Homicidal
Director – William Castle (House on Haunted Hill, Zotz!)
Starring – Joan Marshall (Star Trek, The Munsters), Glenn Corbett (Fantasy Island, Night Gallery), and Patricia Breslin (I Saw What You Did, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour)
Release Date – 1961
Rating – 3/5
Tagline – “The story of a psychotic killer”
After the Ivan Cordoso marathon I recently had it was great to follow that up with some movies that were actually good. So I turned to two William Castle double features. That is two double features from the king of gimmicks. The first set, of “13” films, which consisted of 13 Ghosts and 13 Frightened Girls.
The second set of films consisted of Homicidal and Mr. Sardonicus. Both of these films were new to me so I was a little excited to check them out. They were sent my way from my friends at Mill Creek Entertainment and was released on blu. Thanks guys for sending me a copy.
**Spoiler Alert**The film begins with a beautiful young lady as she checks in to a hotel and then convinces the bellboy to marry her for a large sum of money. They visit the county clerk late at night to quickly get married when she pulls out a knife and kills him before rushing off. She rushed back to her home where she is the caretaker for an older woman who is mute and confined to a wheelchair. She lives there with a heir for a fortune and the two are secretly married. When his sister starts to suspect something is going on with her she unravels a deep, dark secret that has been running decades.**Spoiler Alert**
When I shared that I was watching this film on social media I had several friends comment on it and tell me that this was their favorite William Castle flick. I can see where the appeal is but it is far from my favorite Castle film.
The acting in this one is easily the best out of any Castle film. Joan Marshall is great in her duel role. Without giving away too much of the film she does a great job playing the unhinged female lead that is unstable. She is creepy as fuck and great to watch. Her supporting cast is solid but nowhere near her level. She was by far the star of the show.
The story for this one starts out with some blood, slows down to a crawl, and then hits with a pretty racy twist ending for the time. Sadly, I saw it coming a mile away but did shed some light on where Sleepaway Camp got the idea from. The film uses suspense wisely and does one hell of a job building tension.
Finally, the film does have some blood but the gags we get are done poorly. The film’s first stab scene shows blood coming from one side of the body where the person was not stabbed. A film like this could have delivered some better kills or at least some fun gags. Overall, Homicidal is the working man’s Psycho. The film looks great and has some chills but I could see the ending coming a mile away. Well worth a watch.
Mr. Sardonicus
Director – William Castle (House on Haunted Hill, 13 Ghosts)
Starring – Audrey Dalton (Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color), Guy Rolfe (Snow White and the Three Stooges), and Ronald Lewis (Warship)
Release Date – 1961
Rating – 4/5
Tagline – “A man of evil…with a face that could stop your heart”
I was looking forward to this film but deep down I was not looking forward to it. I had heard so much about this film and really looked forward to it. Sadly, I knew that this film would be the last of my four film streak of William Castle flicks.
For years people have told me to check out Mr. Sardonicus because they knew how much I loved Castle. Sadly, I never did. Lucky for me, my friends over at Mill Creek Entertainment added as the second film in a double feature with Homicidal. Once again, thanks for sending this one my way!
**Spoiler Alert**The film follows Sir Robert Cargrave (Lewis) who receives a letter from an old flame. Her father would not let her marry Robert and the two separated. Now, she has taken the title baroness and he husband is a disfigured man who summoned Robert. Robert is known the world over for his work with muscles and helping the crippled walking again. When the Baron was younger his father won the lottery but was buried with the ticket. He dig up his grave but once he opened the casket his saw his father’s decayed face. The site was so dreadful that it froze his facial muscles. He wants Robert to help him regain his face or he will torture his former love.**Spoiler Alert**
I had heard a lot of great things about Mr. Sardonicus but what I was told did not do this film justice. House on Haunted Hill will always be my favorite William Castle film but this film is easily my second. I was very surprised by what I saw.
The acting in this one is great. Ronald Lewis was brilliant as Sir Robert Cargrave. He was a very strong lead character that was very intelligent and caring. Some careful thought was placed into bringing him onto the film. Audrey Dalton did great as the baroness. She was not overpowering and did not dominate her scenes. She went along with the story and still gave the film’s title character his space. With that being said, I really enjoyed Guy Rolfe’s performance. He was great and brought a lot of personality to his character.
On top of that he had to redefine his character and portray him in a different manner. In certain spots of the film he is able to interact with other characters in a more traditional sense with dialogue and conversation but once his character becomes disfigured he communicated with his body why the dialogue is voiceovered. This is very tasking for an actor but he pulled it off.
The story for this one is a solid period piece that doesn’t really offer up scares but does give us some great atmosphere and a story that we can not predict. The film is slow paced but we get a lot of backstory and character development along the way. This helps keep the viewer entertained without losing them. Though the film is not chilling we still get some solid tension and a little suspense.
Finally, the film lacks on screen kills but has one of the best looking villains I have seen from this time period. The effects are great and the Baron looks fantastic. I can see people having nightmares after seeing this dude. Overall, Mr. Sardonicus is an underappreciated masterpiece. It may not be that embedded in horror but it still delivers. Well worth the watch.
