Mr. Sardonicus

For "Mr. Sardonicus," (William Castle) had a "Punishment Poll" involving little cards with a luminous hand. To let Sardonicus (Guy Rolfe) live, you pointed the thumb up (and were supposed to leave the theater); to give him his just desserts, you pointed the thumb down (and sat through the rest of the film). 

The gimmick is the most interesting thing about "Mr. Sardonicus," a cheap-looking, trivial film. The script -- better than the direction by Castle -- was by Ray Russell, for years a fiction editor at "Playboy," where the story first appeared. In the late 19th century, Sir Robert Cargrave (Ronald Lewis) is summoned to the Balkan mansion of Baron Sardonicus, where he's surprised to learn the woman he expected to be his wife, Maude (Audrey Dalton), is married to the nobleman, who always wears an inexpressive mask of his own face. He's forever torturing his servants, usually assigning his servant Krull (Oscar Homolka) to this task, which is fine with Krull -- who's undergone some torture by Sardonicus himself.

Sardonicus explains that years before, to recover a winning lottery ticket from the clothes on the body of his late father, he dug up the old man's corpse -- and was so horrified by its skeletal grin that his own face immediately froze into a similar grimace. He hasn't been able to move his face ever since, and expects Cargrave to help him, threatening Maude as an inducement.

That's really all there is to the story; it's talky, slow-paced and not very frightening. Sardonicus' grin, which we see only a couple of times, is disturbing but not scary; it's more depressing than anything else. Homolka, Rolfe and Lewis are good, and the ending is nicely ironic, but it takes time to get there. If this hadn't been directed by William Castle, it would barely be remembered today.

"Mr. Sardonicus" is recommended only to historians, William Castle fans and the indefatigably curious; "Homicidal" and "Strait-Jacket," are much better.  (Bill Warren, AVRev)