Mr. Sardonicus.
A doctor from 'ye olde london town' heads to eastern europe at the request of his ex. It seems the man she was forced to marry for money due to her gambling daddy is a nouvoux-riche aristocrat who wears a creepy white mask and lives in the local equivalent of Draculas castle. (superstitious peasants look in horror as the doc tells them where he's going!) He even has a deformed one-eyed butler whose favourite saying seems to be "when the master tells me to do a thing, I do it no matter what it is!" despite the fact his sadist boss is the reason he only has one eye. It turns out Sardonicus was a pesant at one point who dug up his fathers corpse to retrieve a winning lottery ticket (I dont judge, I'd be tempted to do the same thing) and the shock of seeing the rictus grin of old daddy has given Sardonicus the same disturbing grin! The subsequent years of isolation have twisted him into a grade-a sadistic psychopath and he cooly informs the good doctor that he will deform his wife if the doctor dosent fix his face..
William Castle was always best remembered as the master showman fond of promoting his films with weird gimmicks. In this movie he stops the film and allows the audience to choose sardonicus fate, though there was only one ending shot so your stuck with it whatever your own decision was! Like all his films Sardonicus has a lot of charm and is an awful lot of fun. It's probably the only true period based gothic horror he made and for me its the best of his movies. (that he directed of course, i'm fully aware he produced Rosemary's baby!) The Blu-ray picture and sound are generally excellent. Theres some noticable noise in the opening scen with william castle but given the films vintage and the fact the blu-ray cost less than four quid with postage its a great presentation and better than the DVD release.
The Brotherhood of Satan.
A family on vacation end up stranded in some desolate midwest town that has been mysteriously cut of from civilisation as the local kids go missing and the parents die off one by one. The dad joins forces with the local sheriff and priest in order to try and figure out whats going on. Turns out the local doctor is a satanist hell bent on giving himself and his acolytes immortality.
The film is quite weird, the opening ten minutes is almost dialouge free. Its well shot and we get two great performances from Strother Martin and LQ Jones. In fact if I were to compare this to any other movies LQ Jones THE WITCHMAKER would certainly make the list, as would Devils rain and Race with the devil. Its a great little Occult chiller and like Sardonicus it looks great on blu-ray.
Worth pointing out here that the mill creek blu-ray is region locked. So dont go out and buy it unless your american or region free. Shame really as two films of this caliber for less than a pack of fags is a total bargain.
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