Review: Mansion of the Doomed
Blu-ray: Mansion of the Doomed (1976)
Mansion of the Doomed is one of those “how the hell has this passed me by until now?” kind of movies, with a crazy story and fantastic cast that had me enthralled until the very end.
Number 035 in 101 Films highly recommended series of Black Label releases, Mansion of the Doomed stars Richard Basehart as Dr. Leonard Chaney, a scientist who is pushed over the edge of sanity when his daughter Nancy (Trish Stewart) loses her eyesight in a tragic accident.
Chaney decides that kidnapping people, removing their eyeballs to transplant into his daughter to restore her sight, then leaving the eyeless people to live the rest of their sightless lives in the squaller of a cage in his basement, is the logical thing to do.
Needless to say everything doesn’t go to plan, especially when fellow scientist Dr. Dan Bryan (Lance Henriksen in an early role) discovers what is happening.
Ever more disturbing as the basement cage becomes more and more inhabited, and filled with fantastic practical make-up effects, the lean 87 minute narrative never becomes bloated or boring…quite the opposite in fact as I was transfixed throughout the entirety of the crazy proceedings.
Available in the UK for the first time and sporting a very enjoyable and informative new documentary on the career of Charles Band, this is yet another ‘must buy’ from 101 Films Black Label collection, especially when the beautiful picture quality on this transfer defies its almost 50 year age.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
- The Charles Band Empire – A new documentary on the career of horror legend Charles Band.
- Cutting Teeth – Editor Harry Keramidas on ‘Mansion of the Doomed’.
- Limited edition booklet: Includes ‘On Mansion of the Doomed’ by filmmaker and critic Chris Alexander and ‘The Eye is blind if the mind is absent: The legacy of ocular violence & video nasties within Mansion of the Doomed’ by writer Andy Marshall-Roberts.
Mansion of the Doomed is available to buy now.
Review by Dave from a disc kindly supplied by 101 Films.
