Macabre

1958

1h 13m

Horror

List

Reviews

34%

Audience Score

100+ Ratings

A maniac attempts to drive a doctor over the edge by announcing that he has buried the physician's daughter alive.

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Clyde Gilmour

Maclean's Magazine

A hollow and phony horror-melodrama, most of the action centring around a windy graveyard at midnight. It's a formidable candidate for inclusion among the worst movies of 1958.

Nov 6, 2019

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Dennis Schwartz

Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

Too bad the b/w pic wasn't as imaginative as the film's promotional campaign.

Rated: C+

Mar 9, 2015

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dave s

The premise of a father searching for his missing daughter, who has been buried alive by a psychopath, is intriguing. Unfortunately, William Castle's Macabre fails miserably in creating any sense of intrigue. The primary problem is the fact that the plot is ridiculously convoluted and when the plot twist is revealed at the end, one is left wondering whether there could have been an easier way for the antagonist to achieve his or her goal. Well of course there was an easier way. Things are further complicated by flashbacks that do more to confuse issues than to clarify them. Some of the acting is laugh-out-loud funny, especially that of William Prince as the father of the buried girl, who appears more interested in spitting out banal dialogue than digging holes to find his daughter. Some of the cinematography in the cemetery is effective in creating an atmosphere, but this isn't enough to save the film.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

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Audience Member

Every time it appears that Macabre is on its to becoming a B-movie classic it contains a moment or scene that frustrates. Nonetheless, this William Castle production holds historic significance and enough good traits to put it on your bucket list if you're a cinephile.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/13/23

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Audience Member

Great use of flashbacks to flesh out the characters, pretty good plot twists for a whodunnit.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/26/23

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Audience Member

Even by William Castle standards this is pretty ropey stuff. A ludicrously incomprehensible plot featuring a missing child, a blind sister, an inheritance and a lot of VERY MELODRAMATIC ACTING, usually in rain-soaked cemeteries. You have to credit the poor cast, whose sole function seems to be to make it even half-way plausible. Seventy-five minutes of hokum.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

01/27/23

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Audience Member

Buried alive in a coffin...not my little lamb... A doctor has had some very bad luck. A serial killer kidnapped his wife and killed her, then two of his daughters after his wife suffer the same fate, and now his youngest daughter has been kidnapped and buried alive. He and the town will need to work together quickly to uncover his daughter and the man responsible. "I remember the night your wife died better than you." William Castle, director of House on Haunted Hill, The Tingler, 13 Ghosts, Straight-Jacket, Homicidal, The Old Dark House, Serpent on the Nile, and The Iron Glove, delivers Macabre. The storyline for this picture is interesting and worth following. The writing is uneven and some of the acting was cheesy. The cast includes William Prince, Jim Backus, Jacqueline Scott, and Ellen Corby. "His two daughters are dead now..." I came across this on Turner Classic Movies (TCM) this past Halloween season. I thought this was well done and interesting. This wasn't perfect or an all time classic, but it has a nice classic horror feel for fans of the genre. "Why should I get married? All men seem the same in the dark." Grade: C+

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/19/23

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Audience Member

At the beginning of this old horror movie from the 50s an ominous voice warns us to look after the other viewers as the things we are about to see are so frightening that some may fall ill. Luckily for me I was watching it alone so I didn't have to worry about anyone else and nothing in the movie could qualify as remotely scary. Macabre offers nothing in the way of scare or thrills and other than a decent story the direction and lack of pace kill of anything of interest.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

01/27/23

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William Castle

Director

William Prince

Dr. Rodney Barrett

Jim Backus

Jim Tyloe

Chris White

Nancy Wetherby

Jacqueline Scott

Polly Baron

Sue Morrow

Sylvia Stevenson

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Synopsis

A maniac attempts to drive a doctor over the edge by announcing that he has buried the physician's daughter alive.

Director: William Castle
Production Co: William Castle Productions
Genre: Horror
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 1, 2012
Runtime: 1h 13m

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