Mr. Sardonicus

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.

Mr. Sardonicus is an excellent feature about that time Steven Tyler couldn't stop smiling. I was a big fan of this one and recommend enthusiastically.

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.

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.

Not quite as great as Castle's best, it's still a wonderfully enjoyable film. I love the sly use of humour mixed that with a dark atmosphere, the groundedness of the film without lacking in shock value and the great storytelling. It's not a deeply complex film, but it's just fun.

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!

Perversely entertaining.

Sardonic is a good title as this is an atmospheric weird tale that carries a certain irony throughout but is never outright humorous. This makes it something of a mature horror story for Castle even with the tagged on gimmick. But even with the grotesque make-up this never struck a cord as his earlier films did. Perhaps most of it would go over the heads of the average monster kid and therefore bore them. Because of this it's mostly forgotten. Still I'd give it a thumbs up in a Punishment Poll.

Fun movie for its genre.

Nicely atmospheric throughout...which very nearly compensates for the overall goofy premise. Also Ronald Lewis is a lot of fun as the terminally upright hero dude, as is Audrey Dalton as the far too long-suffering heroine (not to mention Homolka as the morals-bereft factotum to the Baron).

Fim de semana do dia das bruxas filme #5: A Máscara do Horror. DVD Versátil Obras Primas do Terror Volume 6.

Passes the time.