Mr.Sardonicus
Mr. Sardonicus was a 1961 black and white horror film produced and directed by William Castle who is best know for his 'gimmick' films. Perhaps the best known of these would be “The Tingler” where some theater seats were supposedly wired with buzzers that would go off whenever the aforementioned creature appeared on the screen, thus getting the audience into the act. The “Sardonicus” gimmick was to have the audience hold up small placard declaring whether the villain of the film was “punished” or not which would then have the theater's projectionist substitute the last roll of film showing the villain's fate. Obviously, the audience would most likely vote to punish him so the film swap wasn't necessary and assuming an even accurate vote was taken. Despite the gimmick, “Mr. Sardonicus”is a pretty good horror film in the William Castle library and is worth watching IHMO. Sad Sardonicus' condition is the result of his retrieving a winning lottery ticket from his father's buried corpse. When the coffin is opened, Sardonicus is horrified at his father's rictus grimace transforming his own face as it's twin...forever. The film is based on a short story that appeared in Playboy magazine written by Ray Russell who also did the screenplay. Here's a description of the story posted in Wikipedia though be aware of spoilers:
A close up of Mr. Sardonicus' puss. I think this photo first appeared in Famous Monsters Of Flimland magazine
The kit is from Escape Hatch Hobbies and comprised of add on resin parts (usually the head, upper body and the like) which is then assembled with the rest of the model kit. In this case (and the most of Escape Hatch Hobbies conversions) uses the Aurora (or Moebius reissue) of 1960's Dr,Jekyll as Mr. Hyde which acts a template. I had gone down this road three years ago by building Vincent Price “Tingler” scene which is also another nice kit. Construction is fairly simple since you just follow the Aurora kit's instructions and substitute the conversion parts as needed. I also fabricated a Bunsen burner stand out of a washer and a couple staples since the stand provided just didn't make it visually for me.
The parts required a little clean up of seam lines which I then washed with warm water and soap to get rid of any residual release agents. Again, since this film was shot in black and white, I could do as I pleased color scheme. I wanted Sardonicus to look like a dandy in some way so I went with a dark blue for his jacket with an ermine collar and cuffs and a purple bow tie. I finished with flat black for his pants and medium brown for his shoes.
The rest of the scene has a small table and stool with a rat thrown in for good measure. EHH provides a syringe, two scalpels to go with the glassware the original kit provides. I added a pair of books to add to the table clutter. As I had done with the Tingler build, I added magnets to Sardonicus' soles and to the underside of the flimsy base to secure him to it. I would normally use stiff wire or finishing nails to attach objects to the base but I wanted to be able to easily detach parts in the event of shipping and/or storage.
For some reason. I didn't get much enjoyment from building this kit as compared the “Tingler” build. I think part of the reason was the final product looked more like a clown mask than actual facial condition. In anycase, if you're a fan of the lesser known horror films this might be a good starting point towards that particular collection. 3/20/24
Close up of Sardonicus' mad lab
The ad for the kit on the Escape Hatch Hobbies web site