Es geschah um 8 Uhr 30

Yes, good old William Castle is on the loose again, with a low budget and a creepy plot...and Joan Crawford, whose salary probably used up most of Castle's available cash.

You know you're in trouble from the first few scenes, with corny eyeball-shaped framing devices, then the intrusion of Van Alexander's completely out-of-place bouncy score, with its recurring principal theme of "Ninny nanny noo-noo." (Most of his credits are for 60s sitcoms, and it shows.) Then we're treated to exteriors of the Mannering house which are nothing more than Thomas Kincade- style paintings. (Virtually the whole film was shot on a sound stage, except for some rear projections.)

The plot itself is clichéd, but decently "executed." The casting is a problem, with Joan Crawford at age 60 trying to be the hypotenuse in a love triangle between 50-year-old John Ireland and some young bimbo (or we should say, ex-bimbo). Not much choice there. The two teenage girls are straight out of 60s sitcom land, and the younger sister joins the ranks of "most annoying child actors." There are some tense moments, including a ripoff of the shower scene from "Psycho" (except with a naked man instead of Janet Leigh).

And since we're already knee-deep in 60s sitcoms with the trite score and giggly teenaged actors, we're given an ending that would have been right in place on Dobie Gillis or the Patty Duke Show. Except with a dead body.

I saw this movie when I was about 11 or 12 and I remember it to this day. (I am almost 40.)It scared the wits out of me and I certainly never wanted to make prank phone calls after that! I would love to see it again and share it with my kids. This a great B classic that not many people have seen.

Kids left alone in the house inadvertently play a phone prank on psychopath John Ireland, who has just murdered his trampy Mrs. in the shower! Whenever you see a biography of Joan Crawford's career, this title usually gets left out. True, she has a minor role in it (playing Ireland's neighbor, hoping to blackmail him into marriage), however it's one of the better movies she was involved in after "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?" William Castle did a good job as producer/director of this story, and the two teenage girls are very appealing and natural. The movie builds some credible suspense (underlined with a jokey tone) and has interesting visual tricks and groovy music. Avoid the awful, too-literal 1988 TV-remake. **1/2 from ****

...which is a no-budget thriller.

Two teenage girls (Sara Lane, Andi Garrett) make prank phone calls saying the title line. By mistake they call Steve Marak (John Ireland) who's just killed his wife. Then things get out of control.

One of William Castle's low budget horror films that he churned out in the 1960s. None of them are that good but this is definitely one of the better ones. It's photographed in moody black & white and director Castle makes excellent use of darkness (notice all the darkness above the girls when they make the calls) and shadows and fog (which inexplicably shows up at the end). There's also a very vicious shower stabbing in the first 20 minutes with shots obviously imitating "Psycho". There are also quite a few good moments calculated to make you jump.

On the debit side--there's not enough story even for 83 minutes; Joan Crawford (dressed to the 9s for no reason) is wasted as a next-door neighbor; Ireland is stone-faced throughout; Lane and Garrett are horrible actresses (and, tellingly, never made another movie) and the script has lines that no teenager would utter.

Still, there are worse ways to kill 90 minutes and the jolts in this film do work. Worth seeing if you're a horror fan.

and she knows who you are!

This is another strange William Castle concoction that features Joan Crawford in one of the B-horror movies she made near the end of her career, and yet the only way they could fit her into this story was to make her a kooky neighbor lady who wears tacky jewelry that looks like some sort of bizarre Aztec armor.

Everyone knows the plot, which involves two teenage girls who spend an evening making prank phone calls and, through the miracle of plot contrivance, stumble into the path of a psychotic man who has just committed murder.

I don't know if any of the other viewers felt the same way, but I really think the movie's violence is a bit shocking for its day. The first murder is an ironic ripoff of "Psycho", with the person in the shower committing the murder instead of being slashed, and I was surprised at how graphic it really is.

Also, I don't know whether this was really the filmmakers' intention or not, but they have captured the excitement of a teenage adventure and carried it effortlessly into a suspenseful conclusion. Ironically, the only thing in the movie that feels wrong is the subplot involving Crawford. It was obviously inserted to give the movie a star and to pad out the running time.