This film, directed by William Castle and released by Columbia Pictures, stars Ronald Lewis (Sir Robert Cargrave), Audrey Dalton (Maude), Guy Rolfe (Baron Sardonicus), Oskar Homolka (Krull), and Erika Peters (Elenka).
The world of horror films would be a far less fun place to live in if it weren’t for William Castle, the King of Gimmicks. He might have been a schlock-master, but his films were fun, and all of them had imagination. And of course, there were all those gimmicks: fright insurance policies, nurses on duty, ghost viewers, flying skeletons and even electric buzzers in the seats to “tingle” the patrons. With all of these gimmicks, modern audiences tend to forget that the films themselves were often professionally made and even boasted a story with a scare or two.
By 1961, Castle may have felt that the gimmicks were threatening to take over the whole show and commenced production on Mr. Sardonicus. Although the film has a gimmick (a “punishment poll” which we’ll get to later), the film’s strengths lie with its script and the obvious care that went into the production.
Castle’s previous films feel as if the cast were having a lark on the set while the cameras rolled; here, we are presented with a cast that feels restrained and classically trained, with only Oskar Homolka being allowed to ham it up in classic Castle style. Despite the strange plot and the makeup that strains credibility (and Castle’s own light-hearted appearances), Mr. Sardonicus feels like Castle’s first tentative bid at being taken seriously.
Who Was That Masked Baron?
Sir Robert Cargrave, a brilliant doctor, travels to eastern Europe at the behest of his former lover, Maude, now the wife of the mysterious Baron Sardonicus. Everything about Castle Sardonicus makes Sir Robert ill at ease, from the one-eyed servant who experiments with leeches on the chambermaid to the absence of mirrors in the castle. Even stranger is Sardonicus himself, who arrives at dinner wearing a mask and refuses to eat.
Soon, Sir Robert learns the Baron’s story: He was once a peasant who accidently buried a winning lottery ticket with his father’s body. When he exhumed the coffin, the shock of seeing his father’s dead face twisted his own face into that of a permanent sardonic smile. The Baron wants Sir Robert to cure him, but he doesn’t tell the good doctor what will happen to Maude if he fails.
Great Acting And Great Over-Acting
Instead of hiring a name lead like Vincent Price for the role of Sir Robert (who probably would’ve played the role with an American accent as he did so many other European roles), Castle chose to cast lesser-known actors who could inhabit their roles convincingly. Ronald Lewis as Sir Robert embodies all that is good as much as Guy Rolfe (as the Baron) embodies all that is evil (Lewis would get his own shot at embodying evil later that year with his role in Seth Holt’s Taste Of Fear).
Even though Homolka chews merrily away at the scenery whenever he enters frame, his ham-fisted performance is perfectly balanced by the rest of the cast. He seems to have the time of his life saying lines like, “When my master says to me, ‘Krull, do this thing,’ I do the thing… whatever it may be.”
The things that the Baron asks Krull to do are extraordinary to say the least. When Sir Robert first arrives, he finds that Krull has garnished a servant girl’s face with leeches (and then applies the leeches to her foot in a later scene). He gathers up girls from the village for his master to pick from (and we never really find out what happens to the lucky girl after she screams at the sight of the Baron) and rounds out his villainy by restraining Maude in the torture chamber. True, he balks at mutilating Maude’s face, but only briefly. It is these moments that the viewer remembers at the end of the film when Krull returns to the castle, without Sir Robert, and makes a decision concerning the Baron’s fate.
Look into the Face of Death
For a film released in 1961, there are even a few shocks. The Baron’s first look at his father’s dead face, the jaws locked in a death-smile, is certainly sickening (especially given the kind face of Vladimir Sokoloff, who plays the character prior to his death), and the mummified skeleton that Sardonicus springs on Maude is just as hair-raising.
Even the makeup that turns Guy Rolfe’s face into that of the smiling ghoul is shocking at its first viewing. True, the effect doesn’t hold up later in the picture when we are given longer looks of the Baron’s face (Rolfe removes his mask at the peril of audience chuckles), but it is a great and imaginative face all the same, even with the light reflecting off its shiny surface.
Survey Says
As for the Castle gimmick, it rears its head in the last five minutes (almost as an afterthought) as a punishment poll. The audience is encouraged by Castle (over-acting even more than Homolka) to vote thumbs-up or thumbs-down on whether Mr. Sardonicus should be subject to “further punishment.” Spoiler alert!
Castle makes a big show of apparently counting the votes in the audience before happily announcing a vote of “No Mercy.” He orders the projectionist to thread up the proper ending (actually the only ending ever shot) and reveals Krull deliberately lying to the Baron and allowing him to starve to death from being unable to open his mouth (which Sir Robert said was merely a psychosomatic side-effect of the cure). The music swells as the Baron tries and fails to stuff food past his lips, and the audience can sit back and smirk as Krull devours the meal himself. It is a fitting ending to a fitting screen villain. Spoilers End.
At its heart, Mr. Sardonicus is a film about guilt hidden behind masks; the Baron’s mask hides not only a twisted face, but also a cold and unyielding soul. But at least Baron Sardonicus is a monster that can be reasoned with, which is a lot more than you can say for a flesh-eating zombie.
Craig O'Connor - Born and raised in Brockton, MA, Craig O'Connor made a career as a video editor in Hollywood (going so far as to cut the tribute montage ...
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