House Of Evil; Serenata Macabra; Dance Of Death, The

2695. SERENATA MACABRA (House Of Evil) (The Dance Of Death) (1968-Mexico-USA) COLOR. With BORIS KARLOFF. Few of Boris Karloff’s fans have seen this rare and fascinating gothic thriller in which the master of the horror movie makes his final onscreen appearance. Karloff tops off a fifty-year career by playing a brilliant, but mad, recluse named Dr. Mayhias Mortiwald who composes eerie melodies on a gigantic organ. The ailing and elderly doctor and his discordant music inhabit a gruesome gothic castle called Morhenge Mansion, in whose rooms and cellars are stored bizarre and deadly mechanical toys built by his late brother Hugo. The latter had suffered from a disease that shrank his brain, an illness that caused him to believe that anyone who looked at him was staring at him with hatred. Hugo’s behavior eventually became so strange that one day he was tormented by his own reflection in the mirror and he summarily gouged out his eyes with his own two hands! One night, painful memories of Hugo return to Dr. Mortiwald when a woman’s corpse is found with the eyes yanked from its face. Sensing the resurgence of the evil seed in a member of his own family, the doctor invites a group of relatives to Morhenge Mansion. He says he wants to meet each one of them before he dies and perhaps decide who will inherit his fortune. In fact, he intends to identify and then pluck out the evil seed responsible for the grisly death. Pop your popcorn beforehand because you will dare not leave the room before this heart- pounding thriller comes to its fright-filled finale! Dubbed in English. 92 minutes. Horror