MartinHafer This film has decent plot--one that is very reminiscent of several other movies and TV shows. However, the budget is quite low, the film is too talky and slow, some of the acting pretty crappy and the overall effects is very sad, as it was one of the last films of Boris Karloff. Why he chose to make several ultra-low budget Mexican films at this late stage of his life is beyond me--did he need the money THAT badly?! Imagine a film that is like a combination of the "Twilight Zone" episode "The Masks" (where a dying old man brings all his awful relatives to his home--as he's dying) as well as the Dr. Phibes films with all the life-sized automatons. Karloff also has a bunch of despicable relatives who only show up to his summons because they want his money after he dies. When he dies soon after their arrival, it looks great for these greedy relatives until one-by-one, they are killed off by Karloff's goofy automatons. If Karloff really dead? Will any of these jerks escape? Does anyone really care since it was all handled so poorly? The only thing more that I'd reveal is that at least it does end on a rather unusual note!The bottom line is that this cheesy film sat on the shelf for years after it was made--a sure sign that the film was a turkey. Not surprisingly, the DVD release has an ugly dark print, no special features and is pretty dull with little to recommend it. I've seen a lot worse, but considering this was one of Karloff's swan songs, it's a darn shame--he deserved better than this.

wdbasinger This tale based on two Edgar Allen Poe pieces ("The Fall of the House of Usher", "Dance of Death" (poem) ) is actually quite creepy from beginning to end. It is similar to some of the old black-and-white movies about people that meet in an old decrepit house (for example, "The Cat and the Canary", "The Old Dark House", "Night of Terror" and so on). Boris Karloff plays a demented inventor of life-size dolls that terrorize the guests. He dies early in the film (or does he ? ) and the residents of the house are subjected to a number of terrifying experiences. I won't go into too much detail here, but it is definitely a must-see for fans of old dark house mysteries.Watch it with plenty of popcorn and soda in a darkened room.Dan Basinger 8/10

Woodyanders The legendary Boris Karloff ended his illustrious career by making four cheapie fright flick clunkers in Mexico. This is the token moody period Gothic horror entry from the bunch. Karloff gives a typically spry and dignified performance as Matthias Morteval, an elderly eccentric patriarch who invites several of his petty, greedy and backbiting no-count relatives to his creepy rundown castle for the reading of a will. Pretty soon the hateful guests are getting bumped off by lethal life-sized toy people who populate the place. Onetime Mexican sex symbol Andres Garcia of "Tintorera" infamy portrays the dashing police officer hero and Julissa looks absolutely ravishing as the sole likable female character. The clunky, plodding (non)direction, trite by-the-numbers script, ugly, washed-out cinematography, ridiculous murder set pieces (a gross fat slob gets blasted right in the face by a miniature cannon!), overwrought string score, morbid gloom-doom atmosphere, largely lousy acting (Karloff notably excepted), cheesy mild gore, poor dubbing and rousing fiery conclusion all lend this enjoyably awful lemon a certain endearingly cruddy and hence oddly amusing ratty charm. A real campy hoot.

zeppo-2 Felt mine was while watching this...but it seems that is the reason for insanity running in the family in this film. Not that makes a lot of sense anyway, as others have mentioned, this was one of Karloff's last films and it's only his screen presence that lends it any credibility at all. It's sad that all of the great legends of the horror films in the sound era were eventually reduced to starring in low grade rubbish like this. Marginally, Boris did get off slightly better than poor old Bela Lugosi but not by much. Boris does his best and give him credit for trying to hold this mess together. The strident background music doesn't help and distracts from any lucid moment. Apart from Boris, the rest of the Mexican cast are dubbed into some strange, clipped, English monotone that is reminiscent of the type used in porn films of the late seventies. At a guess I think it's Edgar Allen Poe's 'House of Usher' that this is taken from but you'd be hard pressed to find a great deal of Poe in the finished article.Still, there are far better films out there with Boris Karloff at his best, search them out and give this a wide berth, unless you want the curse of the 'shrinking brain' too!