Customer Reviews

Cauldron of Blood - (aka "Blind Man's Bluff") [VHS]

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I won't defend the indefensible filmmaking but this movie is worth more than other reviewers would lead you to believe. There are few films as fascinatingly bizarre as this one. Is it the plot? The premise? The characters? No. It's everything, start to finish. The is one of the most nonsensical movies I've ever had the privilege to watch. It seems grimly determined not to make sense. At every turn something eye-popping will happen, usually for no reason. From the Nazi S&M dream sequence set to the tune of "Frere Jacques", to the creepily (and seemingly unintentionally) suggestive holiday snaps the "hero" takes, to our brief and uncomfortably weird glimpse of the heroine's bathtime habits the wealth of strange and disconcerting background details adds up to a whopping great mountain of madness.

In the end you come away torn between thinking it's a terrible movie terribly made and thinking it's a genius movie terribly made. It has the same ability to send your jaw dropping to the core of the earth and to keep it there as Robot Monster, Plan 9, or Manos the Hands of Fate. By no means good, it is still infinitely entertaining. For the usual low price, how can you go wrong? I only hope we'll see a Region 1 DVD release soon. I'm wearing out my tape.

Not much to add except a point of trivia. Boris took over this film from the original actor Claude Rains. Claude passed away and Boris took over the reins...so to speak.

If you think this is bad, trying watching the last four "quickies" he did which were released posthumously.

What a BORING movie.

This is the last Karloff film and I don't know why he accepted this weak script.

The story focuses arround a mexican comunity and its famous (blind) sculptor (Mr. Karloff), Mr Karloff wife is a sadistic assasin who hide her victims corpses inside her housband's sculptures and... THAT'S ALL, the film don't have any surprise or twist or... something.

Don't waste your time watching this awful movie, if you like to see a good horror movie watch: Suspiria, The Shining inclusive the Simpsons halloween specials are more scary that "Cauldron of Blood"

suave french guy visits sleazy artist's colony in spain. undescribable dankness.
a movie this strange can only be a product of really poor decision making. must be seen to be believed. one of my faves.

This is the greatest trash-film ever. It's as superb as a trash-film can be, for this genre's admirers. Viveca Lindfors' scene lashing the girl-servant is among the most impressive ones in film history. Magnificent! That's all I can say.