Like the best of the Castle features, this combines macabre imagery, gleeful sadism, and extreme desperation into an amusing and innocuous stew. The story is solid, the pacing is tight, and I chuckle every time someone pronounces "ghoul" with great gravity and gusto, which is pretty frequently.

Weirdly haunting.

Gothic horror in the style of the old Universal thrillers, with obvious inspiration from THE MAN WHO LAUGHS, although the make-up here is far more grisly. Also grisly are the torture scenes, not horrifyingly so (in fact, it's almost a playful approach to sadism), but definitely creepy. The performances are generally not bad, with a memorable turn by Homolka. The plot is a tad slow and full of holes, but in general the film is enjoyable. It also culminates in another delightful Castle gimmick.

Has all the sorts of ghoulishly fun things I like in a horror movie (fog, castles, strange goings-on....) Not an award-winner, perhaps, but for me, highly enjoyable!

For today's standards nothing special...(But for '61 not bad); How far would you go to look normal????

Passes the time.

As a fan of anything that passes marginally within the confines of gothic horror, this movie had me hooked. Add to that Castles slap dash amalgam of The Man Who Laughs and elements (more in tone than plot) of Dracula and The Raven (Lugosi versions) and I'm basicly salivating.

A modern-day greek tragedy instilled with the best of William Castle's atmospheric and sadistic delights.

Perversely entertaining.