Once a B Monster Movie lover, always a B Monster Movie Lover.  I can’t imagine ever outgrowing my fascination and appreciation for countless atmospheric, low-budget horror movies that were always my movies of choice growing up.  With an old black-and-white console TV in my bedroom from a very early age, and at least five excellent independent TV stations running tons of old movies day and night, I was in heaven.  I saw my share of important classic movies, too, but hands down, give me a cheapie monster movie and I was, and still am, completely content.  One of my favorites is the William Castle shocker Mr. Sardonicus from 1961, a sorta-sadistic, sorta-silly scare fest that once seen, truly cannot be forgotten.

Mr. Sardonicus popped back into the public eye, more or less, with its DVD release in 2002.  Before that it was mostly a movie caught by accident on TV, or perhaps more likely not seen at all for many years.  Sometime back in the early ‘90s I saw it at the Atlanta High Museum of Art – in fact, I was a guest programmer and picked it to host, and we had a packed audience, to boot – and it went over like the creepy champion that it is.  One of the thrills of that night was that the lovely actress Audrey Dalton, who played the wife of the titular Sardonicus, happened to be in Atlanta that night and attended the screening, receiving a tremendous ovation.  It was wonderful.

Those of you already familiar with Mr. Sardonicus will, along with me, brook no criticism of its possibly less-than-lush evocation of some obscure fictional European location.  Certainly there’s nothing lacking in the work of veteran cinematographer Burnett Guffey – who won Oscars in his career for From Here to Eternity and Bonnie and Clyde – as he photographed this bleak black-and-white morality tale with an eye for the creepy detail and the gruesome reveal.  And Ben Lane’s completely memorable make-up for Baron Sardonicus is one-of-a-kind and literally unforgettable.  Go ahead.  Try and get it out of her mind.  Impossible.

Plot-wise it’s nothing special perhaps, but has many fascinating elements.  It’s the story of a poor peasant who is cursed, or traumatized, with a horrible facial affliction after defiling the grave of his father in search of a winning lottery ticket.  The now-wealthy Baron Sardonicus (so-named after his deformity) seems to have some good points but ultimately gets his kicks promoting torture and scaring the villagers.  He has a loyal servant who loves nothing more than putting leeches on nubile young maidens, a beautiful wife who is repulsed by him, and an overwhelming desire to cure himself of his problem, which is why he has his wife’s scientist ex-boyfriend brought over from London to try out some revolutionary muscle paralysis-reversing techniques on him.  You’ve got a bad case of greed, a creepy castle, grave-robbing, a rotting corpse, a vat full of leeches, weird medical procedures and an overwhelming sense of sadness, really, when you consider the poor Baron’s ultimate fate. 

Much credit must be given to actor Guy Rolfe’s mournful visage.  With his mask on he’s merely mysterious, but once seen in the explanatory flashbacks, and then when revealed in his horrible glory, his sad eyes peer out in agony.  I always thought he looked like a chastised hound, misunderstood but driven somehow to act badly even though he knows it will only make people hate him.   (In deference to folks who haven't seen the movie, I won't post a pic of the make-up here, though it's so tempting.) 

What can I say?  It’s an effective little thriller, courtesy of the dead-on instincts of master manipulator William Castle, whose trademark was the clever marketing gimmick.  In Mr. Sardonicus, it’s the Punishment Poll, a thumbs-up/thumbs-down vote card that was supposed to be tallied at each showing. You got to choose whether Sardonicus deserved punishment or mercy, and according to movie lore, Castle, understanding only too well the tastes of the masses, only bothered to film the punishment version of the conclusion.  I myself would have voted for the mercy.  I just couldn’t bear to see the poor Baron unable to enjoy all that wonderful food on his dining room table.  He may have been a sadistic bastard, but everybody deserves a little roast beef, at least in my book.