32 Days of Halloween IX, Day 31: Mr. Sardonicus

Ah, the glorious gimmickry of William Castle. Don’t know what I mean? Before we get to tonight’s film, which has a “Punishment Poll,” here’s the man himself to explain some of the shenanigans his productions would get up to. Castle was one of the pioneers of audience participation, so to speak.

So here we go: the penultimate choice for 2016. It’s Mr. Sardonicus, in which Castle himself will appear and ask the audience to vote on whether or not the title character lives or dies. According to Wikipedia, which is always right, rumors of a “merciful” ending appear to be just that…rumors. Leave it to Mr. Castle to rig the polling so that he only had to shoot one ending.