''Castle of Evil'' is a 1966 American color

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit physical or psychological fear in its viewers. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with Transgressive art, transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements of the genre include Mo ...

produced by Earle Lyon, directed by Francis D. Lyon and written by Charles A. Wallace. It stars

Scott Brady Scott Brady (born Gerard Kenneth Tierney; September 13, 1924 – April 16, 1985) was an American film and television actor best known for his roles in Western films and as a ubiquitous television presence. He played the title role in the televi ...

Virginia Mayo Virginia Mayo (born Virginia Clara Jones; November 30, 1920 – January 17, 2005) was an American actress and dancer. She was in a series of popular comedy films with Danny Kaye and was Warner Bros.' biggest box-office draw in the late 1940s. S ...

David Brian Brian James Davis (August 5, 1914 – July 15, 1993), better known as David Brian, was an American actor. He is best known for his role in '' Intruder in the Dust'' (1949), for which he received critical acclaim and a Golden Globe nomination. ...

Lisa Gaye Leslie Gaye Griffin (March 6, 1935 – July 14, 2016), better known as Lisa Gaye, was an American actress and dancer. Early years Leslie Gaye Griffin was born on March 6, 1935, in Denver, Colorado, to Frank Henry Griffin, a painter, and Marga ...

Hugh Marlowe Hugh Marlowe (born Hugh Herbert Hipple; January 30, 1911May 2, 1982) was an American film, television, stage, and radio actor. Early life Marlowe was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was born Hugh Herbert Hipple. He was of primarily Engl ...

and

William Thourlby William Leo Thourlby (January 22, 1924 – April 15, 2013) was an American actor, model and writer. He was known for his rugged, cowboy look when he appeared as the face of the Marlboro Man campaign in the 1950s. This ad campaign was one of the 2 ...

. The film was released by World Entertainment Corp. in November 1966 as the first movie on a double bill with the black-and-white British

science fiction film Science fiction (or sci-fi) is a film genre that uses Speculative fiction, speculative, fictional science-based depictions of phenomena that are not fully accepted by mainstream science, such as Extraterrestrial life in fiction, extraterrestria ...

'' Blood Beast from Outer Space'' (1965). ''Castle of Evil'' tells the story of a dead scientist who, with the help of his long-time housekeeper and a robot, seeks revenge from beyond the grave on the person who murdered him.

Plot

The undertaker Muchado has been called to Castle Montego by housekeeper Lupe Tekal d'Esperanza because of the death of her employer, the reclusive scientist Kovic. But Muchado had discovered that Kovic was not quite dead yet. He prepared the body anyway and now demands twice his usual fee. Lupe pays him, poisons him and disposes of his body in a disintegrator chamber in the castle's secret laboratory. A boat arrives at the castle, on an island near Nassau, with six people: Matt Granger, Sable, Robert Hawley, Carrol, Doc Corozal and Tunki. Kovic had offended each of them and wants to make amends. Lupe announces to their surprise that Kovic is dead. His body is in an open coffin; his face horribly disfigured from a lab accident. She tells them Kovic wanted to leave his estate to them, but as she reads the preamble to his will in a

séance A séance or seance (; ) is an attempt to communicate with spirits. The word ''séance'' comes from the French language, French word for "session", from the Old French , "to sit". In French, the word's meaning is quite general and mundane: one ma ...

-like ceremony, Kovic's face appears and tells them that one of them has murdered him. They are to find the murderer, whose portion of the estate will be split between the remaining five. Each portion is more than $400,000. Kovic made his fortune controlling silver mines that belonged to the island's natives, of whom Tunki is one. Doc, also a native, went to the US to be educated and has therefore left behind the voodoo superstitions Tunki still believes in. Tunki plans to "restore to my people" the mines now that Kovic is dead. Kovic had stolen the mines to "rise above the stigma of his father's insanity" and was a "borderline case" of

criminal insanity The insanity defense, also known as the mental disorder defense, is an affirmative defense by excuse in a criminal case, arguing that the defendant is not responsible for their actions due to a psychiatric disease at the time of the criminal act ...

himself, Matt says. The castle has closed-circuit television so Lupe can see into each room. In the lab, she keeps what appears to be Kovic's body, standing to attention and unmoving. Robert, the attorney who helped Kovic steal the mines, accuses Lupe of murdering Kovic. Lupe "activates" the Kovic in the lab and sends him to kill Robert. But that Kovic is not the real Kovic, as his body still lies in its coffin. None of the remaining five people know what the Kovic from the lab is. They assemble in a room without Carrol and Lupe. Carrol suddenly screams and faints. When she awakens, Lupe is apparently dead on the floor next to her. Carrol says she saw Kovic kill Lupe. Matt stops Tunki from stabbing Lupe's body, which Tunki believes will ensure that the "evil that lives on after death" goes away. Doc finds that Lupe is not dead but says she will not live long. Lupe says that the Kovic in the lab is a robot the real Kovic made in his image, complete with facial scarring. Its "brain is a computer filled with all the evil that was in Kovic." She confesses that she killed Kovic for his money, and then tried to reprogram the robot to kill the others but failed. The robot is now "beyond control." Lupe dies. Matt and Tunki discover the closed-circuit TV system and find the secret laboratory. In the lab, the find a large laser gun, but no robot. The robot attacks Doc, Sable and Carrol. It knocks Doc unconscious and is about to strangle Sable when Carrol runs away. The robot follows her. Matt checks the TV system and sees Carrol in the lab just as the robot bursts in. Matt shoots the robot with the laser gun, destroying it.

Cast

as Matt Granger *

as "Sable" *

as Robert Hawley *

as Carrol *

as "Doc" Corozal *

as "Kovic" *Ernest Sarracino as "Tunki" *

Natividad Vacío Natividad Vacío (September 8, 1912 – May 30, 1996) was an American character actor in films and television from the 1950s through the 1980s. Born Natividad Domínguez Vacío in El Paso, Texas, he was Mexican-American. He nearly always played ...

as "Muchado" *

Shelley Morrison Shelley Morrison (born Rachel Mitrani; October 26, 1936 – December 1, 2019) was an American actress. Morrison was known for her role as maid Rosario Salazar in the NBC comedy ''Will & Grace'', which she played from 1999 to 2006. She was also ...

as Lupe Tekal d'Esperanza

Production

''Castle of Evil'' was produced by

United Pictures Corporation United Pictures Corporation (UPC) was an American film production company in the mid 1960s that produced nine modestly-budgeted action and science-fiction films originally intended for television. It became part of Commonwealth United Entertainment, ...

and

National Telefilm Associates National Telefilm Associates (NTA) was a distribution company primarily concerned with the syndication of American film libraries to television, including the Republic Pictures film library. It was successful enough on cable television between 19 ...

. The film's working title was The ''Haunting of Castle Montego''. Principal photography began on 11 November 1965 at Producers Studio in Los Angeles. United Picture Corporation's first films, ''Castle of Evil'' and ''

Destination Inner Space ''Destination Inner Space'' is a 1966 science fiction film produced by Earl Lyon, directed by Francis D. Lyon, written by Arthur C. Pierce, and stars Scott Brady, Gary Merrill, and Sheree North. The film was released to theaters in the US in May ...

,'' were shot back to back in 14 days. Director Francis D. Lyon said, "I don't recommend this hurried approach as a practice, because quality has to suffer."

Release

''Castle of Evil'''s first theatrical showing was in Texas in November 1966. This was followed by openings in Los Angeles in mid-March 1967 and New York City in early October 1967. However, the film was licensed by World Entertainment Corp. to 13 television stations in "several western states" months before it opened in theaters across the US. The film was the first feature on a double bill with ''Blood Beast from Outer Space''. American critic Bryan Senn writes the reason that "the awful (but color) ''Castle of Evil''" ran first is because ''Blood Beast from Outer Space'' was "shot in moody black and white when, at the time, even low-budget efforts were almost invariable in color." ''Castle of Evil'' was given an X-certification by the

BBFC The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) is a non-governmental organisation founded by the British film industry in 1912 and responsible for the national classification and censorship of films exhibited at cinemas and video works (su ...

on 1 July 1970. It was the same day that the BBFC raised the minimum age to 18 for exhibiting X-cert films to audience members; prior to then, the minimum age had been 16. No footage is known to have been cut from the film in order to obtain the certification necessary for it to be shown in the UK. The exhibitor's manual for ''Castle of Evil'' and ''Blood Beast from Outer Space'' describes the double bill as the "Twin Shock Show With That Big Box-Office Punch!"

Distribution

World Entertainment Corp. distributed ''Castle of Evil'' in the US. It was distributed in the UK by Compton Films Ltd. The film aired repeatedly on US television during the 1970s. For example, in New York City, it was shown on WNEW Ch.5 at 1:00 pm Saturday 27 December 1975; and on WPIX Ch.11 at 6:00 pm on 29 February 1976, a week later at 8:00 pm on 6 March 1976, and at 2:00 am on Wednesday 9 May 1979.

Reception

Few critics have written about ''Castle of Evil''. British Critic Phil Hardy calls the movie a "tedious film" in which "A murderer's robot (...) is programmed to kill the members of the trio responsible for disfiguring the scientist before his death." And "The climax sees Brady gunning down the robot with a laser gun found in the laboratory." Clive Davies, a British critic, writes that "This kind of senseless horror with old dark house mystery trappings is not very good, but is strangely enjoyable." He, too, makes note of the film's "robotic electronic clone" of Kovic, the laser gun and "A gas chamber in the basement

hat A hat is a Headgear, head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorpor ...

turns people into skeletons instantly." Another American critic, Kristie Hanssen, describes the plot of ''Castle of Evil'' as "A bunch of hopeful heirs arrives on an isolated island to hear the will of a horribly scarred, mad scientist." Besides finding the person who caused Kovic's disfigurement, they must "also survive the rampages of a robot the scientist made in his own image."

References

External links

* {{United Pictures Corporation 1966 films 1966 horror films 1966 independent films American science fiction horror films American independent films 1960s English-language films Films directed by Francis D. Lyon Films set in country houses United Pictures Corporation Films scored by Paul Dunlap Films shot in Los Angeles 1960s American films English-language horror films English-language independent films