Castle of Evil (1966)

Shot back-to-back with Destination Inner Space (1966), Castle of Evil (1966) was the first of UPC's series of low budget B-movies, pre-sold to TV.  (Both were shot over fourteen days.  While Castle of Evil entered production first, Destination Inner Space had the earlier release date).  Not only does it feature the same director, composer and crew as Destination Inner Space, but it also shares a star with it, in the form of Scott Brady.  In Castle of Evil, Brady plays one of a number of people summoned to a recently deceased millionaire's remote castle for the reading of his will.  The others, all of whom, like Brady, been crossed in some way by their late host, include Virginia Mayo (this as one of a number of b-movies she appeared in during the sixties, as her career tailed off) and Hugh Marlowe (veteran of a number of fifties science fiction B-movies).  The twist is that their dead host believed that one of them murdered him and that they have to identify the murderer in order for the rest of them to claim their share of the inheritance.  On top of this, despite his body lying in an open coffin, their host still seems to be stalking the castle, while they also have to contend with the castle's mysterious housekeeper.  

all of which would seem to set up an' old dark house' scenario, incorporating elements of 'Then There Were None' and 'The Cat and the Canary'.  Indeed, the whole 'one of you is a murderer' scenario alone would have been sufficient to create the basis of an intriguing small scale B-movie mystery, let alone the 'revenge from beyond the grave' aspect.  Unfortunately though, these elements are undermined before they are even introduced - the opening scenes leave us in no doubt that it was actually the housekeeper who had killed her employer and who is plotting to claim the inheritance for herself by eliminating the others.  It is also established early on that the millionaire's continued appearances despite his death are down to the robot double of himself that he created (complete, even, with the hideous facial disfigurement he had suffered in a lab accident) and which has now fallen under the control of the housekeeper.  Of course, she can't maintain control of the robot as its programming replicates too closely the evil mind of its progenitor. setting out to fulfil his plans for revenge.

Like Destination Inner Space, Castle of Evil actually has some decent ideas for a B-movie, but never rely develops any of them properly and fails to really integrate its science fiction aspects with the rest of the film - they just feel tacked on.  While this is partly down to a weak script which, as noted, gives away its twists too early, its lack of resources really don't help.  In common with all of the UPC films I've seen, it looks desperately cheap.  The whole thing is shot in a flat, uninvolving style, much in the manner of a TV movie, with Francis D Lyon's slack direction conjuring little atmosphere and no suspense amongst the threadbare sets and generally indifferent production values.  That said, there are some effective elements - the seance like will reading at which the dead millionaire's face apparently appears and the make up for the robot's disfigurement come to mind, for example.  In common with other UPC movies, much of the film's interest comes from the cast, a combination of recognisable B-movie players and faded A-listers - while Castle has Mayo and Marlowe, for instance, Destination boasts Sheree North and Gary Merrill.  Originally released in the US (prior to its TV debut) on a double bill with the British made (and superior) science fiction B-movie The Night Caller, Castle of Evil, at eighty one minutes, isn't long enough to outstay its welcome and remains an enjoyable, if unmemorable, distraction.  It is far from the best of the UPC series that I've seen and Destination Inner Space, shot at the same time, is definitely the superior of the two films.