Rating: 
Summary: Castle's House of Mirrors
Review: DVD of "Homicidal" by William Castle
...... It's especially terrific to see William Castle's
"Homicidal" on DVD, looking and sounding
crisp and new. It's an eerie, sometimes almost
unbearably creepy film that proves like his other
horror films, he was more than showman, he was
a fine filmmaker as well. Because his films were
basically aimed at the kid audience, it's especial
fun that this one concerns, in addition to
homicide (which was considered safe viewing for
us, somehow), homosexuality, transsexualism
and transvestitism. Coming not that long after
the Christine Jorgensen sex change landmark,
could Castle have had this in mind? Perhaps. I
can see him smiling round that huge cigar,
knowing he pulled another fast one, and was
subtly subverting legions of children whose
parents thought they were only seeing another
spook film. With fine performances by Jean Arliss (at last we
know a bit about her, thanks to the fun, nostalgic
featurette "Psychette" on the DVD, that has also
vintage clips of Castle, the joyous hucksterism,
the glee at all the money to be made--priceless),
always heroic Glenn Corbett, and especially the
lovely, talented Patricia Breslin, a script by Robb
White that jaggedly gets in the nerves and twists and turns most excruciatingly, and excellent
black and white photography that excels
especially in this transfer, we enter Castle
country that is bleak and grim and daring. When
the justice of the peace (the great James
Westerfield) gets it in the stomach, it still is gory
enough, still shocking, even when you already
have seen the film several times before. It's all a
haunted house distorting mirror show. Where
horrible revenge is exacted because of cruelty
experienced in childhood. Where there is an
unrelenting justice that comes from the core of
the character, that old desire to right wrongs that
can safely be righted in films. And of course
when Helga gets decapitated--how can a person
be faulted for cheering? One of the neatest lines ever in film is spoken in
a manic whispery trill by Arliss, as she tells
creepy old wheelchair bound mute helpless
Helga that the justice of the peace
"died--screammmming." Just remembering that
chills me. The delicious claustrophobia, the
woman who seems like not exactly a woman,
with the impressive knife, in the shadow house,
making one afraid of her, hypnotized by her, and
very very frightened. It seems the movie takes
place on the weekend. Probably because that
was when it played. It makes the murders, and
that babbling well meaning doctor who bumbles
to a rescue at the end, Corbett's kind, stalwart
druggist character, Breslin's character's
compassion and decency, Emily's touching so
sadly, so gently, the top of the head of a little
boy at the malt counter, a fascinating little
puzzle, needing to be seen more than once, and
always nettled by Emily, who almost begs us to
look behind the mask, and by Warren whose
own mask belies his masculinity. Something is
wonderfully frightfully wrong with these two
persons. It must be a terrible thing, the charade Emily and
Warren were forced to play all their lives. I can't
think of much worse, than the robbing of
identity, getting everything mixed up, not having
a place in one's self that is one's own. Castle's
film asks some serious questions. It's his most
carefully conceived thoughtful film. Seeing Castle's films on DVD makes one feel at
home again. When you could look at a movie
screen and know you had a friend orchestrating
the proceedings. Castle always gave us our
money's worth and more. With the gimmicks,
the fright break, the cardboard skeleton
careening over audiences, the electric buzzers in
the seats, the coward's corner, the tingler loose
in the audience, all the elements to all his various
movies said this--it's fun to be scared, to be put
off guard, to be thrilled, and then feel a little
loopy after the shock wears off. "Homicidal"
especially haunts. Arliss--we know a bit more
about her from the "Psychette"--cold,
implacable, is impossible to forget. Always
baffling before the secret is revealed in the
featurette, or is it?, was the question of who
played Emily and who played Warren, reality
thus skewered, which was good enough for
children because when you're a kid, little does
seem real, and as an adult, even less. The scene,
before the curtain call, of the fallen doll and the
whip (yes, the whip) on it strikes the right chord
of chortle, sadness, scares and the terrible
business of revisiting the past when the past is a
nightmare. The movie is beautifully atmospheric, from that
seedy motel to that dark creep fest of the twisted
souls in that house, and that long long descent of
the staircase elevator chair coming down and
down with Helga's head perched precariously on
her shoulders and then falling, in shadow,
off--well, sleep came with difficulty that summer
night when I first saw the movie on TV. And
that was just fine. Castle always took us
seriously. He did not condescend to us. He
wanted to show us a good time. These DVDs he
would have absolutely been overjoyed with. It's
a movie to luxuriate in. To dwell in. It means
something. Castle told us childhood is a sucker's
game too-- right under the noses of Those Who
Said Just the Opposite. The movie's about more
than murders of the body. Telling us then and
perhaps now, it's a ...scary world, childhood
included, don't trust anybody. They ARE after
you. For no one is as they appear. Like all real classics, you see them years later,
there are levels there you didn't notice
before. See his movies on these brilliantly made
DVDs, with extras, including those
magnificent Castle previews, and enjoy returning
to childhood terror courtesy of one
William Castle--legend.
Rating:
Summary: That justice of the peace died -- SCREAMING!
Review: Many viewers have stumbled into this kinky jigsaw puzzle of a thriller thinking they have a handle on it only to pleasantly shocked and surprised. Jean Arless (aka Joan Marshall) contributes a marvelous performance as "Emily." As a director, William Castle doesn't come a country mile within Hitchocok, but there are plenty of nice touches. Check out the subliminal close up shot of Emily's eyebrows on the staircase scene -- is something amiss here? Also the snapshot of Emily in Denmark proffered by Warren ... curious, very curious. I used the pause button on my DVD player a lot here. There's something about "Emily" that's not right. I also enjoyed the scene involving an ominous black briefcase containing a slip of paper with a prescription on it. The briefcase opens, we cut away and we don't see what's inside. And why does Emily need a heavy black briefcase to carry a slip of paper? The scene in the floral shop is a classic. All in all, there's no reason not to take this "Fright Break."
Rating: 
Summary: Infamous Castle Gimmick Film
Review: Most horror fans know William Castle's movies were very very low budget. He boosted his films with attention getting gimmicks. For this obvious Psycho imitation, her offered "cowards" their money back if they were too scared to see the last 10 minutes of the film. Of course, the kids watched the end, and then stayed to see the movie again to get their money back before the second showing ended! Castle remedied this by issuing different color tickets for each show!
The plot concerns a homicidal woman seemingly killing without reason, but there is a method to her madness. The ending is given away by some dialogue dubbing, which was not as sophisticated in 1961.
The film was a big hit. I am absolutely amazed it was not released in any home format until 2002 (DVD only). The DVD is taken from a great print (fullscreen). A short but interesting documentary explains the Castle gimmick.
Most importantly, the DVD contains the "fright break". This is the minute where a clock appears on the screen, and the audience is given 60 seconds to leave the theater to get their money back. Not Castle's best, but an entertaining way to spend a rainy afternoon.
Rating:
Summary: Infamous Castle Gimmick Film
Review: Most horror fans know William Castle's movies were very very low budget. He boosted his films with attention getting gimmicks. For this obvious Psycho imitation, her offered "cowards" their money back if they were too scared to see the last 10 minutes of the film. Of course, the kids watched the end, and then stayed to see the movie again to get their money back before the second showing ended! Castle remedied this by issuing different color tickets for each show!
The plot concerns a homicidal woman seemingly killing without reason, but there is a method to her madness. The ending is given away by some dialogue dubbing, which was not as sophisticated in 1961.
The film was a big hit. I am absolutely amazed it was not released in any home format until 2002 (DVD only). The DVD is taken from a great print (fullscreen). A short but interesting documentary explains the Castle gimmick.
Most importantly, the DVD contains the "fright break". This is the minute where a clock appears on the screen, and the audience is given 60 seconds to leave the theater to get their money back. Not Castle's best, but an entertaining way to spend a rainy afternoon.
Rating:
Summary: Infamous Castle Gimmick Film
Review: Most horror fans know William Castle's movies were very very low budget. He boosted his films with attention getting gimmicks. For this obvious Psycho imitation, her offered "cowards" their money back if they were too scared to see the last 10 minutes of the film. Of course, the kids watched the end, and then stayed to see the movie again to get their money back before the second showing ended! Castle remedied this by issuing different color tickets for each show!
The plot concerns a homicidal woman seemingly killing without reason, but there is a method to her madness. The ending is given away by some dialogue dubbing, which was not as sophisticated in 1961.
The film was a big hit. I am absolutely amazed it was not released in any home format until 2002 (DVD only). The DVD is taken from a great print (fullscreen). A short but interesting documentary explains the Castle gimmick.
Most importantly, the DVD contains the "fright break". This is the minute where a clock appears on the screen, and the audience is given 60 seconds to leave the theater to get their money back. Not Castle's best, but an entertaining way to spend a rainy afternoon.
Rating:
Summary: "I don't like your eyes, Helga....they see too much!"
Review: One of the most pre-eminent showmen in Hollywood, William Castle, director of such films as The Tingler (1959) and House on Haunted Hill (1959) released Homicidal in 1961, one year after the release of Alfred Hitchcock's masterpiece, Psycho. Some will say it's a blatant rip off of Psycho, and others will say it's more of a homage, but either way, it's a very entertaining film. The story starts off showing a woman, played by actress Jean Arliss aka Joan Marshall, checking into a hotel and offering a bellboy two grand to marry her. The bellboy is naturally curious, but the lure of the humongous pile of greenbacks keeps his queries to a minimum. They arrive at the Justice of the Peace, late in the evening, and the ceremony proceeds, only to end in a very grisly, visceral murder. Confused? I was too, but all will be revealed as the film progresses. The film's plot is fairly intricate, involving murder, money, and mayhem. The story mainly takes place in a small, southern California town focusing on the remaining family members, a brother and sister, Carl and Miriam Webster, both sharing the same father but different mothers. Jean Arliss plays Emily, a live-in caretaker for the now elderly mute woman confined to a wheelchair that cared for Warren while he was growing up. A dark, mysterious family secret drives the film that maintains a stranglehold on the viewer's attention until the very end. The plot seems very convoluted at the beginning, but the pieces slowly start to fall into place. I really don't want to get into specifics about the movie, as I fear I will give something away to someone who hasn't see the film, but I will say that Castle really was able to provide suspense pretty much throughout. You may be able to figure out the twist ending, as I caught on to it later in the film, but it was still very creepy when all was revealed at the end. There were some plotting gaps, and some of the exposition seemed a bit clunky and forced, but the movie appeared to have as more working for it as it did against it, helping to keep us interested through the 87 minute running time. William Castle, being the showman he was, usually incorporated gimmicks into his movies, ranging from buzzers in theater seats to provide a 'shock' to various patrons for The Tingler (1959) to plastic skeletons suspended on a wire that would fly from the screen towards the audience for the film House on Haunted Hill (1958). In Homicidal, the gimmick was called Fear Break. This incorporated certificates that moviegoers would get prior to the start of the feature, which would allow people to get their money back if they got too scared and wanted to leave, but there was a catch. The Fear Break occurred near the end of the movie, with a 45 second stop clock appearing on the screen, and voice over stating that things were going to get really scary after this point, so if you wanted to leave, do so now. The catch to redeeming your certificate in order to get you money back was you had to stand in the Coward's Corner, near the exit, until all the movie viewers who stayed had filed out. Given that this would probably be very embarrassing, I doubt many people tried to take advantage of this gimmick. It was pretty obvious Castle tried to emulate Hitchcock in many areas, and there are similarities between this film and Psycho, but where Hitchcock was a master director at building up tension and suspense in often subtle methods, Castle more or less would forgo subtly for sensationalism and give it to you both barrels in the face. Effective, yes, but, in my opinion, nowhere near as frightening. Castle always seemed a showman first and foremost, and second, a director. This picture on this DVD looks really wonderful, but in standard format. I was curious as to if someone was going to go through the trouble of digitally remastering a movie, why not present it in its' original format? Oh well...special features includes trailers for two other Castle films, Straight-Jacket (1964) and Mr. Sardonicus (1961) and a great featurette titled "Psychette: William Castle and Homicidal". If you haven't seen this film before, do not watch the featurette before the movie, as it will give away the 'surprising and shocking' ending. What would have been a great addition to this would have been a reproduction of the certificate that was handed out at the original screenings on the movie. While this film is certainly derivative to Hitchcock's Psycho, Homicidal doesn't hold up nearly as well, but then, how many movies could? Cookieman108
Rating: 
Summary: Understated little chiller is a B-grade PSYCHO
Review: The Master Of Gimmicks; William Castle, strikes again with this movie which inevitably will lead to comparisons with PSYCHO, though Castle is no Hitch. That said, the understated chiller HOMICIDAL is one of his best movies. Marion Webster (Jean Arliss) is a Danish nurse with an American accent, who happens to have HOMICIDAL tendencies (as you'd guess by the title). This first announces itself in the scene where she disembowels the chaplain who conducts her wedding ceremony. Needless to say, the honeymoon doesn't even get underway. Pretty soon Marion is on the lam with the cops are tailing her.
Marion finds a new job caring for Helga (Eugenie Leontovich) an elderly woman confined to a wheelchair following a stroke.. Predictably Marion takes advantage of the poor old girl and physically and psychologically torments her, even though Helga tries tapping out warnings to her relatives that she is being abused by this pretty young blond. Or is she?
Of course, no Castle movie would be the same without the gimmick. That would be like Herschell Gordon Lewis without the gore and guts, or Russ Meyer without the boobies. For HOMICIDAL, Castle has inserted a 45 second "Fright Break" as a build up to what is to be the movies most notorious sequence to allow timid viewers to leave the room!! Add to this a laughable climactic plot "twist" and you have one of his most entertaining movies. Plus Patricia Breslin is possibly the best screen screamer pre- Marilyn Burns in TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE. Vidiot_y2k says check it out. (Please don't sue me, Joe Bob!)
Rating:
Summary: as good as psycho, possibly better
Review: the most underrated dvd in the catalog. much like psycho but it goes far beyond in a totally different direction. jean arliss makes tony perkins seem like a boy scout and gives the most chilling feminine performance in film history. what a shame this film destroyed her career. and best of all, unlike hitchcock, director castle gives a very brief prologue and epilogue, the former slyly giving away the very convoluted ending.
Rating:
Summary: A classic...in any era...
Review: There are a lot of things going for this film. Anyone who knows the films of William Castle knows that they are schlocky, gimmicky & always entertaining. I saw this as a child and was frightened repeatedly; it never came out on video so I taped it off AMC or TMC. Imagine my surprise on DVD, a perfectly crisp & clear transfer with great sound...and Von Dexter has composed the scores for Castle's best films, and he does not disappoint. The DVD is great because it has extras...spoilers, for those who haven't seen this...one previous reviewer... gave away the suprise ending. Never mind. Even knowing this film well encourages repeated viewings. Jean Arless, of course, is the centerpiece here, and it's a good thing she didn't use her real name (the actress, Jean Marshall, didn't want to be "type-cast"...). It's really an exercise in over-acting and she did not hold back! I don't know how Castle convinced the great acting coach, Eugenie Leontovich, to perform in his film, but it's a treasure. She doesn't actually have a lot to do except glower & look scared, but it's a confident display of a true master. Glenn Corbett and Patricia Breslin (a popular TV actress of the period, The Jackie Cooper Show) were very good-looking and played the ingenue sweethearts that you genuinely liked. I would like to know what happened to Richard Rust (the handsome Jim Nesbitt character). He died young, but his career should've been grander. OK...so, notice this: When the detective visits Breslin at her flower shop, has Nesbitt identify her, and they leave...why does he put on the police car siren as they drive away? What doctor prescribed the prescription that Emily went to fill? When Corbett's character suggests to Warren that it was "a similar pattern as the Adrins murder"...to what was he referring? There are so many inconsistancies, most of which come to mind after the resolution of the plot, and, sure, Castle said it was an homage to "Psycho" (checking into a hotel, etc.) and some of the well-directed camerawork showed the Hitchcockian shots that reminded the audience that they should keep alert (the knife in the magazine, etc.). Remember when doctors made house calls...? He happened to be in the neighborhood? William Castle is not one of our greatest directors of all time. But, to be sure, he probably took more pride in his work than most. He also worked exclusively with original screenplays. They may be criticized for being derivitive, but he certainly made every film his own, and carried it one step further. I like this film, on many levels...but I happen to be an afficiado of bad acting and unbelievable plots. 13 GHOSTS had humor; THE TINGLER was certainly far-fetched (but kept everyone wondering) and HOMICIDAL was probably his most well-plotted, just enough to make it "special" from PSYCHO. If you've read this far, you're probably a fan of the film. And, so am I. CASTLE RULES! When will "Macabre" be available?Only drawback is that it's not in Widescreen. Otherwise, print is crisp & clear.
Rating:
Summary: Creepy Castle camp classic!
Review: This film has been a favorite of mine for years, and I saw it long before "Psycho". A great setup from William Castle, with some genuine chills and a truly scary performance from Jean Arliss. The dialogue is laughable at times, but every nearly every scene offers a witty line or creepy plot twist. Hopefully on DVD, this above-average B-movie will get the attention it deserves.
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