Rating: 
Summary: GIVE ME BACK ME AXE!!!
Review: Lurid little yarn! Joan Crawford plays Lucy Harbin, a woman who seeks revenge on her two-timing husband and his girlfriend by chopping them to death in bed with an axe! Declared insane, she spends 20 years in the asylum. After being released, she goes to live with her daughter, grown now, who was a witness to mom's axe swinging ability. Mysterious axe murders suddenly start happening around the farm where they live. Could it be that our Lucy is up to her old tricks again? Some genuinely scary moments make this a must-see. Highly recommend to Joan Crawford fans, and you know who you are!
Rating:
Summary: You go, Joan!
Review: As a long-time Joan Crawford fan, I used to stay away from the films she made in the 1960s and onward because I tended to think of them as "embarrassments to a brilliant career" (to quote Crawford's daughter Christina in Mommie Dearest). However, I've come to revise my opinion of at least one of those films: Strait-Jacket.The plot is a simple one. It begins in the 1940s when Joan's character Lucy Harbin (who, we're supposed to assume, is a woman in her 30s at the time) axe-murders her philandering younger husband and his girlfriend. What's really incredible about the opening murder scene is the fact that Joan, who was about 60 at the time, actually plays herself as a younger woman, and a trampy younger woman at that, complete with a cheap floral print dress, jet-black wig and very JANGLY bangle bracelets. Incredible! Only Joan Crawford could've pulled this off and made it believable. And what's more, in this scene and throughout the movie, she really makes you feel sympathy for Lucy, and that proves what a great actress she is. Over and over again, you get the sense that Lucy is more victim than victimizer - she's been knocked around by life and just couldn't take it anymore. Murder completed, Lucy's then clapped into an insane asylum. After 20 years she is released and goes to live with her brother (played by Leif Ericson), his wife (played by Rochelle Hudson) and her own estranged daughter (played by Diane Baker) on the family farm. And - surprise! Joanie comes home, and people start losing their heads - literally. Whodunnit, might you ask? Is it perhaps Joan who, unable to stand the pressures of the outside world, has started to go off her nut again. Maybe...or maybe not. To quote Rod Serling, therein hangs the tale. This film is chock full of great stuff. Besides the opening murder scene already described, there are plenty others to wow and amaze you. Such as when Joan's daughter buys her an outfit that's just like the tartwear she used to have 20 years ago: yet another cheap floral print dress, yet another jet-black wig and yet more very JANGLY bangle bracelets. With this get-up on, she looks like nothing so much as an old whore (or in today's politically correct parlance, perhaps the term is..."old sex worker"). But you can't help but love her and feel sorry for her, despite the outfit and pathetic attempts to act young. This is because you know she's suffering, dressing in a way she really doesn't want to dress anymore. She's only doing it in order to please her daughter, who wants to make Joan look the way she remembers her from 20 years ago. Then of course there's the classic scene when daughter Diane Baker brings her fiance home to meet momma Joan. Joan, who is terribly nervous about making a good impression, gets smashed on bourbon and then proceeds to flirt outrageously with this man who is easily 30 years younger than she. Pure camp, complete with Joan purring in his ear and putting her fingers in his mouth! All this while attired in her ridiculous dress, bracelets and wig. Watching that scene is like watching an auto accident - morbidly fascinating. You don't want to look, yet you can't tear yourself away. And here again, Joan generates sympathy. These are the biggies. There are of course many other great scenes, such as when Joan tells off her daughter's bitchy mother-in-law-to-be (played by Edith Atwater), confessing that she's spent 20 years in an asylum. She tops it off by screaming, "AND IT WAS HELL! TWENTY YEARS OF PURE HELL!" But then Joanie regains her groove and says with dignity "But I'm not ashamed." Beautiful! Other gems in this film: Leif Ericson's performance as Joan's sympathetic brother, and George Kennedy as the wonderfully creepy farmhand. And of course, last but not least, is the tour de force performance of Diane Baker as Carol Harbin, Joan's daughter. So...long story short, buy this. You won't regret it. You'll probably be able to guess about 20 minutes into the movie whether Joan's started killing again or whether someone's trying to frame her, but no matter. Joan gives it her usual 110%, and you won't be disappointed.
Rating: 
Summary: A Sequel To "Baby Jane" Without Miss Blanche!
Review: Oh this film is just too much to bear! It is such a classic that Crawford weidling an axe is now a common T-shirt icon! Crawford over-acts as usual and it's wonderful! I wished I had been in the studio during the filming! She goes from neurotic to wacko to nicey-dicey to literally 'dicey'! That shadowy scene with the axe is the essence of cheap film-shlock! The head bopping is so Hollywood low budget, I screamed with laughter! But the highlight is when Crawford "dresses up" and trys to seduce her daughter's boyfriend! Oooh! My skinned just CRAWLED! I loved it! But then, I love John Waters films, too.
Rating:
Summary: Everything that's great about filmmaking
Review: This movie is pure camp fun. Joan is over the top and perfect. The match-lighting off of the record is the high point of the film for me. But seriously, this is a great DVD. The visual quality is awesome, the special features are really interesting and insightful. The film will make you laugh, the behind the scenes documentary will make you cry for Joan Crawford and the never-ending uphill climb that was her life. Buy this movie, it's a great one to show to guests who only know of Joan as Mommie Dearest, although this isn't too far off from that.
Rating:
Summary: Campy Drive-In style Horror!
Review: Fans of Joan Crawford's Grand Guignol performances have already seen this one a thousand times, but for the rest of movie fans it is still a rollicking ride reminiscent of the glory days of the Drive In Theater. All the blood, shock and shlock are here to enjoy, complete with a young George Kennedy as a brutish farmhand. The wonderful thing about Crawford's performance (as is the case with all of her work) is that she takes her role as seriously as if it were "Mildred Pierce." This results in frequent moments of real emotion, real heartbreak...even amidst the over the top, low budget setting.
Rating:
Summary: Awesome, you just got to have it
Review: It's so bad, it's brilliant actually. Crawford's ambition to work in her later years meant doing these kind of flicks, but it's actually worth owning for many reasons. Crawford's acting is sensational, the trampy scenes when she tries to seduce her daughter's fiance, and the unexpected ending. There's also the extras on the DVD which are great including interviews with Diane Baker now. Also shown is rare footage of Crawford doing public promo's for the movie. For some strange reason they have released most of her later films on DVD overlooking alot of the middle films like Mildred pierce - I think a lot of people are waiting for that one.
But you cant go wrong buying Strait Jacket for your collection. It's worth having as a reminder of Joan's brilliance.
Rating:
Summary: 100% Camp
Review: Joan Crawford at her best and worst!! The movie is so enjoyable dated. The bonus features of Crawford in costume tests is great to see. All the while, she is smoking a cigarette looking slightly drunk. Watch this one with friends after you've downed a few cocktails and you will have quite a party.
Rating:
Summary: From "Baby Jane" to Insane!
Review: In 1961 Bette Davis and Joan Crawford were paired up in the classic "Whatever Happened To Baby Jane?" The film was a success and revived the otherwise dead careers of it's stars. The two (who couldn't stand each other in real life) were then supposed to star in it's follow-up "Whatever Happened To Cousin Charlotte?" However Ms. Crawford seemed to get "sick" during the early filming and was dropped from the picture. "Cousin Charlotte" was finished with Olivia DeHaviland in the role originally intended for Crawford and the was retitled "Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte". That film tells the tale of an old woman who years earlier had killed her cheating boyfriend by hacking off his hand and head. Bette Davis got great reviews for her performance as the tormented Charlotte. Not to be outdone by her long time rival Joan Crawford then made "Strait Jacket". This movie tells a VERY similar tale as "Charlotte". The difference is that "Strait Jacket" is a weaker film. It is a fun film, but not as strong as the Davis movie. In "Strait Jacket" Crawford is a woman, who twenty years ago killed her cheating husband and his mistress by hacking off their heads with an ax (sound fimiliar?) and was sent to an asylum. We now jump ahead twenty years and all seems well until those around Crawford start losing their heads!!!
I've never thought of Joan Crawford as a exceptional actress, she always seems to over act in everything. "Strait Jacket" is no exception. A fun "thriller" from it time period and if you liked "Baby Jane","Charlotte" or others from that era, you're sure to like this one as well. The "Scooby Doo" like wrap up is a bit much, but watch for the "Columbia" logo at the very end. Funny stuff!
The DVD extras include a rather lame trailer for the film, a newly filmed 15min documentary on the film, two clips of Joan rehearsing swinging the ax, and a short montage of Joan's costumes.
Rating:
Summary: William Castle presents Joan Crawford in EMOTE-O-RAMA!
Review: Like all William Castle films, the story is slight, full of holes, and often silly to the point of absurdity. Long ago Joan Crawford came home to find her husband in bed with a floozie and snatched up an ax. Adjudged insane, she is locked up in an asylum for twenty years, but now she's home--and pretty soon some really weird things begin to happen around the old family farm. Could it be, oh, I don't know... JOAN? Throughout his career, producer-director William Castle liked to build his movies around gimmicks: TINGLER had "Percepto," 13 GHOSTS had "Illusion-O," and HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL had "Emergo." But STRAIT-JACKET had something better: Joan Crawford herself, who plays in a style that can only be described as "Emote-O-Rama." Say what you like about Crawford, she never gave any performance less than one hundred percent, and in STRAIT-JACKET she gives one hundred and fifty. In the opening scenes, 60-something Joan has the unmitigated gall to play Lucy in her 20s! Later, as Lucy in her 40s, Joan plays the role like a nice little old lady who occasionally drops acid: when she's not busy with her nervous breakdown, she [drinks] bourbon, attempts to seduce her daughter's boyfriend (even to the point of putting her fingers in his mouth), knits like a fiend, lights a cigarette by striking a match on a record album, raises hell at a dinner party... and all of it about as subtle as a bulldozer. But they didn't call her a star for nothing: not only does Crawford manage to carry it off with complete conviction, she actually manages to endow the character with considerable pathos along the way. And I have absolutely no doubt that THIS was the film Faye Dunaway studied the most when preparing to play Crawford in the infamous MOMMIE DEAREST; watch both back-to-back and you'll know exactly what I mean. The rest of the cast is pretty interesting as well, featuring Diane Baker as daughter Carol, Leif Erickson as Crawford's brother, George Kennedy as an unsavory farmhand, and a very young Lee Majors as the ill-fated husband--not to mention Mitchell Cox, a Pepsi V.P. Joan was favoring at the time. There are cheap special effects (amazing, how she can neatly lop off a head or two with a single blow), Pepsi-Cola product placements, and even some dialogue that would do Ed Woods proud. It's all campy and bizarre and hilariously weird and ramped up to the nth degree by Crawford's full-force performance. With a somewhat better script and production values, STRAIT-JACKET could easily have matched Bette Davis' more sophistocated HUSH, HUSH SWEET CHARLOTTE; as it stands, however, it is a cult movie in all caps. The DVD is very nicely done, with the film itself in excellent condition, a collection of Crawford's costume tests that give a surprising insight to actress' personality, and a particularly nice little making-of documentary that includes comments from Diane Baker. (Note: don't watch the documentary, called "Battle-Ax," until after you've seen the film: it's a spoiler.) Strongly recommended to Castle, Cult, and Crawford fans!
Rating:
Summary: Joan overacts.And drinks. And knits.Oh, and those bracelets!
Review: This is one of those movies that gets better with every viewing. William Castle and Joan Crawford are a magic combination, producing some of Miss Joan's most memorable moments on film. Watch as she gets drunk and hits on her daughter's boyfriend. Fall under her spell as she takes up her knitting. Marvel as she repeatedly launches into histrionics. And all the while those bracelets just keep clanking away!
The wardrobe is a joke (in a good way). Joan's daughter (played by Diane Baker) picks out a cheap looking floral print dress and a wig that was better left on the dummy in the store (meow!), plus these really noisy bangles that would make it really difficult to sneak up on anybody and chop their head off. And Joan's remarks on the shopping/makeover trip are equally bursting with irony. Saying high heels are not practical and worrying about how expensive everything is? Miss Diva Joan? Never! The supporting cast deserves much recognition as well, especially Diane Baker, who gives JC a run for her money. I also thought George Kennedy was great in this flick, too. But then again, I'm biased. Live it, love it, embrace it. This is Joan at her campy best!
|
