Mr. Sardonicus

William Castle usually marketed his movies with gimmicks, and for MR. SARDONICUS the gimmick was "the punishment poll." When the film played in theatrical release, audience members were issued a voting card, and near the movie's conclusion Castle himself appeared on the screen and asked the audience to vote: show the card thumbs up to show mercy, thumbs down for none. Now, in theory, there were two different endings, and the ending shown depended on the audience vote--but no one ever saw the "show mercy" ending and it seems unlikely that it ever existed at all. And you certainly won't find it here: Sardonicus is punished every time.
For once Castle should have left well enough alone. The Punishment Poll is the only seriously weak thing in the entire film, which has a considerably better script and over-all better cast than most Castle outings. The story, which shows influences from everything from PHANTOM OF THE OPERA to DRACULA to THE MAN THAT LAUGHED, concerns a grotesquely disfigured man who uses his wife to lure a noted specialist to his castle in the wilds of "Gorslavia"--and who then proceeds to make every one's life as miserable as possible, and that's throwing roses at it. Young women are molested, hung from the ceiling, nibbled on by leeches, and threatened with surgery designed to make them look as hideous as Sardonicus himself.
The cast is quite good, with Oskar Homolka a standout as Krull, Sardonicus' equally depraved servant. The lovely Audrey Dalton is also memorable as Sardonicus' unwilling wife. But the real star of the film is the make-up, which was quite famous in its day and is still capable of giving you a jolt. And along the way we're treated to a number of campy Castle florishes that add to the fun. But MR. SARDONICUS is surprisingly cohesive for a Castle movie, and it moves along at a smart pace and has an interestingly atmospheric look. Most Castle films appeal almost exclusively to fans of cult and B-movies, but just about every one will find this one entertaining. Lots of good Gothic fun!

William Castle...producer, writer, director, and sometimes actor, but first and foremost a showman. All right...the man was a hack (in the kindest possible sense), pure and simple, often regarded as a Hitchcock imitator (he even adopted a number of Hitchcockian mannerisms like appearing briefly in his own movies, etc.), and his films maybe have not been of the highest caliber, but he knew how to draw in and entertain audiences by use of sometimes very clever gimmicks, at least in terms of his horror films of the 50s and 60s, and made going to the movies an interactive event, rather than a passive activity, ensuring those who came got their money's worth. While Mr. Sardonicus (1961) isn't my favorite Castle film (I've always been partial to House on Haunted Hill and The Tingler), it's still a lot of fun, especially if you're a fan of schlocky, sleaze-tinged, lurid spectacles like I am...written by Ray Russell (The Premature Burial, X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes) and produced and directed by William Castle (House on Haunted Hill, The Tingler, 13 Ghosts), the film stars Guy Rolfe, whom I last saw in Ivanhoe (1952) as the evil Prince John, Audrey Dalton (The Monster That Challenged the World, Kitten with a Whip), Ronald Lewis (Taste of Fear), and Austrian born actor Oskar Homolka, who was nominated for an Oscar for his role in the film I Remember Mama (1948)...you've come a long way since then, Babaloo...

The story begins in London, the year being 1880...Castle comes on the screen for a brief intro, which leads into our tale proper in that we meet Sir Robert Cargrave (Lewis), a young, prominent English physician who's done quite well for himself. After receiving a urgent letter from his ex-love (And then there's) Maude (who'd gone off and unwillingly married another), played by Dalton, Robert hops a boat to the continent, and makes his way to a central European country named Gorslava, which, I think is near Freedonia, but I can't be sure...anyway, turns out the man Maude married, a nasty fellow named Baron Sardonicus (Rolfe), has a bit of a problem with his mug, one caused by an unpleasant past experience gone into in great detail by use of a lengthy flashback of ghoulish proportions involving a lottery ticket, a dead body, and a money grubbing spouse, which I won't go into, but suffice to say the good Baron now sports a giant, permanent, toothy grin which he hides by wearing a mask. He's exhausted nearly all means of treatment, and his last hope lies in Sir Robert, whom he makes an offer the English gentleman can't refuse. Sir Robert agrees and the local canine population dwindles dramatically as he researches the possibility of using a poisonous tropical plant to treat the disfigured Baron. Will the cure work? Or will Sir Robert find himself and Maude at the very un-tender mercies of the Baron's sadistically cruel, one-eyed manservant Krull (Homolka)? Don't fret my frightful fiends, as all will be revealed...even that dark, disgusting secret the Baron keeps locked away in the upstairs room...

In terms of gimmickry, Mr. Sardonicus doesn't rate as high as some of Castle's other films (for The Tingler, vibrating devices would be affixed to the bottom of a few of the theater seats and activated during certain thrilling sequences), as it involved patrons being given cards with a glow in the dark hand printed on them. Near the end of the film, Castle would appear onscreen and request the audience to participate in a `punishment poll', in that if they thought the main character deserved leniency, they would hold the card with the thumb point up, but if they thought the character deserved more punishment, they would hold the card with the thumb pointed down. Castle would then make a production about counting the ballots, and however the audience voted would dictate how the rest of the film would play out (reminiscent of a thumbs up/thumbs down verdict used within the Roman Coliseum), indicating there were two possible endings...which there wasn't (apparently there was a separate version shown to drive in audiences, where Castle would ask patrons to flash their headlights rather than use the card, but it ended the same way). Castle knew his audience, and knew they would always opt for `more punishment', but I can't help but wonder how many viewers bought into the illusion, thinking they were actually influencing the direction of the story (to this day rumors persist there's an alternate ending, but there isn't). As far as the story goes, I didn't think it was particularly scary, but, as others have stated, it does emote a feel of those wonderful horror films produced by Universal in the 30s and 40s. There is a slightly inexpensive (i.e. cheap) sense to the production, but Castle made the most of what he had, and a little imagination goes a long way, aided by spooky, gothic settings thick with atmosphere (leeches, torture chambers, bloodcurdling screams, etc.), surprisingly rich in detail, all tied together with a suitably creepy musical score. The actors do well (Ms Dalton's character seemed a bit drab), most notably Rolfe in his role as the lead character. His makeup looks a little hokem compared to today's standards, but I'm sure it was pretty effective some 40 years ago. As nasty a character as he was, there was still underlying sense of pathos that stemmed from the portrayal of his character during the flashback, prior to the disfiguring incident, but, had I been in the audience, by the end of the film, I would have voted thumbs down, along with most everyone else (thousands of years of civilization still have yet to extinguish humanities animalistic desires). Also, Homolka did very well in his over the top performance of the brutish, obedient, scarred lackey (he lost an eye to the Baron for a past indiscretion) Krull, gleefully applying leeches to the house servants, perhaps in an effort to develop his own cure for his cruel and demanding master. Overall this is a macabre little tale, worth checking out if only to see the work of a Castle, a penultimate showman the likes of we'll never see again.

The widescreen (1.85:1) print on this DVD looks very sharp and clean, and the audio comes through loud and clear. As far as special features, there's a relatively new featurette titled `Taking the Punishment Poll' (7:36) and a trailer for this film, along with some of Castle's other films available on DVD including 13 Ghosts (1960) and Straight-Jacket (1964). The one thing that would have put this release over the top would have been the inclusion of a reproduction of the `thumbs up/thumbs down' ballot, but oh well...missed opportunities...

Cookieman108

William Castle never fails to amuse and entertain. Wherever he falls short in production values or his choices of acting talent, he comes up with the most unique ideas. MR. SARDONICUS is certainly one of his more contrived plots, and his characters are all stock characters...good guy, gal in distress, bad guy, bad guy's evil side-kick...it's all there. The plot is as thin as dental floss, and the film, for all it's narrative, could've been shortened by a half-hour. Enter Mr. Castle with a groovy idea to put all these silly characters and plot ideas into an entertaining flow of events, culminating with his traditional "gimmick". As silly as it is, I love this movie. Castle used minimal sets; black & white photography is crisp and clear (especially on this DVD release) and Castle's regular Von Dexter composed yet another eerie and superbly appropriate musical score. Castle is the perfect example of making the most with the least. Audrey Dalton was approaching "over-the-hill" when she made this, and she's absolutely gorgeous; her face has a certain characteristic so that lack of expression is actually an asset. Ronald Lewis, used regularly during the early 60's in exactly this type of role, does what he needs to do (whatever happened to him?). Guy Rolfe chews the scenery as the rich, poor-put-upon title character with vigor beyond the requirements. It's Oscar Homolka, the fine old character actor from the 40's ("I Remember Mama") who actually transcends his role and commands attention. The film belongs to him. Then, again, there are the Castle touches, very much influenced by Hitchcock, in a bargain-basement kind of way. He leads the audience down every possible path, creates an eerie and somewhat suspenseful mood...then throws out his goofy and fun gimmick. I saw this in theatres when it first came out. As a kid, I was intrigued. As an adult, I'm amused and entertained, knowing now that I was totally taken in by Castle's style. The first time you see the ugly face, it can seriously disturb you. (As a kid, I had nightmares about that face.) The bottom line is that this is a fun film, not to be taken seriously, and rife with Castle charm. Grin and bear it! See this film.

With a film from producer-director William Castle the question is never what is the plot of the film but rather what gimmick has the master of horror schlock come up with this time around. For his 1961 release "Mr. Sardonicus" the gimmick was the "Punishment Poll," which supposedly gave the audience the choice of how the film should end. Of course this is not going to be as much fun as the tingling seat, special viewing glasses for ghost-vision, or even the insurance policy to cover you in the event the film scared you to death, but you have to admit that even with DVDs there are limits to what can be done. The irony is that with the DVD format you really could choose between alternative endings-if only Castle had filmed one in the first place.

Sir Robert Cargrave (Ronald Lewis) is a noted neurosurgeon who is summoned from England by her former lover Maude (Audrey Dalton) to a castle in Gorslava where she lives with her husband Baron Sardonicus (Guy Rolfe). The baron always wears a mask when he comes out of his room and eventually he tells Sir Robert the story of a lottery ticket and a ghoulish visit to a graveyard at midnight. Sardonicus wants Sir Robert to use his skills to cure his affliction, even if it means using new and untested methods to gain success, so that Maude, who was married off by her father to the baron, might finally love her husband. When Sir Robert balks at the idea, Sardonicus reveals an alternative plan for making the baroness more sympathetic to his condition.

"Mr. Sardonicus" has every single one of the traditional elements of a gothic horror story. Our hero, a man of science, travels to a remote location in eastern Europe, where he meets the terrified local townsfolk, before heading on to an ancient castle on a hill surrounded by mist, where he is met by the deformed assistant to the mysterious baron, whose beautiful wife is held hostage to her husband's dangerous whims. But the film creates a nice gothic atmosphere (until the end) and the production values do not cheapen the experience but compare quite favorably to the Universal monster movies of the 40s and 50s. Cargrave is a bland hero and the effectiveness of the film rests on the character of the baron, who cuts a compelling figure as he speaks from behind his mask. More than anyone else, it is Rolfe who prevents the films from descending to the level of camp, although Oscar Homolka as the baron's disfigured but loyal servant Krull, turns in a solid performance along those same lines as well.

Rather surprisingly, not only the story of how Sardonicus came to be this way but our look at the man behind the mask comes rather early in the film, at which point this horror film starts to turn into a medical problem-solving effort. Then we get to Castle's gimmick and the whole thing collapses. The "Punishment Poll" consisted of getting a rather large card when you entered the theater that could be raised to signify "thumbs up" or "thumbs down" when Castle appeared on the screen to conduct the poll. Supposedly the majority vote would apply, but Castle knew full well what his blood thirsty audience would want to see at the end of the film, so an alternative ending was never even filmed. Besides, Castle made it clear what sort of person would wimp out and give mercy to the title character. The only problem is that the little boy in the back row could have come up with a more painful punishment for Sardonicus than this rather low-keyed ending. Equally important, Castle's jovial appearance completely derails the film's momentum and dispels the gothic atmosphere.

"Mr. Sardonicus" is an interesting little footnote to the history of horror films and if you have never seen a William Castle film then sooner or later you should check one of them out. There is a short documentary on this DVD about "Taking the Punishment Poll" that provides some insights into the film and the cast from film historians (the key one being that Castle's films are more about fun than fright). "Mr. Sardonicus" is one of several William Castle productions that Columbia is putting out on DVD, including "Homicidal," "13 Ghosts," and "Strait-Jacket," a couple of which have trailers on this DVD.

I've said before that these great old horror thrillers take me back to fond memories of chill filled Saturday nights from days long past. Mr. Sardonicus is no different. Once again, we're set in 19th century Bavaria, with a cursed Baron, tortured maidens, decaying corpses, and there's of course the moonlit garden of dead trees twisted in menacing atrophy, and for some reason only wolfbane and deadly nightshade will grow... That's brilliant!!!
These old horror flicks are so great--we we're very fortunate as kids to have these to watch every week--FOR FREE!! I'm not that old- when I was watching these, they had already been around for 10 or 12 years.
Anyway, I would tell all you fanatics out there, discover these old classics, they certainly don't make 'em like this anymore!!!