Mansion of the Doomed

One of Charles Band's earlier produced movies. A must for a Full Moon/Charles Band fan. Nice to add to your DVD collection though the quality is pretty bad even though it says Digitally Mastered. If this was mastered, I'd hate to see what it was before they worked on it. But the story is a gem of a horror for a low budget film. Also notice that in the end credits Richard Band was an assistant producer. And the screenplay was by their father Albert Band. And fans know where this combination went to. Empire Pictures and Full Moon Pictures. The B-movies improved along with musical scores to form a legendary team for several great videos such as the Puppet Master series and Subspecies, Trancers series as well as the well known Re-animator and From Beyond Lovecraft classics. Being a great fan of Charles Band, it was worth buying for my collection and the cost was reasonably low to purchase. Someone needs to see about getting some of the Paramount/Full Moon pictures released as well. Some of Band's finest videos are not available due to past problems with them. A real shame!

I first saw this in the late 80s n found it to be a bit boring but aft revisiting it recently, i found it to be disturbing, specially the suffering of the eyeless victims caged in the basement is frightening n very disturbing.

Thank God the little girl survives but can someone tell me what happens to the character of Lance Henriksen n the lead character Trish?

The director of this film Michael Pataki directed only two movies n one tv episode but acted in 178 movies, the most famous being Graduation Day, Halloween 4, Rocky 4, Sweet Sixteen, Dead & Buried, Dracula's Dog, Airport '77, The Bat People, Grave of the Vampire, The Return of Count Yorga, Dream no Evil n the tiny role in Easy Rider.

Michael Pataki shamelessly copied from Franju's Eyes Without a Face but somehow succeeded in creating the horror vibe.

No sane fella can find this movie comical cos it is truly disturbing seeing the plight of the eyeless.

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.

"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.

While no classic, this low budget thriller exceeds its reputation. Creating a truly oppressive atmosphere-just what the story calls for-it features a strong performance by Richard Basehart and good support from a young Lance Henrikson. Particularly creepy, though not in a horror movie way, is the sequence where Basehart picks up a little girl to be his next subject, which, while not graphic, may be a bit much for some viewers. Yes, it is a sleazy movie, but for this story that is appropriate. The only letdown is the total waste of Gloria Grahame, who is given little to work with. She deserved better.