Homicidal
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Alan Bunce, Glenn Corbett, Patricia Breslin, Teri Brooks, Wolfe BarzellDVD: Region Code 99
Audio: French (Subtitled); English (Original Language)
Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, DVD-Video, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 87 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2002-03-12
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Sony Pictures
Movie Reviews of Homicidal
Movie Review: One of Castle's best.
Summary: 4 Stars
Homicidal (William Castle, 1961)
Oh, my god. I cannot believe I didn't see that ending coming. The funny thing is, less than thirty seconds before the Big Reveal, I'd said to myself, "man, it seems like Castle really ripped off [name of movie that would give away the big surprise]!" And yet my jaw still hit the floor. Because of this, I'm inclined to rate Homicidal a lot higher than I would have, William Castle joints are, by and large, basement-budget potboilers short on talent and long on cheap thrills, but even a cheap thrill really works once in a while, and man, did it ever here.
Homicidal opens with a bang--we meet a blonde bombshell named Emily (TV stalwart Joan Marshall in one of her few big-screen appearances) who checks into a hotel, specifies a handsome bellhop, and then propositions him--two thousand dollars if he'll marry her on September 6th. He accepts, and the two of them head out to see Alfred S. Adrims, Justice of the Peace (The Absent-Minded Professor's James Westerfield), late at night. He agrees to do the ceremony despite the late hour, but it ends with quite a surprise--Emily repeatedly stabs him, then runs off, leaving her new husband and a screaming widow in the lurch. She repairs to the family homestead to lay low until the investigation blows over, but while there, she finds herself attracted to Karl (Midway's Glenn Corbett), not only the local druggist, but also the steady boyfriend of Emily's half-sister Miriam (I Saw What You Did's Patricia Breslin). But that's not all there is to this story, not at all...
I realized what I'd been missing when trolling IMDB for information on the actors: the screenplay was written by the brilliant Robb White, equally adept as a screenwriter (he also partnered with Castle on the latter's other best flick, Thirteen Ghosts) and a novelist (Up Periscope, Deathwatch). Put White behind a typewriter and magic flowed. Add a darned fine bit of acting from Marshall and some good performances by the rest of the cast, and a few of Castle's cheap thrills, and somehow it all works. One of Castle's best, if not at the top of the heap. *** ?
Summary of Homicidal
Cross Alfred Hitchcock with a carnival showman and you might come up with William Castle, the low-budget horror king of the exploitation gimmick. Homicidal is arguably his best film, a devious little Psycho knockoff with all the right ingredients: a sleepy Southern California town, a beautiful blonde with icy eyes and a thing for knives, a mute old woman in a wheelchair, and a deep, dark secret involving a repressed, awkward young man still haunted by the abuses of his dead father. Ever the cinematic carny, Castle pulls a trademark gimmick just before the climax: the clock-countdown "Fright Break," for anyone "too frightened to see the end of the picture." What the film lacks in tension it makes up for in startles and shocks. Castle is no Hitchcock, but he adds an insidious twist that pays off even if you see it coming.The DVD also features the seven-minute documentary "Psychette: William Castle and Homicidal" and the not-to-be missed original trailer. --Sean Axmaker
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