Le chaudron de sang

Acceptable horror movie revolving around a mysterious sculptor and an eerie basement with plenty of murders , creepy sculptures and ghastly events . A blind sculptor called Franz Badulescu (Boris Karloff) works on his magnum opus unaware that the skeletons he has been using for armatures are provided by his nasty wife , using them as foundations for his projects : some evocations of famous paintings . As Karloff unaware that the bones come from the unfortunate victims of his heinous wife Tania (Viveca Lindfors) and her murderous lover , the evil Shanghai (Milo Quesada) . Along the way , the French journalist Claude Marchand (Jean-Pierre Aumont) is in the little town of Torremolinos (Spain) to interview Badulescu for a magazine and posing as a photographer attempts to know some strange issues about him . Things go wrong when his sweetheart Valerie (Rosanda Montero) stumbles upon the body of her latest victim . Tops In Total Horror!

Thrilling Spanish horror with typical characteristics of the Sixties , displaying chills , shocks , fights , violence and a creepy acid-filled cauldron with abundant smoke . Despite a few escenarios and its shot budget the movie results to be passable , thanks to the adequate filmmaking , atmospheric cinematography taking nice use of lights and shades as well as camera positioning to complement appropriate horror set pieces , especially at its final . And main attraction of the movie lies on watch as Torremolinos (Malaga) has changed from a little tourist village to become , nowadays , a holiday metropolis . Here Karloff plays a blind sculptor , who creates his masterpieces-3D representations of figures from old masters-using real skeletons as armatures provided by his wicked wife by delivering undercoverly the remains of the victims , being well played by Viveca Lindfords , though she gives overacting , at times . One of the several movies Karloff played outside the US shortly before his death , along with his Mexican period ; this one is far from one of his best , but better than those directed by Jack Hill and Juan Ibañez . Karloff had a long and important career from his big hit Frankenstein (1932) by James Whale , he quickly appeared in many other sinister roles , including Scarface (1932) , the black-humored Old dark house (1932), as the namesake Oriental villain of the Sax Rohmer novels in The Mask of Fu-Manchú (1932) or as undead Im-Ho-Tep in The Mummy (1932) and the misguided Prof. Morlant in The Ghoul (1933) and special mention for his role as a religious fanatic in John Ford's The Lost Patrol (1934) that hee thoroughly enjoyed . He donned the signature make-up , neck bolts and asphalt spreader's boots again to play Frankenstein's monster in the extraordinary The bride Frankenstein (1935) and the less thrilling The son of Frankenstein (1939) . Karloff , on loan to Fox , turned up in one of the best of the Warner Oland Chan entries , Charlie Chan in the Opera (1936) . He was a wrongly condemned doctor in Devil's Island (1939), shaven-headed executioner "Mord the Merciless" in Tower of London (1939) , a crazed scientist surrounded by monsters, vampires and werewolves in House of Frankenstein (1944), a murderous grave-digger in The Body Snatchers (1945) and a Greek general fighting vampirism in Val Lewton's Horror Isle of the Dead (1945). Main starring Jean Pierre Aumont , Karloff , Viveca Lindfors , Rosanda Monteros are well accompanied by a good Spanish support cast , such as : Milo Quesada , Dyanik Zurakowska , Manuel de Blas , Rubén Rojo , all of them ordinary actors who played a lot of films of the regular genres of the Sixties and Seventies as Spaghetti/Paella Western , Terror , Giallo , and Eurospy .

The picture was professionally written/produced/directed by Santos Alcocer and Edward Mann, but it has a lot of failures , flaws and gaps . These filmmakers use ordinary visual tricks, sustaining interest enough through the dark and well-designed scenarios and when there shows up the really creepy acid-filled cauldron that definitively steals the show. The picture will appeal to terror genre buffs and Boris Karloff fans . Rating 5.5/10.

A bad movie and a mediocre one coexist under the same title: first, a bland story of a horny French journalist turned tourist promoter, courting a blank Spanish girl, who falls prey of a sadistic bitch; and second, a horror tale involving a blind sculptor and his crazy wife, who kills animals and people with her lover's assistance to provide real bone structures for her husband's 3-D evocations of famous paintings. Characters go back and forth from A to B for 97 endless minutes. Pity is that both Lindfords and Karloff try hard to make any sense of the whole affair. Not a bad idea, but poorly executed, with dreadful music and silly special effects and nightmares. Be warned.

In CAULDRON OF BLOOD, a photojournalist (Jean-Pierre Aumont) travels to Spain to cover a story about a famous, blind sculptor (Boris Karloff). The title comes into play as a very gruesome tool, utilized by the artist's sinister sister (Viveca Lindfors).

Filmed toward the end of Mr. Karloff's storied career, his health was in decline, but, all things considered, he puts in a fine performance. Playing a rather vulnerable character, he is unaware of the utter wickedness of his sibling. For her part, Ms. Lindfors is fantastic! She comes across as a sadistic psychopath with a definite flair for fashion.

While a bit disjointed and slow in spots, this movie does have its high points, especially toward the end.

Worth a watch, particularly for fans of Mr. Karloff...

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.

A woman turning into an animated skeleton, a title constructed from bones, credits written in a 'dripping blood' typeface, a cauldron bubbling with dry ice, and a skull lit with garish colours: the schlocky ingredients that make up the opening credits set the tone for this trashy, somewhat psychedelic 70s euro-horror starring an aged Boris Karloff in one of his last screen roles.

Karloff plays blind sculptor Franz Badulescu, who creates his masterpieces—3D representations of figures from old masters—using real skeletons as armatures, unaware that the bones come from the unfortunate victims of his wicked wife Tania (Viveca Lindfors) and her murderous lover Pablo. French journalist Claude Marchand (Jean-Pierre Aumont) is in town to interview Badulescu for a magazine; when his girlfriend Valerie stumbles upon the body of Pablo's latest victim and she is abducted, he must rush to her rescue before she too is stripped of her flesh in Tania's acid-filled cauldron.

I'm going to go against popular opinion and declare Cauldron of Blood a very enjoyable slice of lurid Euro-nonsense, the cheeze factor so high, and the competence so low that I couldn't fail to have a good time: Lindfors (Aunt Bedelia from Creepshow) makes for a terrific villainess, hamming it up big time. There's a cool, jazzy, brassy score with ridiculously urgent wailing trumpets for the action scenes. Male viewers are treated to some quality eye candy in the form of tasty blonde Elga (Dyanik Zurakowska) and mute housemaid Pilar (Jacqui Speed). The frantic finale is utterly daft yet surprisingly tense, and delivers a nifty bit of gore when Lindfors has her arm plunged into her own acid bath. And for those still left wanting, there's a redundant sub-plot about Claude investing in beach property, plus a few random shots of birds of prey and a big crab for good measure.

6.5 out of 10, rounded up to 7 for IMDb.