Rating: 
Summary: Never Wake Up Your Dad When He's Dead
Review: .... and definitely never marry a blonde babe if you're a Slavic peasant.In the good old days (which weren't really that good), the only way you could catch a little-known gem such as this film was to stay up really late watching TV. I remember coming across it after watching Psycho (which put my sister to sleep) and looking for something to "wind down" to afterwards. What I tuned in to was a tale about the aforementioned peasant who is goaded by his selfish spouse into digging up his father's grave to retrieve a winning lottery ticket that was buried with him. When he opens the casket, and the moon shines brightly on his old man's year-dead rotted puss, the unpleasant sight does something very very strange to his face. Of course he is rewarded with untold wealth (and the bonus of his wife killing herself), but at the cost of becoming an abhorrent social outcast, spending his days slurping liquid meals and performing cruel medical experiments on unwitting locals in search of a cure for his, um, countenance de rigeur. This is probably the most original creepshow offering by 60s gimmickmeister/filmmaker William Castle, a relatively non-supernatural and not really that exciting melodrama which, nonetheless, manages to get under one's skin, much like the leeches used by Baron Sardonicus' one-eyed henchman to punish disobedient maidservants. This DVD release includes a pristine widescreen transfer (a plus for fans eagerly awaiting availability of this title), and director Castle's "Punishment Poll" interlude towards the end ..... this trademark gimmick may have been a novel diversion for its time, but in the context of an otherwise involving story, it seems trite and downright annoying to watch the smirking Castle counting imaginary audience pollsters for an obvious outcome ("suffer, and suffer, and SUFFER!"). But then, that's the other great thing about DVD releases: chapter advance! These small complaints aside, this is definitely a title worth checking out; it creeped me out so much the first time I saw it on TV I couldn't even finish watching it ..... so now I finally know the whole story! Mega-kudos to the film ghouls who dug up (hehe) this treasure. The tragic tale of the doomed Baron Sardonicus has a bright future as an immortal, chilling cult classic. Keep smiling .......
Rating:
Summary: Perhaps the most unique horror story ending ever
Review: Although this movie is not one of my all time favorites, I acknowledge that this movie has one of the most unforgettable endings you'll ever see. It's still quite vivid in my mind even after all the years. The Russian story writer Chekov said that the mark of a good short story is how profoundly it evokes a response in the feelings of the reader. In my case it was so profound that one viewing was quite enough. I doubt I'll ever need to see this again. My recollections of this movie are just as vivid as when I saw it over a decade ago. It's worth seeing though even if you only see it once. I suggest waiting to eat till after the movie. You might just attend to the taste of your food so very very much more.
Rating: 
Summary: GRIN!
Review: Always loved William Castle movies. Watch this one some time late and night and in the right mood and you will thoroughly enjoy it. Probably more as a comedy now than a scary movie - but you will enjoy it nonetheless!
Rating:
Summary: An unexpected gem!
Review: I always loved William Castle movies but I did not think this could be such a great release. I ordered and watched it with middle interest but after all I was fully satisfied. Orginal idea and great release. It become one of my preferred Castle's movies along with The Night Walker. This is a great surprise, an unexpected gem!
Rating: 
Summary: Major letdown
Review: I am sorry, but this movie struck me as being incredibly boring! There are absolutely no surpises nor horrors in stock. If you want gothic atmosphere, surely there are a dozen better movies at hand here somewhere. The picture/sound quality of this DVD was very good, but this alone didn't save this bundle of misery.
Rating:
Summary: Mr. Sardonicus: eternal victim of THE PUNISHMENT POLL?
Review: I organized a screening of this film for a college audience several years ago... everyone left with permanent smiles on their faces, due to the hilarious melodrama and sadistic nature of this early '60s chestnut. Mr. Sardonicus is filthy rich, but has paid a price for his wealth with a mysterious facial disfigurement. He resorts to obscuring his (presumably) hideous, ugly mug behind a creepy mask, and residing in a lofty castle in the middle of nowhere. Believing his disfigurement is somehow reversible, he tests the limits of human endurance by torturing everyone in his immediate vicinity in order to contrive a remedy for his tragic condition. His wife, who remains in the loveless marriage out of fear of her crazed husband, enlists the assistance of an old friend: a physician who has made some remarkable breakthroughs with patients suffering from paralysis. One comes to discover, over the course of a new battery of treatments, how Sardonicus acquired his horrible disfigurement - and why exactly he's become such a flamboyant misanthrope. This film was another staging opportunity for director William Castle's penchant for gimmickry... this time around, Castle concocted THE PUNISHMENT POLL. Moviegoers were issued small glow-in-the-dark cards, featuring a fist with thumb outstretched. In the tradition of the Roman arenas, where the audience decided whether a vanquished gladiator should live or die, Castle supposedly let the attendees of the film decide the fate of Mr. Sardoncius. Should one pick MERCY (thumb up) or NO MERCY (thumb down) after witnessing the trials of this ruthless rogue? Allegedly, the movie theater manager would tabulate the votes (in the dark, no less - hence, the G-I-T-D cards) and screen the ending of the film the majority of the audience voted for. Castle maintained that it was almost always the ending where Sardonicus received NO MERCY, and thus this was the conclusion that most people have seen. Castle claimed in his autobiography that they did, in fact, film the alternate ending where Sardonicus received MERCY, so that movie theaters could have it on hand in the unlikely event that the audience was in a forgiving mood. Other sources claim this is clearly not true, and that Castle only stated this alternate ending existed so as to give his gimmick the appearance of being authentically credible. Among many points of the latter argument: Castle's appearance towards the conclusion of the film resoundingly encourages the audience to vote for NO MERCY (paraphrasing: 'Did you see the horrible things he did to that girl?', etc.). I'm hoping this DVD release will the record straight, once and for all. Who knows - maybe this alternate ending really has been sitting in a film vault for forty years, after previously being 'rarely screened' ...? I am also curious to see if Columbia / Tri-Star will be including a reproduction copy of an original PUNISHMENT POLL card, ala the reproduction of the Ghost Viewer that was included in the DVD release of 13 GHOSTS. If so, this would be the icing on the cake of an undoubtedly great release - which, incidentally, has never been commercially available in the United States in any format until now. If you like this Castle film, check out: HOMICIDAL, STRAIT-JACKET, and the original 13 GHOSTS... all newly released on DVD.
Rating:
Summary: Great Castle/Castle fun!
Review: Mr. Sardonicus is adapted from the short story which originally appeared in Playboy magazine, titled, simply, "Sardonicus." Sardonicus's father had purchased a lottery ticket, and after his death, the family discovered it was the winning ticket, which had been buried along with the father...despite being poor, they would not even consider going into the grave and despoiling it to get the ticket, but Sardonicus had less qualms about this and went to the grave in the "dead of night" (what else?)and dug up the grave and opened the casket and found the ticket. The sight of his father's corpse so traumatized him, his own face became set in a rictus, and thus began the Sardonicus we meet at his castle, obtained, as was his entire fortune, by the monetary fulcrum provided by the lottery ticket. He had persuaded a sensitive and beautiful young lady to marry him; he had befriended her at a resort and her parents suddenly died and she found herself alone in the world except for the "kindly" Sardonicus. Her old friend, the London doctor, comes to the castle and discovers all is not well between the two, and also the reason he has been invited. Sardonicus wishes to have a normal visage, and this is the purview of the London doctor. The ending is wonderful, and satisfying, and the story so unusual and interesting, it transports us to the time and the atmosphere so eloquently described in the story and now in the film. Very entertaining and well worth a look. If you read the story you will find it interesting to note that despite the writing style, reminiscent of Victorian Gothic, it is relatively contemporary, having been written in the 1960s. Sidenote: There is a legend in Central Europe that Gypsies sometimes disfigured their own children by cutting their mouths from ear to ear in a grotesque, permanent smile to evoke pity in passersby for begging purposes...
Rating:
Summary: Grin and Bare it!
Review: The masked Baron Sardonicus has quite a few skeletons in his closet, and one in particular he keeps in a room in his isolated, gloomy Slavic castle. And that's only part of it. Mr. S's face is frozen into a hideous grin, so socializing is, well, kind of awkward, and his table manners are appalling, making it necessary to take his meals in his room. Sardonicus is also a very cruel man, feared and hated by all, including his lovely English wife, Maude. His affliction is due to a very traumatic experience some years before, and now he seeks a cure. A renowned English physician is called for, and by coincidence, was a former flame of Maude's. Ah, the wheels of melodrama start a-turnin'!
"Mr. Sardonicus" was penned by Ray Russell, who adapted his novella for the screen. The film was directed by gimmickmeister William Castle, who came up with the "Punishment Poll". The "Punishment Poll" was an audience participation shtick in which viewers could decide whether it would be "thumbs up" or "thumbs down" for the wicked Mr. Sardonicus. Of course, no one but the extremely fickle would vote "thumbs up", so the "happy" ending (did it ever really exist?) was never seen. The film is a lot of fun (hey, it's William Castle), and the performances are first-rate. Guy Rolfe is actually quite charming as the wretched Sardonicus, and handsome Ronald Lewis and lovely Joan Bennett lookalike Audrey Dalton are stoically appealing as Sir Robert and Maude. Erika Peters is a hoot as Sardonicus' late, money-hungry first wife (before he hit the jackpot-with-a-price), and, of course, the great Oscar Homolka as "Krull". Krull is Sardonicus' sinister and loyal handyman. Krull says, "When the master says 'Krull, do the thing, I do the thing'!" He puts leeches on a servant girl's face, tortures peasant girls from the neighboring village, and has even lost an eye, the result of one of Sardonicus' rages. And he takes it all in stride-up to a point. Mr. Homolka is a joy to watch, a gruff rascal, and steals the show, like a deposed Leonid Brezhnev. The really don't make character actors like this anymore!
"Mr. Sardonicus" is a cozy, old-fashioned costume melodrama, an homage to the horror films of the '30s and '40s, and is, to put it simply, a lot of fun! The fog-shrouded sets, the unspecified Middle European setting, the gloomy castle, the horrible and tragic title character, all the classic elements are there. It also, for some strange reason, makes me hungry for stuffed cabbage, goulash, noodles, and a nice bottle of Bull's Blood (no, it's not really blood-it's a delicious Hungarian red wine) Oh, the power of cinema!
The picture and sound quality on the DVD are very good. I do wish that the making-of feaurette, "Taking the Punishment Poll", was longer and more informative. It runs a mere 7 minutes, as opposed to the remarkable "Battle-Axe" featurette on the "Strait-Jacket" DVD, another Castle campfest starring Joan "Mommie" Crawford. Well, you axed for it!
Rating:
Summary: Sir Robert rules, Sardonicus drools!
Review: This is a great, fun movie from the William Castle oeuvre, with the gimmick this time being a punishment poll where moviegoers were (supposedly) allowed to choose whether to really let that evil ole' Sardonicus have it or not. The version I saw he (not surprisingly) gets the extra punishment, as I'm sure has always been the case. Overall, this movie is very camp, with an outrageously improbable story that works all the same. Also the homoerotic over- and undertones don't hurt. And one last thing: Sir Robert rules!
Rating:
Summary: Scary
Review: This is a very scary movie because of his face and his father's face!! so LOOK OUT!!
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