[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Mr. Sardonicus (1961)

Desperate to retrieve a winning lottery ticket from his fathers buried corpse, a greedy Baron unearths the body to claim his prize. The wealth was not without a price though as the Baron as the Baron ends up his face contorted into a grinning death mask. In a desperate attempt to cure his affliction after other more sadistic methods have failed the Baron blackmails an eminent neurosurgeon - and his wifes former lover - to cure him.

Mr. Sardonicus is classic black and white Gothic horror. Set in the Baron's castle it's nothing we haven't seen before in many respects. Creepy rooms, dark passageways, windswept graveyards, oddball servants, heroines in peril and sinister torture methods. To me what sets the film apart is its superb tight and gripping script.

Guy Rolfe plays Mr. or Baron Sardonicus and makes a good fist of playing the scarred madman but for me the real horror came from the Lugosi-esq Oscar Homolka who excelled as his servant, Krull, and the rather perverse bondage torture methods he uses on the maid Elenka.

Being a William Castle film it naturally had to have a gimmick. Castle, having already introduced the film then appears a few minutes from the end with a "Pause for Punishment Poll". In which the viewer is asked to choose between alternate endings according to whether they feel Sardonicus has suffered enough or not. it's a bit of fun but all pretty unnecessary as we know that Sardonicus will ne punished some more.

The Blu-ray from Indicator looks quite lovely and i highly recommend a purchase.