Homicide

Universally bombed by the critics--but they miss the point. This was classic Saturday matinee fare--and it was quite effective back in 1961. William Castle put his special touch on it and produced a quite entertaining, if campy take-off on a more famous varietal. OK, the acting was rather bland, perhaps to be expected from Glenn Corbett and Pat Breslin and a lesser known cast, but Jean Arless stole the show, with kudos also to Eugenie Leontovitch. This wasn't the best of the Castle fare, that award belonging to "Mr. Sardonicus" easily, but there were enough scares and suspenseful moments in "Homicidal" to titillate the adolescent (as I was then) in all of us TRUE horror film buffs.

"Homicidal" is a very strange movie. It's among the best of William Castle's gimmicky horror films, but unlike any of them. Fans of "camp" should have a field day with this one. Jean Arless plays a fascinating part, but her obvious disguises and stilted acting are sorely out of step with everyone else's naturalistic looks and behavior. However, the story is absorbing, clever and ultimately entertaining. Films that take their cue from "Psycho" normally make me bristle, but this time it's actually quite interesting to catch the references as they continue to pile up (There are so many). Would love to know what Hitchcock thought of this movie.

I fell in love with horror at an early age and before my parents bought a VCR I had to stay up and watch these movies on late night TV, I have very fond memories of doing so. I must have been 12 or so when I watched Homicidal for the first time and I'm not afraid to admit that it made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up and sent shivers down my spine. I have just re-watched it, this time on Blu-Ray, sadly it did not have the same scare effect but I still found it to be a good watch. Made just one year after Hitchcock's masterpiece "Psycho" this was an early entry in the popular 1960's and 70's psycho thrillers, indeed one could say that these and Italian Giallo would later mould what we call "slasher" movies. The psycho here is a young attractive blonde woman called Emily who is nurse to a mute and crippled old lady in a large Californian house. Emily's murderous habit is revealed early in the film when she stabs to death a man, very graphic for the time. The movie is now rated 12 in the UK, this first killing is the only gory point to be fair and the rest of the film is pretty tame. Jean Arless plays Emily, a 30 year old rather unconvincingly playing a 20 year old. The film was made by William Castle, king of the gimmicks, Homicidal is perhaps best know for its 45 second "Fright Break" just before the finale. In 1974 Amicus films had a "guess the werewolf" break in their "The Beast Must Die". So Homicidal wasn't as scary as I first remembered it to be but it is still a good psycho, gender bending thriller that comes not only with a fright break but also an introduction by Castle himself and looks great in black and white.

I watched this late one night on my own in the 1970s and was scared and shocked. For years I wondered who Jean Arliss was until I was able to do some research on the internet. William Castle was a master of horror and gimmicks. This was one of a few horror movies that really left an impression on me.

Other movies which scared me on TV as a child or teenager in the 1960s and 1970s were:- The Tingler, 13 Ghosts, Psycho, Carnival of Souls, The Mad Magician and House of Wax.

perhaps this little gem was overlooked as a rip off of "Psycho"...but let's face it, no one could scare you back then except William Castle. He may have had his campy films and maybe he was no Hitchcock. But Castle's films reached into the "real lives" of people. Audiences could relate to his characters more than Hitchcock's. (unless any of you have ever been chased by a crop duster,in that case, i stand corrected) Homicidal is quite the shocker. The performances are better than the title would suggest, the end is not one to be missed. I personally think William Castle was a genius overlooked as a gimmick director. His films have never failed to make me jump (My jaw dropped at the end of Strait Jacket)and i've always felt he was the best horror film director of his time. For a movie from 1961, one of the decades of camp, it'll have the same affect on you as anything current. Castle was awesome.