Cathardincu Surprisingly incoherent and boring

Abbigail Bush what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Ezmae Chang This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Jerrie It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

meddlecore A prestigious plastic surgeon is lured to the castle of one, Baron Sardonicus.His groundbreaking medical expertise is required by the baron; though he is really in it to check up on the love of his life- who was forced into marriage with this horrific man.Sardonicus is afflicted with a facial deformity so ghoulish, he dawns a mask to hide it from the public's view. Hence his odd lifestyle.And, when everything else fails, Sardonicus demands the doctor perform a risky new experimental medical procedure (that sounds a lot like Botox). But the doctor refuses.That is...until Sardonicus gives him an ultimatum he can't refuse.The doctor agrees to perform the procedure, if the Baron would be willing to release his love from the bonds of marriage. And it seems to work...but there's a twist.Then...a weird little interlude where Castle comes in and pretends to interact with the theatre audience...having them vote on how the finale should go...and he clearly has a negative view of human nature...This is an entertaining film that has a sort of man without a face vibe- and is based on the same model as Joseph Pevney's The Strange Door from 1951 (albeit with a different storyline).I personally found it humorous the guy had invented the hypodermic needle, as well. Something we take for granted today, I guess. And where would we be in plastic surgery today without it! This is well made for a budget film...and I love how Castle fashions himself in a Hitchcockian way- even giving himself a little cameo as the carriage driver.Certainly worth a watch, as an homage to some classics- with a contemporary twist.6 out of 10.

wes-connors In foggy London, producer-director William Castle appears on-screen to introduce his "Mr. Sardonicus" film. He has trouble striking a match, due to dampness, then Mr. Castle reads the definition of "ghoul" from what looks like it must be the world's smallest dictionary. The story begins with muscle-relaxing physician Ronald Lewis (as Robert Cargrave) helping a little girl move her leg. He receives a letter, delivered by one-eyed messenger Oskar Homolka (as Krull). It is from Mr. Lewis' former lover Audrey Dalton (as Maude Randall). She needs Lewis to visit a central European estate and provide medical attention for her husband Guy Rolfe (as Marek "Sardonicus" Toleslawski). Lewis drops everything and goes to see he mysterious man...It turns out "Sardonicus" wears a mask due to disfigurement. A flashback reveals how Mr. Rolfe dug up his father's grave to retrieve a winning lottery ticket. Rolfe's face froze in a ghastly grin. Back in the present, Lewis is ordered to cure Rolfe. This is a highlight in the series of frightening, but cheesy films from Castle. The grimacing face make-up recalls "The Man Who Laughed" (1928), a classic silent thought to have inspired the look of Batman's foe "The Joker". Castles' gimmick is that he returns on-screen, just before the story's end, and asks audiences to participate in a punishment poll." If they hold up a "Thumbs Down" card, one ending will play. If they hold up a "Thumbs Up" card, another ending will play. The outcome looked rigged, to me.****** Mr. Sardonicus (10/8/61) William Castle ~ Ronald Lewis, Guy Rolfe, Oskar Homolka, Audrey Dalton

Dalbert Pringle Favorite Movie-Quote - "No! Not the leeches again!" In this sweet'n'sour (and very sinister) little horror movie about leech-facials, guilt-ridden ghouls, and leering-lockjaw to the extreme, I'd say that it was actor Oscar Homolka, as Krull, the baron's viciously cruel servant (with the cob-webbed eye), who put in the most complex and memorable performance of all.Set in the year 1880, almost all of this horror film's evil action takes place at Baron Sardonicus' dark & gloomy (and mirror-less) castle that was located just outside the town of Gorslava (which, by the looks of it, was probably situated in, or around, the region of good, old Transylvania).And, you can be sure that what regularly went on behind closed and locked doors in this creepy, fog-enshrouded environment of the baron's made just having a mere skeleton in one's closet seem quite tame by comparison.For the most part (as far as B-Horror movies go) Mr. Sardonicus (shouldn't this film have been titled "Baron" not "Mr." Sardonicus?) actually held up quite well and turned out to be a fairly effective little tale of woe, rotten corpses and severe facial afflictions.But, unfortunately, at the last 5 minutes of the story writer/director William Castle made an unexpected (and very unwelcome) appearance on screen in order to gleefully promote his worthless "Punishment Poll".Castle's interruption to deliver his "audience participation" nonsense nearly sabotaged the entire picture. It came pretty close to successfully ruining the whole period atmosphere of the story.To me, Castle may have been something of a notable B-Movie director, but, when it came to his "gimmicks" and being a comedian wannabe, he was Z-Grade, all the way.

LeonLouisRicci William Castle Movies, today, almost always have the term "Fun" attached as Reviewers and Fans try to point Newbies in His direction. However, appropriate for the most part, it is possible to say that this Movie is anything but. The Punishment Poll Gimmick notwithstanding this is one creepy, horrifying Film. There is absolutely no Fun to be found here.From the Gothic atmosphere to the inherent cruelty and tragic situations the Movie sucks you in with a heavy dose of Melodrama and Terror. The Writing and the Cast all play this perfectly straight, and the Movie is better for it. Containing one of the most remarkable and memorable, shocking and traumatizing Make-Up effects ever in a Horror Movie.There is not a Boomer out there that saw this Movie in the Theatre that does not, could not, forget it. For the most part it is an Icon that they carry to this day. It is a Film that is sharply constructed as an entry into Nineteenth Century Medical Procedures, Myths, and Folklore.The Director's most serious Film has stood the test of time and is His only Period Piece, but what a Piece it is. Stands along side Corman's Poe adaptations, Hammer, and anything else that was the Contemporary of this fondly remembered Director.Note...What a Title!