Cauldron of Blood
A blind sculptor works on his magnum opus unaware that the skeletons he has been using for armatures are the remains of the victims of his evil wife and that he is the next target.
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- Cast:
- Boris Karloff , Jean-Pierre Aumont , Viveca Lindfors , Rosenda Monteros , Milo Quesada , Dyanik Zurakowska , Rubén Rojo
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Reviews
What a waste of my time!!!
Dreadfully Boring
Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.
Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.
The legendary Barbara Steele has nothing on Viveca Lindfors in this cheezy horror film from late in the career of Boris Karloff. He is a blind artist who blames wife Lindfors for the loss of his eyesight and his paralysis, claiming that she tried to kill him but failed. But now she's a dutiful wife, aiding him in his sculpting in a way he can't imagine. With an artist's commission about to expire, Lindfors longs for Karloff to finish his job, no matter what the cost. Make no bones about it, the job will be completed, even if the efforts to help are aided through brutal means.Some treacherous looking birds, a gypsy queen that looks like an old drag queen, a mute servant girl abused by her employer for knowing too much and inappropriately placed music add to this film's bizarre structure. The DVD print is certainly a ton better than the blurry, cheaply transferred VHS copy from 25 years ago, but it doesn't make the film any better. Jean Pierre Aumont is top billed but rather wasted. All he does is try to get an interview with Karloff (getting more than he bargained for) and chase girls around to music that might have been a good fit on "Laugh In" but sounds totally strange here. It's all about Lindfors and a bunch of Spanish and Italian speaking beauties in an exotic setting that really get all the attention. Much of the film seriously could have been edited, but then you wouldn't have all the sexy stuff expected in any European film of the 1960's.
I loved horror movies as a kid. Now when I go back to the genre I once loved it is sometimes surprising just how good Boris was. Not long ago I bought the complete series of the Colonel March of Scotland Yard British TV series. And man Boris was good in that. Even here, a dying man, he still has that commanding voice and charisma.This movie in it's parts is quite good. The cast is strong, the plot has potential, the production values look good. There are moments where you think this movie is going to start to kick ass. However the whole does not equal the sum of it's parts. It drags in spots. There are long sequences that add little to the story. I know the movie was produced over many years and the continuity is lacking. Some careful editing down may have made this a more enjoyable film. Still, another evening with Boris is never a bad thing.
"Cauldron of Blood" (aka "Blind Man's Bluff") is a badly-made crime thriller that wastes poor, ailing Boris Karloff and doesn't really succeed in any other respect, either. Karloff portrays a famous sculptor who was blinded and partially crippled in a car accident years before. Sadly, there wasn't much acting involved in this role; the beloved British actor was seriously ill and it showed. As his snarling wife, Viveca Lindfors steals the show. Unbeknownst to Karloff, who thinks she's merely robbing graves, Lindfors (along with her thuggish lover) is actually murdering young women and giving their skeletons to Karloff, who uses them as armatures for his sculptures. If this doesn't sound like a very frightening or suspenseful premise, that's because it isn't. You're never shocked or scared or inclined to sit on the edge of your seat while watching "Cauldron of Blood", though it might be of some interest if you like watching weird, rude Europeans who begin every other sentence with the words "Between you and me..." As far as I'm concerned, the only intriguing elements of the film were Lindfors' creepy, leering lesbianism (and Nazi bondage nightmares), the animated title sequence, and the picturesque Spanish shooting locations. Even Karloff completists will be asking themselves why they bothered to see this one.
Legendary Boris Karloff is completely wasted in this mind-numbingly boring piece of trash.At the end of his life,seriously ill he plays the blind and crippled Charles Badulescu,a famous sculptor.He works on his final magnum opus completely unaware that the bones he has been using are the remains of the victims of his murderous wife."Cauldron of Blood" is a chore to sit through.The acting is painfully bad,the suspense is non-existent and the editing is awful.The film is terribly boring and filled with tons of uninteresting talking.The only reason to watch this utterly worthless bore is Karloff,but even his classy performance can't save it.Avoid this one like the plague-you'll thank me later.1 out of 10.