Mr. Sardonicus (1962) a film by William Castle

By John Alexander

The films of William Castle were not exactly Z grade films at all. But the one thing they were usually aimed at, was the teen crowd and William Castle as Producer often liked to appear in the film (nearly like a Ringmaster) to introduce the gimmick.

Yes, every film had a gimmick that usually involved audience participation some how. For Mr. Sardonicus the audience was allowed to vote on the films ending as each person was give a little card with a picture of a "glow in the dark" thumb printed on it. The audience was given the opportunity on whether or not the villan in the story was allowed to "get away" with being nasty or whether the audience thought the villan should have a nasty surmise. William Castle interupts the end prompting the audience to eith show a "Thumbs up" or a "thumbs down" to determine the plight of the villan.

Knowing well that most people want the villan to get his come-upins, there really was only one ending to the film. But let's talk about the film itself...

 Mr. Sardonicus is actually a very nicely crafted horror film (outside of William Castle's introductuion which is rather cheesy gimickry but which for the 60s is what always drew a crowd and the teens all flocked to see his gimmicks.) But the story is pretty good and the acting is quite exceptional in every way producing nearly what I would call that "classic gothic horror" mood.

The story was written by writer Ray Russell who had also written some other unusual pictures like Roger Corman's films:
Premature Burial in 1962
X - The Man with the X-Ray Eyes starring Ray Milland in 1963
Zotz in 1963

Acting as Mr. Sardonicus is Guy Rolfe, playing much of his role as the Baron begin a mask. His Igor-like side kick named Krull is played by the great Oskar Homolka.

Basically the story is about a man who tells his story to a Doctor in clever flashbacks about how when he was younger, he was searching for a winning lottery ticket only to realize that it was accidentally buried with his Father who has died and been buried. Deciding to go after the ticket, he digs up his dead father's grave only to be shocked so badly that it causes his face to freeze in a horrible twisted grimace. The story is all about how he forces a specialist to come treat his affliction with some new ground breaking massage therapy. But things get even worse from there. The story is told in a way that keeps the audience on the edge. Everything is eventually explained and there are quite a few little creepy shocks and jolts along the way.

The story concludes with a brisk interuption near the end where the producer William Castle offers the audience a chance to take part in his "punishment poll."

As I said, except for the appearances of Castle himself, you have a very interesting horror film that really delivers the goods. You won't forget some sceens with Oscar Homolka as the Krull character either. If your in the mood for a good old black and white shock film from the 1960s, this film has some quality to it. You'll enjoy it!

I would rate this film about 7.5 out of 10 stars.

A few other William Castle productions that used gimmicks included:

The Tingler  (The Gimmick was buzzers under theatre seats)
13 Ghosts (1960) (with Special glasses so you can spot Ghosts)
Homicidal (1961)  (kind of a quickie to cash in on Pshyco's success)
Zotz!   (1962) (this film about a magic coin - also came with it's own coin
House on Haunted Hill (A skeleton appears and floats over the audience)