Rating: 
Summary: Castle's Homage to the Master
Review: 'Homicidal' is William Castle's frightfully entertaining homage to Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. Castle achieves, and sustains, an atomosphere of creepiness throughout, and Jean Arless, in the role of Emily, is utterly fantastic!
Rating:
Summary: Additonal info on "Jean Arless"
Review: ...by the way, (the late) Jean Arless' real name was JOAN Marshall. Her other claim to fame? Joan was almost cast as the female lead on THE MUNSTERS. As a matter of fact, Joan, Fred Gwynne, and Al Lewis starred in the original Universal color(!) pilot presentation for the show. Joan played the character Phoebe, who more resembled Morticia of Addams Family fame than Lily Munster. Eventually Universal contract actress Yvonne DeCarlo auditioned and won the part, and LILY MUNSTER was born! BTW, Joan was also a personal friend of John "Gomez" Astin! HOMICIDAL is a classic!
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Summary: "I don't like your eyes, Helga, they see too much!!"
Review: ...I was shocked that it was actually pretty well done- I was expecting a camp-fest. I got that, but I also got a pretty taut little thriller. The first murder is suprisingly gory and quite shocking and sets the tone for the rest of this flick. "Jean Arless" is riveting as the bad girl anti-heroine; she looks like serial-killer Barbie, and comes complete with Solvang death mansion. She has a great way of half-crooning, half-hissing her lines (like the title to this review) that's fairly creepy. The supporting cast is okay, and the location is pretty neat: Solvang in the 60's before it turned completely into a dutch-themed tourist trap. This is one of those movies that work well with a really low budget. Shooting in the early morning gives the dusty, deserted streets of the one-horse town a really desolate feeling that makes the shops and houses of Solvang really enjoyably creepy. And there are enough red herrings that some people (including me- I guessed totally wrong) will be actually surprised at the ending. How many movies today can make you say that?
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Summary: TAKE A FRIGHT BREAK....
Review: A beautiful blonde pays a curious hotel bellboy to marry her then stabs the JOP to death in front of him. This is just the beginning of a very weird tale and one of William Castle's more effective shockers. The blonde, Emily, is a nurse for a mute wheelchair bound old woman--Helga--a former nanny to Warren and Miriam, a brother and sister who grew up in the big spooky old house where Helga and Emily reside. While the murder is under investigation, it becomes apparent that Emily is up to more unsavory doings. She implicates Miriam in the murder and claims she's "married" Warren (a strangely unmasculine sort) leaving Miriam as the unlikely focus of the investigation. Warren and Emily are never seen together. Helga is terrified of Emily (with good reason it soon turns out) and can communicate only by pounding a doorknob on the arm of her wheelchair. Emily is threatening Helga when no one is around. There's evidence of child abuse involving Helga and "Warren" as a child and a hint that "Emily" has just returned from Denmark. The climax features Castle's gimmick of a "Fright Break"---a clock appears on the screen giving the audience one minute to run before all hell breaks loose. This is a creepy little puzzler that is just plain enjoyable to watch. Jean Arless is dynamic as "Emily" and the DVD transfer is immaculate. The cast encore at the end is an eye opener. Don't miss this one.
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Summary: ..."Who was that man I saw you with?"
Review: Alfred Hitchcock may very well have borrowed a page from gimmick king William Castle's book when he devised the advertising campaign for his legendary shocker, "Psycho". The advertisements for "Psycho" strongly stated that one one would be allowed into the theater once the picture had started, and this was strictly enforced. Some theaters even provided chairs for patrons to sit in while waiting on line for the next showing! A great publicity move for a great movie. Which now brings us back to Mr. Castle. The gimmick for "Homicidal" was a "Fright Break", which came just before the climax of the film. A clock appeared on the screen, allowing 45 seconds for viewers who were "too frightened" to stay for the end of the picture to leave, but they would have to stand in "Coward's Corner", a yellow-painted booth in the lobby. These chickenhearts would also have to sign a certificate which stated, "I am a bona fide coward". Oh, that Bill Castle! "Homicidal" is the story of a tall, willowy blonde named Emily who happens to be a psychotic, knife-wielding killer. Emily pays a hunky bellhop $2,000 to marry her in a midnight ceremony, and then stabs the justice of the peace to death! Since Emily is far too young to blame her sudden nasty behavior on hormones, it's obvious that she has a couple of screws loose. Taking it on the lam following the rather unorthodox ceremony, leaving the groom at the altar (now that's a switch!), Emily dashes to her car and drives off to the gloomy old house where she lives with her husband Warren, a rather epicene-looking young man. They have recently returned from Denmark with Helga, Warren's former nursemaid, who is now wheelchair-bound, mute and paralyzed due to a stroke. Helga distrusts and fears Emily (wouldn't you be a little nervous around this loony Barbie doll?), and knows too much for her own good. Warren's half-sister Miriam doesn't care too much for Emily either, and is rather disturbed by her strange and unpleasant behavior. The fact that Emily went into Miriam's flower shop and destroyed several figurines and a wedding wreath doesn't exactly endear her to Miriam. I won't divulge any more of the plot (I've probably told too much already), but the film has a reasonable amount of suspense, builds very nicely to its climax, and may genuinely surprise some with its "twist". The film is more of a homage than a rip-off of "Psycho", and is at least more interesting and entertaining than Brian DePalma's shrill "homages", the tiresome sequels, and the awful Gus Van Sant remake. The late Joan Marshall, acting under the pseudonym "Jean Arless", is very good as the lovely, twisted Emily, and renowned stage actress Eugenie Leontovich is quite good as the noisy Helga (she can't speak, but she makes a hell of a ruckus anyway!) Patricia Breslin and Glenn Corbett lend good support as Miriam and the befuddled bellhop. The great Hugo Friedhofer composed the music score. Having composed for such "respectable" films as "The Best Years of Our Lives", "The Lodger", and "The Rains of Ranchipur", one can only assume that he was paid well for this "B". To give William Castle his due, the film is directed with visual flair and style, and I would safely guess that he must have sat through "Psycho" at least 20 times!
The picture and sound quality on the DVD are excellent, the picture quality unbelievably sharp and rich. The "making of" featurette, "Psychette", is fun, including footage of Mr.Castle asking theater patrons how they liked the picture, "I liked it much better than 'Psycho'!" (gulp!), but it is all-too-brief. "Homicidal" is not the disturbing, stay-with-you cinematic masterpiece that "Psycho" is, but it is a lot of fun. It has that wonderful thread (hell, rope!) of ludicrousness that runs through it, the unmistakable hallmark of a William Castle film. One final observation: earlier in this review, I stated that William Castle must have seen "Psycho" at least 20 times. I have a strong belief that Eurythmics' Annie Lennox must have seen "Homicidal" just as many!
Rating: 
Summary: Where's the widescreen?
Review: All who are reading this, probably know all about this great film anyway..so, I won't go into detail about it. The DVD is crisp and incredibly clear but it's oddly in "Standard" format. All other Castle films of the 50's and 60's on DVD are presented in thier original ratios. What happened here? Since this is the best of them, one can't help wondering, why? The visual experience is compromised...and it just aint right! Do it over and we'll all buy it again...or was that your intention all along, Columbia?
Rating:
Summary: Where's the widescreen?
Review: All who are reading this, probably know all about this great film anyway..so, I won't go into detail about it. The DVD is crisp and incredibly clear but it's oddly in "Standard" format. All other Castle films of the 50's and 60's on DVD are presented in thier original ratios. What happened here? Since this is the best of them, one can't help wondering, why? The visual experience is compromised...and it just aint right! Do it over and we'll all buy it again...or was that your intention all along, Columbia?
Rating:
Summary: Where's the widescreen?
Review: All who are reading this, probably know all about this great film anyway..so, I won't go into detail about it. The DVD is crisp and incredibly clear but it's oddly in "Standard" format. All other Castle films of the 50's and 60's on DVD are presented in thier original ratios. What happened here? Since this is the best of them, one can't help wondering, why? The visual experience is compromised...and it just aint right! Do it over and we'll all buy it again...or was that your intention all along, Columbia?
Rating:
Summary: See Emily Play
Review: An amazing performance by Jean Arless as Emily, the homicidal maniac. Her rage's range knows no bounds. When she warns one of the characters, "if you don't leave this house in five minutes I'm going to kill you" you know where they're headed. You'll find yourself asking so many questions after its ended. I'm still wondering where Emily got the surgical knife from. Denmark? Her mad scene in the florist shop had me howling. It's explicit, but it's also very sly. William Castle must have been aware of what he was up to, but then again maybe not. If you are a fan of the Naked Kiss, you should give this a try.
Rating:
Summary: A cult favorite - for good reason
Review: Do you remember shrieking with horror and giggling with delight at William Castle's old black and white spook-fests? Well, here's one of his best: Homicidal, a drama that borrows freely from Hitchcock's Psycho.
The story opens as a beautiful but strangely Stepford Wife-looking blonde woman checks into a run-down hotel, pays a stranger to marry her, and promptly stabs the man who performed the ceremony. Back in the sleepy town of Solvang, California, we meet a peculiar young man named Warren, who has returned to his old home with this mysterious blonde. Warren is about to inherit a fortune on his twenty-first birthday, but strange things start happening - and what secrets are hidden in the dark, old house?
This movie is short on actual violence, but long on creepy atmosphere and things that go bump in the night. The actors are all good, but the real star is director Castle, who creates a very scary mystery with so much tension you'll be on the edge of your seat. In true Castle-style, there is a gimmick in this movie: Just before the final scene, a clock appears on screen to allow those too frightened to watch the end to leave the theatre - and sit in the Coward's Corner booth in the lobby. It's all in good fun and not to be taken seriously; you'll be spooked by the thrills and chuckling as soon as it's over. A fun movie!
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