Mr. Sardonicus

Mr. Sardonicus is a 1961 horror film produced and directed by William Castle. It tells the story of Sardonicus, a man whose face becomes frozen in a horrifying grin while robbing his fathers grave to obtain a winning lottery ticket. Castle cited the film in his memoir as one of his favorites to produce.

Maude herself is fearful of what will happen if Sir Robert is not willing to do as Sardonicus asks of him. Even Krull is not immune to the Barons cruelty as he is missing an eye, thanks to Sardonicuss anger.Sardonicus tells Sir Robert his story. Once he was Marek Toleslawski, a farmer like his father Henryk Vladimir Sokoloff. Marek and his wife Elenka Erika Peters lived a humble life, but Elenka and Henryk wanted more. Henryk bought a ticket for the national lottery, but died in his sleep that night. Marek and Elenka learned that the ticket was a winner but could only claim the prize if they had the ticket, which was buried with Henryk. Elenka pressed Marek to retrieve the ticket so he could, as she said, prove his love to her. Marek opened the grave and was horrified to see his fathers skull seemingly grinning at him. After screaming and running away, he went back and retrieved the ticket. When he returned home, he and Elenka realized something was wrong Marek could not speak. Elenka lit a candle and saw Mareks face contorted into a fixed terrifying grin, similar to Henryks skull. The prize money allowed Marek to buy a title and castle but Elenka committed suicide soon after seeing his face for the first time, so she was unable to share the riches with him. Marek renamed himself Sardonicus after the medical term Risus sardonicus, Latin for sardonic smile, used for tetanus victims and learned to speak all over again with the help of some of the greatest diction experts in the world. His own subsequent experiments on young women were intended to find a cure for his condition, but he has had no success. Since Sardonicuss new wife Maude had mentioned Sir Robert as a great doctor specializing in paralysis, he had hoped Sir Robert would help restore his face. He had tried several other great doctors before, with no success. Sir Robert agrees to try. ........

Source: Wikipedia