William Castle did place a lot of emphasis on gimmicks, and this one was different. The viewer was given a choice to participate in the 'punishment poll'. And who would be the lucky participant?
1880-London physician Sir Robert Cargrave (Ronald Lewis) has been making great strides in treating paralysis. A sinister fellow named Krull (Oskar Homolka) shows up, requesting that the doctor accompany him to the small Eastern European hamlet of Gorslava to see the infamous Baron Saronicus (Guy Rolfe). The Baron's wife Maude (Audrey Dalton) depends on it. Puzzled by the tone of the request, Cargrave agrees and packs his bags to the post stamp sized country.
When he arrives, it seems the baron is not particularly loved by his people, as they cross themselves and warn him away, claiming he doesn't understand their fear as "he has no daughters".
When he arrives, he finds the castle grounds choked with poison ivy, hemlock, and deadly nightshade. The portraits are just empty frames and there are no mirrors in the castle. Also, a peasant girl is strapped to a chair with dozens of leeches over her face. Why? "Do you not, in your own country, make use of what are called guinea pigs?"
Then we meet the baron. He's a tall fellow, well dressed, but his face is covered with a disturbing wax mask. Why the mask, and why does he need Sir Cargrave?
Some time ago, before he was a baron, Sardonicus was a simple peasant farmer named Marek. He was married to his first wife Elenka (Erika Peters) and lived with his aged father Henryk (Vladimir Sokoloff). A more or less pleasant chap, he was greatly distressed when his father died of old age. Elenka, on the other hand, is more angry. Not that the old man died, but he died with a winning lottery ticket in his vest. Browbeating Marek into getting a shovel, the grieving farmer digs up his father and gets the ticket...but he get a bit more than he bargained for when the moonlight hits the corpse's rotting face.
That's why he wears the mask, and unless Sir Cargrave wants Maude's face to match his he'd best come up with a cure and quick. Krull is rather crude, but he's good with a knife. Sir Cargrave races against the clock, but can the baron be cured at all?
The punishment poll is rather a neat idea. Near the end, William Castle comes out and counts the cards passed out before the show started. Thumbs up and the baron gets a happy ending. Thumbs down and the baron gets his comeuppance. There's no way Castle could have shot both endings, but until fairly recently it was reported that the good ending existed.
The effects are fake, but that just adds to the overall horror of the scene. Sardonicus's new face is goofy in long stretches, but in a few glimpse? Creepy as all get out.
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