Homolka is great as the one eyed henchman Krull, who tries to be loyal to The Baron but is taken aback at one point by what he's being asked to do.Lovers of more contemporary horror may scoff at the makeup, but the effects do have an irresistible old fashioned, low budget charm to them.Seven out of 10.

The most interesting thing about this movie was the whole back story of how Marek became Mr. Sardonicus. I had heard about ghouls before but I thought they were some undead creatures like zombies. I don't know if zombie movies got their inspiration from this movie or legend but I certainly loved the idea of the punishment he got for digging his father's grave just because his former wife wanted that winning lottery ticket so badly and be wealthy. With all this wealth though he couldn't get a cure. The ghoul face of Sardonicus is splendid and really creepy, his mannerisms and actions deliciously cruel what you expect from a man that has become a monster. The actions undertaken on the poor maid and almost ton his own wife by Krull are proof how devilish he has become. Strong performances from Guy Rolfe as Mr. Sardonicus, Oskar Homolka as Krull, Ronald Lewis as Dr. Robert and Lorna Hanson as the maid Anna. The ending might seem typical for the period of time, but I loved it a lot.

The premise is tight - a man struggling to keep love from flying out the window happens upon some luck when his dead father is buried with what turns out to be a winning lottery ticket. When the man digs up the body and retrieves the ticket, he is cursed and deformed so that his countenance matches that of the corpse. The man becomes a rich baron with his lottery winnings but can find no happiness given his deformity. A doctor is beckoned to the Baron's castle and that is where things get interesting as the doctor eventually is commissioned under duress to find a cure for the baron's condition. This film opens with a prologue (like many of the Castle horror films) and I would say that this prologue is the best because Castle positions himself into the milieu of the diegetic. That being said, he doesn't mention the gimmick employed for the film (maybe for the best). The direction of Castle is very good with lots of mobile framing, good staging/blocking and adept lighting setups for creating the right mood. My favorite part of this film is the dialogue, especially the witty banter of Baron Sardonicus. The narrative is compelling and much of the direction aids in building a psychological identification for the spectator (echoes while dreaming and daydreaming, pov shots, and some cleverly distorted floating heads!). There is also a creative and dramatic use of depth of field. As engaging as it is, there are still some elements to the directing and script that I found wanting. Things start to get a little too talky and I couldn't help but feel Castle was compelled to make a few poor choices due to his long career in directing terrible historical melodramas with Sam Katzman. However, this doesn't excuse the weakness of the gimmick (the Punishment Poll). Ironically, for all the plot contrivances in Castle films this time it is his gimmick that is most contrived... and totally unnecessary. In a Stuart Gordon interview it would become apparent that there were not two endings, but John Waters seems to believe that there would have been (the jury is out I guess). Despite the gimmick for Sardonicus being a failure, the spooks in the film are genuinely creepy and the film is a complex addition to Castle's horror for its self-reflexive themes (or intentionally lack thereof - think about the use of mirrors). Two other strengths of this film (and I am guilty of not often highlighting such elements in my reviews) are the adept use of sound which heightens the creepy mood and also the casting of Ronald Lewis as Sir Robert. If you watch Keanu Reeves in Dracula and then Lewis in this film, you will quickly question what was wrong with the British film industry in the 50s and 60s that an actor like Lewis with his Hasselhof/Reeves looks and straight-man demeanor would end up falling so hard, so fast (he eventually committed suicide in 1982). Sardonicus is one of the better Castle films with one of the worst gimmicks.