Tag Archives: William Castle

Movie Review: Mr. Sardonicus

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(1961)
Directed by William Castle
Starring Guy Rolfe, Ronald Lewis, Oscar Homolka, Audrey Dalton, Vladimir Sokoloff, Erika Peters.

The groundbreaking doctor Sir Robert, specializing in muscle maladies, receives a strange message from an old love, asking him to come to her home in a distant land for some dire help. Once he arrives there, he meets the husband of his long-lost love, the Baron Sardonicus. Sardonicus had acquired his wife after paying off the gambling debt of her father. But the strange part of Sardonicus is that his face is hidden behind a mask. He tells his story of how he acquired his wealth, and the terrible secret he is hiding behind the mask. He blackmails Sir Robert into curing his affliction or his wife will come to great harm.

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Music Box Announces 24-hours of Horror!

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Music Box of Horrors 2016Chicago’s own Music Box Theatre has announced the date for this year’s Music Box of Horrors, which will take place on Saturday, October 24th, starting at noon! We can all hope that things will be back to some sort of normality so us devious horror fans can enjoy another 24 hours of madness! I missed last year’s marathon because we were at an out-of-town show so this year we are hoping to make our return!

So far, they only have two titles announced, but I gotta say, they’ve picked to stellar movies! The first one is one of the last great pictures from the King of Ballyhoo, William Castle! Joining forces with Joan Crawford, we get Strait-Jacket (1964), with this twisted tale of axe-murderer on the loose. Screening from a 35mm print! Continue reading →

Book Review: Grande Dame Guignol Cinema

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GGrande Dame Guignol Cinemarande Dame Guignol Cinema
Published by McFarland, 2009. 340 pages.
By Peter Shelley

Kudos to author Shelley for coming up with a great idea, highlighting some classics in horror cinema that some of them I feel tend to be left behind. Shelley writes in the preface, “for me the sign of good writing about films is that it compels one to see the movie under discussion. I hope my book does this for my readers.” Not only do I completely agree with that statement, but there are more than a few titles discussed in this book are now on my Need-to-Watch-AGAIN list.

Shelley does a great job in his introduction explaining the title of the book, and clearly defining what he means by it. This is a good way to stop people from asking “why did you leave this movie out?” … granted that will still probably happen. But at least going in, we are well aware of his point and what he is trying to accomplish with this book. With each title, he gives us a little background on the actress who is filling the role of the book’s title, and why they fit so well here. Once again, any book that sheds a little light on some horror history, I’m all for, and Shelley does an admirable job here.

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