Castle of Evil (1966)

That was an excellent one.

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.

Not copyright. U.S. release through World Entertainment Corp./United Pictures: November 1966. U.K. release through Compton-Cameo: February 1967. Banned in Australia. 7,241 feet. 81 minutes.SYNOPSIS: Six people are summoned to a remote Caribbean island for a reading of a disfigured chemist's will. The chemist's ghost informs the heirs that one of them was directly responsible for his disfiguration. That night, the chemist's doctor is murdered. The housekeeper is also fatally attacked. Before dying, she explains that her master had created an electronic monster who has been programmed to kill the heirs one by one. COMMENT: Even rabid Virginia Mayo admirers will be hard put to glean much satisfaction from this cheapjack "attraction". Not that the fault is Miss Mayo's. It's rather the ploddingly unexciting script and mindlessly static direction that are chiefly to blame for the movie's almost total lack of suspense. In fact, the only player who comes across with credit is Shelley Morrison who corners all the most colorful scenes and has all the attention-grabbing lines. The director seems to like her too. She gets just about all the close-ups - only the monster runs her anywhere close. OTHER VIEWS: Any hopes aroused by the tensely ingratiating confrontation between Natividad Vacio and Shelley Morrison in the pre-credits Prologue, are quickly dashed by a couple of exceptionally tedious scenes of boring exposition before our travelers are eventually ensconced in the title castle. Even the robotic zombie as woodenly enacted and none too convincingly made up, fails to inspire much interest, let alone terror. The plot invention leading to the monster's final demise is introduced with all the subtlety of an elephant stampede. Penny-pinching production values and an abrupt conclusion don't help either. - JHR writing as George Addison. Lyon's direction is so labored, the film sinks without trace, despite competent performances from Scott Brady and Hugh Marlowe. - Monthly Film Bulletin.

Six people are invited to a cliff top castle in Nassau to hear a will. The will has been made by a dead man whom they hated but who will leave his money to those innocent if they discover the identity of the person who killed said dead man. The storm rages outside, the castle is full of strange passages and a housekeeper with a pet gecko watches them on closed circuit television. Also is the dead man dead? And who is the disfigured man in the well tailored suit? With those ingredients it is a shame the film is lacking in suspense, excitement and terror.The main cast, Scott Brady, Virginia Mayo, David Brian, Lisa Gaye and Hugh Marlowe have all been in better things and can't do much with the silly dialogue. Shelley Morrison as Lupe Tekal d'Esperanza is probably the best thing. A black cat also appears for two seconds. The sets are adequate however and Paul Dunlap provides a good music score.It is an underwhelming film overall.

The above quote, as insane as it is, is from this odd little horror film. In fact a lot of this film is insane...and watchable IF you like schlocky movies.When the film starts, six folks who hated Kovic (and vice-versa) are invited to the dead guy's mansion to discuss his will. He promises to give them his fortune but they need to figure out which of them booby-trapped his experiment and made him into a horrid dead guy who is missing part of his face. However, it's all a pretext just to get them in the house to kill them one by one.The premise is ordinary enough but the execution is rather poor. And the plot is just nuts--with zombies and lasers and all sorts of silliness that simply don't belong in a movie! Overall, a rather stupid but oddly enjoyable mess of a film.

"Castle of Evil" is haunted castle movie much in the style of Roger Corman and England's Hammer productions. Although it doesn't quite measure up to those productions, it is a competent little horror flick. The story involves a group of people who are summoned to a mysterious castle for the reading of the will of the man who has virtually destroyed each of their lives individually. Their host unfortunately has just passed away, or has he? The film contains most of the usual horror cliches and settings. There are the secret passages, sliding doors, dark shadows, murders and the requisite mysterious housekeeper. The film is boosted by its veteran cast of actors who had all seen better days but were still able to deliver solid performances. Scott Brady is the hero of the piece and Virginia Mayo effectively plays a discarded mistress. Hugh Marlowe is along as a doctor, David Brian as a lawyer and the lovely Lisa Gaye as Brady's love interest. Shelley Morrison is quite good as the housekeeper. What now makes this film memorable is the resemblance of the character "Kovic" to a certain former U.S. president. See if you agree.