Mansion of the Doomed (1976) - Newspaper Ad

Oakland Tribune - December 8, 1976

Prolific actor Michael Pataki made his directing debut with this unsettling and unsightly riff on Eyes Without A Face (1960). Only this time around it is more like A Face Without Any Eyes.

Richard Basehart stars as Dr. Leonard Chaney, an ophthalmologist whose guilt at blinding his daughter drives him to experiment with eyeball transplantation. Although he is successful, at first, that success is short lived and another new set of eyes are needed.

Wash. Rinse. Repeat.

Oh, and there are a few more issues regarding those transplants. These are not cadaver eyes. Each and every donor is a living person that has not volunteered, or even knows that they are about to, donate their eyeballs.

Although Chaney states his intention to restore eyesight to all who have "aided" in his experimentation, he does not seem to be giving all that much thought on how and where those unfortunates will be getting their donor eyes from. He will deal with that only after a transplantation proves permanent. Something he is certain will happen, this time...

Mansion of the Doomed is also notable for giving character actor icon Lance Henriksen one his first substantive onscreen roles, as well as giving future make-up effects icon Stan Winston the opportunity to create all those unsettling eyeless donor effects.

What was it showing with? Well, moving from left to right and top to bottom: The Roxie had Mansion on a triple-bill with The House That Screamed (1969) and Sugar Hill (1974). The Coliseum Drive-In had it paired with Night of the Living Dead (1968). The Alameda 3 had it with The Devil Within Her [aka Sharon's Baby and I Don't Want to Be Born (1975)]. Hayward's Festival Cinemas showed it with Embryo (1976), while Oakland's Eastmont Four had it coupled with Death Machines (1976). I also discovered that the Eastmont had a double-bill of the not at all similar Sparkle (1976) and Assault on Precinct 13 (1976). That was a fun to uncover.

Pleasant Hill's Regency Cinemas also showed Mansion with Embryo, while Richmond's Hilltop Drive-In, as well as the Union City Drive-In, offered another pairing with Night of the Living Dead.