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I Saw What You Did

I Saw What You Did

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Sucessfull Thriller
Review: I saw this movie one time late night when I was a small child and for the next 30 odd years to follow I have remembered this film and the main line in my head. That is a sucessfull film, I have seen movies 2 weeks ago that I can't remember the name of or the plot. A real scary film with out the need for todays blood fest of crash up chases. Thrilled to add it to my collection. If you enjoy a classic scare, this is a must have.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Had some potential, but doesn't fufill it
Review: I think this movie had potential to be a good little thriller, but the mood gets spoiled too often by the teeny-booper music. Yes, we get it, the movie's about misbehaving teenagers. You don't need to bust out the American Bandstand music every time they appear on screen.

That may seem like a minor quibble, but I found the inappropriate music did have an effect on the suspense, which got dialed up pretty high in certain scenes. Just when I thought things were coming to a close, there was another little twist, and danger reared its ugly head once again. The happy ending was kind of predictable, but the path to get there was often full of surprises.

I watched the movie first and foremost as a Joan Crawford fan, although I understood going into it that she had a small part and overacted it, at that. (I never saw anyone fall to the floor in such an elaborate fashion.) It's a shame that they'll release films like this on DVD, but not more of Crawford's earlier, better work. However, I ended up finding the film as a whole a somewhat enjoyable, B-grade suspense flick.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Leave it to Beaver meets Psycho!
Review: I've never been a big fan of William Castle, even as a Baby Boomer kid. The first Castle directed film I saw was "Macabre," which didn't do a thing for me. Then came "House on Haunted Hill" and "The Tingler." I could tolerate those, because they starred my favorite horror icon, Vincent Price. HOUSE, especially, is a great Price showcase, and I love it to this day. In the 60's, Castle became quite enamored with Hitchcock's PSYCHO and "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane," which led to "Straight Jacket" (combining the talents of Psycho scribe Robert Bloch and Jane vet Joan Crawford). Crawford followed up with still another Castle endeavor, I SAW WHAT YOU DID. Hmmm...how do I say this delicately? Ok, the honest approach is always best. I SAW WHAT YOU DID is awful! First of all, it was filmed in or around 1965 and looks like an extended episode of "Leave it to Beaver." The two teenage leads are completely and utterly unbelievable--they make Frankie and Annette look like Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh! So sticky sweet and "cute," in that bouncy, teenage sitcom way (just like all the kids on Beaver and the Donna Reed Show). And the soundtrack! (shudder!) Take a pop record, circa 1965, remove the vocals, and that's what they used. I can't describe it in words, except to say the theme song to "The Patty Duke Show" would've fit in perfectly! Ok, now for the plot: teenage ditzes Libby and her girlfriend decide to have a wild night by pranking people on the telephone. Woooo! Outrageous! How can they be so daring? They call names randomly from the phone book, saying "I saw what you did, and I know who you are." Hilarious, right? Well, these two bubbleheads happen to connect with a man who's just butchered his wife. Guess the rest--go on, you can do it! Joan Crawford has a totally thankless role as a busybody neighbor of the killer (Joan Ireland, looking dour). She's had the hots for him for years, it seems, and is always either looking out her window at him, looking through his window at him, or knocking on his door. The most hilarious scene in I SAW WHAT YOU DID is when Libby shows up at Ireland's house (don't ask how or why--it's beyond logic) and encounters an angry Joan, who's skulking in the shrubbery. Joan grabs the girl's hair and shrieks "Gedoudda here!" Not only once, but three times! And while she's doing this, her own hairpiece is coming undone! And what the heck was that thing around Joan's neck? The most god-awful necklace--it must've weighed a ton! I wish I could say I SAW WHAT YOU DID was suspenseful. Alas, all it did was make me wonder why I purchased this DVD! Oh, yeah, quality-wise, the DVD is great. There are some nice extras, too...but the film is painful to watch. Nice premise, poorly done, and coated with so much sugar, my teeth ache! Give me Leave it to Beaver anyday...at least the laugh track tells me when something's supposed to be funny!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A Camp Classic!
Review: If you are looking for a fun campy movie with an interesting plot, this is it! I really enjoyed this original black and white version vs. the one made with the Carradine brother's in the late 80's. The original 1965 movie offers a "over-the-top" performance by Joan Crawford (No "wire hangers" in this flick!) and a great shower scene that would make Alfred Hitchcock proud. The leading girls lack acting skills but that makes this movie all the better. William Castle delivers a creepy, suspenseful, and wicked story that sadly doesn't deliver at the very end. After seeing this movie, and your phone rings, be careful. You never know who's on the other end!!!!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: IF YOU WANT 'CAMP', THIS IS THE MOVIE FOR YOU!
Review: If you want chilling, hilarious fun, this is most definitely entertainment at it's CAMPIEST best! Joan Crawford, as 'Amy', is totally filmed through gauze to soften the effects of her hard living & hard drinking years in Hollywood. Be sure to catch the scene where she is serving a cocktail & almost falls on her face! (And it wasn't even edited out! ) Notice the scene where she slams the car door & her beehive hairdo literally falls apart! When she screams, "Get outta here!", her voice sounds like an outraged truckdriver! The overacting is just priceless - every scene is better than the one before! Her long, dramatic death scene is done to the hilt! This is 'Mommie Dearest' to the MAX! I love this movie! Get out the popcorn, mix the cocktails, & get ready to be scared & to LAUGH your head off! We love you, William Castle! I give this film 5 Wire Hangers! It's absolutely TERRIFIC!

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: The Patty Duke Show Does Come to Mind
Review: In "I Saw What You Did," Libby Mannering (Andi Garrett) and Kit Austin (Sarah Lane) are two typical teen-aged girls who are uncharacteristically left home alone overnight when their parents' babysitter cancels out at the last moment. Libby is entrusted to look after younger sister Tess (Sharyl Locke) and Kit is allowed to visit until 11:30 pm sharp, but when alone, the girls amuse themselves by making prank phone calls. Libby ickily mimics an adult by saying breathily, "I saw what you did and I know who you are." It becomes even ickier when she says this to someone who (a) was in the shower (sexual overtones) and (b) just murdered his wife. As others have mentioned, the two girls and the strange kicky music seem more suited to a 1950's sitcom than a chiller, and yet this wholesome aspect is kind of fun, nonetheless. They aren't very strong in the acting department, yet still appealing.

William Castle directs this chiller and that adds to the fun as usual. There are no gimmicks in the actual film itself, but at the time of release, the theaters had seatbelts to hold in frightened audience members. There is lots of clumsy dialogue, not only for the teen-agers, but for Joan Crawford (who stars as the killer's amorous neighbor turned blackmailer) and the girls' parents as well. In fact, Libby's parents appear pretty ineffective and wooden, particularly the overly-cheery father, when they fail to get through on the line to their daughters.

The atmosphere -- countryside, fog, mist, isolation -- is good and the suspense is well-handled. There is a shower murder scene that is blatantly borrowed from "Psycho" although that made me smile, knowing how Castle aspired to be a Hitchcock, but wound up being his own unique "B" showmaster. Unlike many other reviewers, I did not find much humor in Joan Crawford's evident disintegration; the fact that she appears somewhat inebriated and portrays an unflatteringly desperate-for-love character pained me. Like a Norma Desmond, she gets top billing, in spite of having a minor part, and appears in a strange cocktail dress with a beehive hairdo, the lighting obviously controlled. Crawford was a very talented woman and the later years in her life took a downward turn where she was indeed hitting the sauce heavily and willing to take any role that came around (even "Trog"). "Strait Jacket" is far more fun for camp, but in this one, although her appearance is undoubtedly an asset and she puts her usual verve into it, she has an unintentional pathos. John Ireland gives a great performance as the killer.

Recommended.




Rating: 5 stars
Summary: If Hitchcock had directed The Patty Duke Show...
Review: In the days before caller ID when I was in my early teens, my friends and I would sometimes fight boredom by making prank phone calls: "Is your refrigerator running?", that sort of thing. That was when I first saw this movie on TV, so it really hit close to home. Did it teach me any lessons? Not unless you include a few new phone ideas, but it did give me a favorite guilty pleasure movie. After over 20 years of waiting it's finally on home video. Some of the humor and acting seem a little dated now, but most of the suspense scenes are very intense even by today's standards, and it's as much fun to watch as ever.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: CAMPY CHILLER
Review: In this campy little film,Lane and Garrett are teenage girls who are making prank phone calls one night while baby-sitting. To each person they call, they say "I saw what you did and I know who you are" One call is to Ireland, who has just killed his wife! Crawford is next in line (she has a crush on Ireland) and she tries to protect the girls. Thin stuff, but the atmosphere is menacing and Crawford is fine (and unintentially hilarious) in her small role. In some scenes, Crawford is obviously tipsy, and her scenes are a trip to observe i. e. "GET OUTTA HERE"! plus her "beehive" hairdo almost falls completely apart (SHE nearly falls in one scene!) Many young people took this film VERY seriously back in 1965!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Don't buy that
Review: My sister and I saw this at a Saturday matinee over 30 years ago. I was never so scared in my life. Two images that will FOREVER stay in my mind are when the killer is looking in the window and the girl sees him in a mirror...and then when she's trying to start the car...oh my goodness! I have not seen the DVD, but had purchased the video. It is much easier to watch now, but that scene of him peeking in the window still weirds me out!! Of course, it's pretty comical watching it now. But in its day it was pretty darn scary!!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Pretty scary when you're 8 or 9!
Review: My sister and I saw this at a Saturday matinee over 30 years ago. I was never so scared in my life. Two images that will FOREVER stay in my mind are when the killer is looking in the window and the girl sees him in a mirror...and then when she's trying to start the car...oh my goodness! I have not seen the DVD, but had purchased the video. It is much easier to watch now, but that scene of him peeking in the window still weirds me out!! Of course, it's pretty comical watching it now. But in its day it was pretty darn scary!!


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