A Mansão Condenada

"Mansion of the Doomed" is an obscure but good horror film, one which I managed to see in a theater when it was first released back in 1976. Strangely enough, the story about a surgeon descending into madness because he was the cause of his daughter's blindness, works on two levels. As the guilt-ridden Dr. Chaney (Richard Basehart) attempts to restore his daughter's sight, literally removing the eyeballs of unwilling victims and transplanting them, one feels pity for this misguided man. In his madness, Chaney also believes he will eventually restore the eyesight of all of his victims, which makes him even more driven. At the same time, the victims are all imprisoned in a basement cell in the doctor's house, where they, themselves eventually go insane. The horror element lies with the attempts of these horribly mutilated souls to both escape and exact revenge on their captors. The cast is very good considering the limited material they had to work with (most of the shocks are visual) and play their parts with feeling. Besides Basehart, there is onetime screen siren Gloria Grahame as his assistant. Unfortunately, she is given little to do, but it's still good to see her. Trish Stewart is the daughter who eventually realizes where all the eyes are coming from. And Lance Henricksen is her boyfriend (and the first victim). Well directed by Michael Pataki and broodingly photographed, "Mansion of the Doomed", despite it's low budget, is an out-of-the-mainstream terror film, which inspires as much sorrow as fear. A DVD has just been released, but the picture quality is below average, and the sound is just OK.

I watch about 2-4 films a day and most of those are horror films. I found a cheap VHS of "Mansion of the Doomed" and bought it since it sounded interesting. This film is truly disturbing and gory, and there are precious few horror movies i can truly say have accomplished that task.

The story involves a doctor and his young daughter (early 20's i guess), and the car accident which leaves her blind. He vows to restore her vision and will do anything to achieve that goal. People begin to disappear (including her fiance) and when they wake up in a jail-like cage they have only empty sockets where their eyes once were. The only problem is that his daughter's vision from the transplants is only temporary and degenerates back to blindness every time. With every transplant his daughter becomes more scarred and can now guess what her father has been doing. More and more people begin to disappear and his jail-like cage in his mansion is becoming crowded. The ending is predictable but is quite effective.

If you are sensitive when it comes to your eyes, then this film will disturb you. Even hardcore fans of the horror genre will find it difficult not to be shocked at times. This film will leave you shocked and disturbed long after the credits roll.

Apparently this was an early Charles Band production, he later formed Empire Pictures and Full Moon pictures. I am surprised I had never heard of this lost gem before. Hopefully someday it will get a worthy re-release.

Richard Basehart plays a doctor whose daughter is blinded in a car accident; the remainder of the film focuses on Basehart's attempts to restore his daughter's sight by kidnapping people and removing their eyes for unsuccessful transplants. Not bad horror flick, and very well-acted for such a low-budget effort. Basehart registers strongly as the determined doctor, as does '50's 'bad girl' Gloria Grahame as his devoted assistant, even though she is given very little to do. But be warned, this film is not for those with weak stomachs.

Here is a film that will make your skin crawl. Richard Basehart plays Dr. Chaney, an eye surgeon who performs many eye transplants on his daughter so that she might once again see.

The transfer from VHS to DVD is poor adding to the creepy, dreamy and eerie feel of the sets and scenes. It adds to the stomach turning queasy feel of the story.

Injuries of the eyes always make people feel frightened so this really strikes a cord. Seeing the after effects of the transplant surgeries and watching the prep of the surgeries is truly unsettling.

The make-up effects are OK and I believe there is some real footage being used at some point but what is more disturbing is the doctor's obsession and the story itself of which I don't want to give away here.

Let me just say that the film is hard to watch and I doubt anyone will want to sit through it twice. It's hard to shake. It leaves greasy little snail tracks on your brain. I am a horror fan I can tell you I don't want to see it again. I'm glad the transfer to DVD isn't all that clear. More clarity would have made it harder to watch.

I was prepared to see the worst when I pushed the play button, but this early Charles Band production turned out to be a lot better than I thought! It shamelessly steals the plot of Franju's masterpiece `Les Yeux sans Visage', but I hardly see this as an obstacle since the great Jess Franco did the same thing for his Dr. Orloff. It's the macabre fable about a doctor who causes a car-accident, and his daughter loses her sight in it. Driven by love and feelings of guilt, the doctor start to kidnap ‘eye-donors' to cure his daughter Nancy. Charles Band adds very few to the original plot except for a lot of inhuman cruelty and nasty images. The shots of the eyeless people in the basement were pretty disturbing to me, and I like to think I can handle quite a share of morbidity! By the way, the gory images of the cut out eyeballs were the work of Stan Winston, who grew on to be one of Hollywood's most respected make-up artists. The film also proves that acting performances CAN make a difference in these little low-budget gems! Richard Basehart is really good as the surgeon who slowly goes insane and Gloria Grahame is adorable as the devoted assistant. Unfortunately, this underrated actress died a few years later. Mansion of the Doomed also stars Lance Henriksen in an early role. Mansion of the Doomed is especially recommended for being a modest - but very decent - little gem, that doesn't portrays itself as highly original...just as good and gruesome entertainment!