1967's "Cauldron of Blood" (El Coleccionista de Cadaveres or Blindman's Bluff) was shot on location in Torremolinos on the Mediterranean coast of Spain, about the same time that Boris Karloff guest starred on I SPY's "Mainly on the Plains" (sharing one sequence with the unknown, unbilled Paul Naschy), amazingly spry for a man about to turn 80. Following on from Michael Reeves' "The Sorcerers" and just prior to "Targets," this badly scripted ripoff of "Mystery of the Wax Museum" offers no surprises for viewers well versed in the art of using murder victims as wax figures, except that Boris plays renowned sculptor Franz Badulescu, both crippled and blind since an accident which he blames on his 'adoring' wife Tania (Viveca Lindfors), the one responsible for building up his social status after years of impoverished struggle. His latest commission has fallen behind, so scarlet Tania and her younger lover have resorted to supplying the corpses for Badulesco's work, not even sparing a dog, all dumped in an underground vat of acid to remove all traces of identifying flesh. Most of the picture focuses on local color with top billed Jean-Pierre Aumont truly earning his paycheck, poor Boris replacing a terminally ill Claude Rains in a part even smaller than in the entire Mexican quartet that concluded his career (just over 13 minutes screen time, mostly saved for the end). Viveca Lindfors enjoys this juicy role, whether having nightmares about being whipped as a child or exhibiting a clearly bisexual nature in come ons to female victims. While the men go at it with fisticuffs, the heartbroken sculptor takes aim at his faithless wife in a poorly shot, uncinematic showdown in dank, dark surroundings, assuring a halt to the reign of on screen terror and off screen misery. At an agonizing 99 minutes it's way too long to have any impact with a fine Karloff performance almost permanently sidelined, a good half hour that easily could have been lopped off for its frequent TV airings. Quite a comedown for director/cowriter Edward Mann, a US-Spanish production that can't compare with his previous script for the expert Peter Cushing vehicle "Island of Terror," an interesting career starting out as a cartoonist and later author of Donald Pleasence's "The Mutations" from 1973 plus two features shot the following year, Oliver Stone's "Seizure" and Burt Kennedy's "The Killer Inside Me," starring Stacy Keach and John Carradine.
Review of Cauldron of Blood
