Castle of Evil (alternate title The Haunting of Castle Montego) is a low budget 1966 US sci-fi horror film directed by Francis D. Lyon from a screenplay by Charles A. Wallace. It stars Scott Brady, Virginia Mayo, David Brian, Lisa Gaye, Hugh Marlowe, Shelley Morrison and Ernest Sarracino.
The heirs of eccentric chemist Kovec are summoned to a castle on a Caribbean island for the reading of the recently deceased man’s will. The guests are informed by the housekeeper, Lupe, that if any of them should die before the will is probated the survivors will share the extra portion. Kovec’s apparition appears and declares that one of them was responsible for his disfiguration. That night, Kovec’s doctor, Robert Hawley, is murdered, and a short time later Lupe is attacked. Before dying, Lupe explains that Kovec created a carbon copy of himself, an “electronic man” for the purpose of revenge; but, greedily wanting his fortune for herself, she programmed the monster to kill the heirs one by one. Unfortunately, for the electronic man is acting under its own volition…
Image courtesy of VHSCollector.com
Although it was made in the mid-1960s this by-the-numbers effort may well have been made at any point in the previous thirty years. The remote island castle setting was a staple for formulaic murder mysteries and this sub-Agatha Christie outing is more like a filmed play than a movie. Francis B. Lyon’s television-style direction is deadly dull, with most of the male cast standing around with their hands in the pockets as the audience awaits each appearance of the “electronic man” to liven things up. Meanwhile, Paul Dunlap’s score sounds as if it was written for an entirely different genre production (perhaps it was?). Plodding and non-engaging, Castle of Evil has no redeeming value.
Reviewed by Adrian Smith
