Cauldron of Blood (1970)

Sadly Over-hyped

Blistering performances.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

The legendary Barbara Steele has nothing on Viveca Lindfors in this cheezy horror film from late in the career of Boris Karloff. He is a blind artist who blames wife Lindfors for the loss of his eyesight and his paralysis, claiming that she tried to kill him but failed. But now she's a dutiful wife, aiding him in his sculpting in a way he can't imagine. With an artist's commission about to expire, Lindfors longs for Karloff to finish his job, no matter what the cost. Make no bones about it, the job will be completed, even if the efforts to help are aided through brutal means.Some treacherous looking birds, a gypsy queen that looks like an old drag queen, a mute servant girl abused by her employer for knowing too much and inappropriately placed music add to this film's bizarre structure. The DVD print is certainly a ton better than the blurry, cheaply transferred VHS copy from 25 years ago, but it doesn't make the film any better. Jean Pierre Aumont is top billed but rather wasted. All he does is try to get an interview with Karloff (getting more than he bargained for) and chase girls around to music that might have been a good fit on "Laugh In" but sounds totally strange here. It's all about Lindfors and a bunch of Spanish and Italian speaking beauties in an exotic setting that really get all the attention. Much of the film seriously could have been edited, but then you wouldn't have all the sexy stuff expected in any European film of the 1960's.

Legendary Boris Karloff is completely wasted in this mind-numbingly boring piece of trash.At the end of his life,seriously ill he plays the blind and crippled Charles Badulescu,a famous sculptor.He works on his final magnum opus completely unaware that the bones he has been using are the remains of the victims of his murderous wife."Cauldron of Blood" is a chore to sit through.The acting is painfully bad,the suspense is non-existent and the editing is awful.The film is terribly boring and filled with tons of uninteresting talking.The only reason to watch this utterly worthless bore is Karloff,but even his classy performance can't save it.Avoid this one like the plague-you'll thank me later.1 out of 10.

Watching the film on videotape, I got to wondering about the incredibly meandering plot and how many of the characters don't really have anything to do with each other. Then it hit me-- this flick was assembled over a period of years! The original movie centered on Karloff but his ill health left that section far too short. Over the next couple years, it looks like the producers added to the flick whenever there was cast and money available. And of course as movies got more explicit, they added more scenes to make this stew commercially viable (like the lesbian model scene).

Boring doesn't begin to describe this waste of time. Just talk, talk, talk about a scheme to lure tourists to a sculptor's museum. Karloff's minimal role adds nothing, not even curiosity value. Unlike "fun" bad movies (such as Horror of Party Beach, The Creeping Terror, etc.) there's no fun in this empty Cauldron at all; it's just plain bad. Pass this one by - you're not missing anything.