What's new

A Few Words About A few words about...™ Mr. Sardonicus -- in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

Robert Harris

Archivist
Reviewer
Senior HTF Member
Joined
Feb 8, 1999
Messages
18,311
Real Name
Robert Harris

William Castle's 1961 Mr. Sardonicus is typical Castle horror, and that's an okay thing.  Definitely low-budget, and black & white, it gives the requisite shocks, and is well...

okay.  I would presume that the target audience was originally young to mid-teens.

I've seen it in varying incarnations over the years, but finally for fans of the film, we have something special.  Special for fans.  As a Columbia picture, just typical.

Which means an absolutely perfect presentation.

A perfect gray scale, with admirable blacks.  Tight grain structure and resolution that's sharp as a tack.

So where are we.

An okay production, a fun little gothic-ish horror film, but nothing extraordinary, in the form of a Blu-ray that can knock the socks off most every film of the era on the format.

Again, for fans, it's under $10, which is a great price.  And you get The Brotherhood of Satan with it.  Free.

Image - 5

Audio - 5

RAH

 

Angelo Colombus

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Mar 19, 2009
Messages
3,408
Location
Chicago Area
Real Name
Angelo Colombus
TCM did broadcast last week the documentary on Castle called "Spine Tingler! The William Castle Story" (2007) ...a very good film about the director.
 

Mark-P

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Sep 26, 2005
Messages
6,487
Location
Camas, WA
Real Name
Mark Probst
See? Mill Creek ain't so bad. I read so many complaints about product being licensed to Mill Creek, but when they are given good transfers they put out good product.
 

Charles Smith

Extremely Talented Member
Supporter
Senior HTF Member
Joined
Jun 27, 2007
Messages
5,984
Location
Nor'east
Real Name
Charles Smith
I love this Gothic Castle. But on top of everything else, it's a great [redundant] Columbia transfer? SOLD!(hmmm, okay, I'll let this little blurb stay on here just this once):Sent from my DROID RAZR using Home Theater Forum mobile app
 

Reed Grele

Supporter
Senior HTF Member
Joined
Jun 30, 1997
Messages
2,188
Location
Beacon Falls, CT
Real Name
Reed Grele
Charles Smith said:
I love this Gothic Castle. But on top of everything else, it's a great [redundant] Columbia transfer? SOLD!(hmmm, okay, I'll let this little blurb stay on here just this once):Sent from my DROID RAZR using Home Theater Forum mobile app
Sounds like this would make a great double feature with Brides of Dracula.
 

clambake

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Jul 9, 2012
Messages
122
Real Name
Jamie
atcolomb said:
TCM did broadcast last week the documentary on Castle called "Spine Tingler! The William Castle Story" (2007) ...a very good film about the director.
Id been wanting to see that doc for a few years and finally caught it on TCM too recently. Really good.

And if we are naming off favorite William Castle films, for me it's HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL, MR. SARDONICUS, and THE BUSY BODY!
 

Joe Bernardi

Supporting Actor
Joined
Oct 24, 2000
Messages
893
Location
Sarasota, Florida
Real Name
Joe Bernardi
I can't remember if Mr. Sardonicus is the movie where they handed us each a card that could be turned something like thumbs up or thumbs down; at a point in the movie, we were asked to show our choices to the screen, which would "read" them, and continue the movie "based on the majority's wishes".
 

clambake

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Jul 9, 2012
Messages
122
Real Name
Jamie
Joe Bernardi said:
I can't remember if Mr. Sardonicus is the movie where they handed us each a card that could be turned something like thumbs up or thumbs down; at a point in the movie, we were asked to show our choices to the screen, which would "read" them, and continue the movie "based on the majority's wishes".
Yeah, that's in Mr. Sardonicus.
 

lark144

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Feb 22, 2012
Messages
2,096
Real Name
mark gross
This story may be apocryphal, but apparently William Castle only had the "thumbs down" ending to MR. SARDONICUS printed and shipped to theaters, as he felt no audience would ever go for a happy ending to a horror film.
 

bgart13

Screenwriter
Joined
Oct 4, 2008
Messages
1,112
Real Name
Ben
And true to Castle's style, it was all a gimmick. Never were any alternative endings for any of his movies that did things like that. Pure showmanship, of which we'll never see again unfortunately.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Latest Articles

Forum statistics

Threads
356,814
Messages
5,123,700
Members
144,184
Latest member
H-508
Recent bookmarks
0
Top