Other Titles • Mr. Sardonicus • Sardonicus (1961) • Der Unheimliche Mr. Sardonicus (1962)
Synopses for Mr. Sardonicus (1961)
1.
William Castle's tribute to the gothic horrors of the 1930s is a ghoulish spin on Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by way of Eyes Without a Face. The mysterious Baron Sardonicus (Guy Rolfe) lives in a lonely Central European castle, hiding his face behind a mask and his sadism behind aristocratic manners. Neither remains hidden for long as he pressures a London doctor (Ronald Lewis) into working miracles on his hideously disfigured face. Oskar Homolka steals the film as the Baron's loyal, long-suffering servant Krull, who wields surgical knives and slimy leeches in his reign of torture. Castle, less a stylist than a showman, has little feeling for mood but knows how to stage a shock and spring a gimmick, and this film features a doozy: the audience-participation "Punishment Poll," hosted by Castle himself in a clever (if improbable) break before the film's satisfyingly devious finale. --Sean Axmaker
2.
Gimmick maestro William Castle (HOUSE ON HAUTED HILL) delivers more hokey horror fun with this unusual film. Guy Rolfe stars as the title character, whose face has frozen into a hideous grin after digging up his father's grave for a winning lottery ticket. Hiding his twisted face behind a mask, Sardonicus conducts bizarre experiments to restore his face with the help of his sadistic one-eyed servant Krull (Oscar Homolka) and various beautiful women. When these attempts fail he lures a doctor (Ronald Lewis) out to the castle to force him to perform surgery, with even more shocking results.
The gimmick for this one was the "Punishment Poll." Audiences were given glow-in-the-dark "thumb cards" with which they flashed at the screen at the climax. Supposedly two different versions of the end were shot and would be played according to whether the majority of cards read thumbs up (he lived) or thumbs down (he survived). Castle was careful to make Sardonicus pretty dislikable, and no one has seen the version where he lives, if one was even shot. Screenwriter Ray Russell based this on his own story, SARDONICUS.
3.
A Man Of Evil… With A Face That Could Stop Your Heart.
Desperate to retrieve a winning lottery ticket, a greedy baron unearths his father's corpse. An enormous jackpot is his reward, but not without a price: his face is frozen permanently into a hideous grin. He enlists his fiendish one-eyed servant to help him lift this horrible curse, but their schemes fail. Finally, he turns to a noted neurosurgeon - and his wife's former lover - to cure him.
This creepy horror classic is based on a novella by screenwriter Ray Russell, and is brought to life by William Castle, master of terror!
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