jadflack-22130 Gimmick Master William Castle's first "Chiller" except it's not, it's really a mystery and not a very good one.This is very much a lesser Castle entry with no sympathetic characters and a short running time of 67 minutes on DVD, so there is no time to develop characters. The flashbacks just flesh out the running time and don't really add anything to the plot.The one of William Castle's "Chiller" films that somehow always eluded me in watching, now i've seen it i feel i needn't have bothered. Average and forgettable.

Coventry "Macabre" definitely wasn't the legendary director William Castle's most successful horror accomplishment, as this honor probably goes to either "House on Haunted Hill", "The Tingler" or "13 Ghosts". "Macabre" also wasn't Castle's coolest or most entertaining horror accomplishment, because according to yours truly that special title either goes to "Homicidal", "Mr. Sardonicus" or "Strait-Jacket". But one thing's for sure, namely that "Macabre" was Castle's very first horror flick AND the first time he tried out a nifty little gimmick, which would later become his trademark and his ultimate formula to fame & success. The gimmick here included that all spectators received a special type of insurance against "death by fright" and that a stern voice-over warns about the shocking impact of the film. It's all rather silly and cheesy by today's standards, but Castle's gimmicks quickly proved to be highly effective and he still remains one of the most imitated horror directors now, nearly forty years after his death. "Macabre" itself is extremely simplistic and low- budgeted, like all of William Castle's movies, but the plot is quite compelling and several sequences are drenched in an atmosphere that is … well … macabre! Small town doctor Rodney Barrett is confronted with the ultimate nightmare when he learns that his innocent 5-year- old daughter Marge has been kidnapped and lies buried alive somewhere with only five hours left to live. The doctor, along with his secretary and fragile old father-in-law, starts a frantic search for his little girl at the most obvious location – the local cemetery – but where to dig and who to trust? After all, the good doctor seemingly has quite a few enemies in town, including the rancorous Sheriff Tyloe, and (redundant) flashbacks show that he wasn't very kind to his deceased blind wife Alice. The race-against the clock aspect results in a handful of tense moments and most of all the scenes set at the fog-enshrouded graveyard at night are genuine horror highlights. The flashbacks and some of the plot- twists near the end are pretty dumb and merely raise the impression that William Castle only wanted to stretch the running time a bit, while other sequences (like for example the phone call from the kidnapper and nurse Polly's subsequent report to the doctor) are laughably inept. But who cares, as "Macabre" is a terrific piece of 50s horror and marked the start of the career of one of the most creative minds in cinema history.

ivegonemod I've certainly seen better movies. This one was OK, but the characters were really lousy types for the most part. Half way along I pretty much figured out who the actual culprit was, but I wasn't quite sure or why. The graveyard looks like nobody had been buried in it since 1899, and nobody really seemed to care that a little girl was missing and buried alive, at least they didn't move any faster because of this. Polly, who I recall seeing in a very good Alfred Hitchcock a few years back really needed to tone things down. She took forever telling the girl's father what happened during the phone call from the kidnapper. I wanted to beat it out of her.Lastly, what kind of people are these? Polly, the father, the housekeeper and the grandfather all know Marge is missing, and they still decide to attend Nancy's funeral instead of continuing the search? Say whaaaa? The grandfather falls into the open grave at the funeral and nobody even blinks? Nobody even tries to help him? Nobody even acts like they saw anything unusual? Really?

millerman_annie i remember "macabre" when the ads for the movies first appeared.one consisted of a sad looking man with a top hat driving a horse drawn hearse containing a flowered draped casket. under the title"macabre" was this line "see it with someone who can carry you home". I remember the front of the theater had a real casket on display. it was opened and it was a hideous looking corpse with the Lloyd's of London policy displayed on the inside of the lined lid of the casket. I wanted to go see it that weekend, but my mother said to me "do you want to die?"so I chickened out. I later heard from my school chums that the movie was a big disappointment and don't bother to see it. I finally got to see it during halloween of 1960 at the same theater where it first opened. there was no casket there to greet me.so i just had the movie to deal with. In watching it I was waiting for the shock moments to occur, but there were just not there, except during the scene in the casket room, and the one in the mausoleum and of course the grand finale with the graveside service at midnight and the discovery of the small casket with it's horrible contents that managed to issue a scream or two from the rather small audience. I still enjoyed the movie regardless of it's shortcomings and can hardly wait till it makes it on DVD.