Format: Streaming video from Tubi TV on Fire!
Were I another person, I would say that the films of William Castle are a guilty pleasure for me. The truth, though, is that I don’t subscribe to the idea of guilty pleasures; I like the movies I do for reasons that I am happy to articulate, and that includes movies that are generally disliked or, in the case of Castle’s films, are pure gimmick. I love how audacious Castle could be. His films were goofy and silly, and he gained audience with tricks like in-seat vibrators, glasses that revealed “ghosts” on the screen, and having people sign a waiver that they couldn’t sue if they died of fright. The gimmick for Homicidal was a timer that appeared at the film’s climax—patron’s too scared to continue could get a full refund, but were forced in a humiliating walk of shame. The truth is that Castle’s films were never really scary enough to force anyone to do this, but the idea is a dandy one.
However, the plot that drives Homicidal forward is one that needs to be fully discussed. There is a solid shock moment at the end that the film builds up to, but to really understand what is happening, that needs to be talked about. That being the case, the rest of this review should be considered to be under a spoiler warning. If you don’t want a movie that’s close to retirement age spoiled for you, you may not want to click the link to continue.
After an initial scene of two kids, a young girl and seriously the ugliest boy I have ever seen on film, fighting over a doll, we’re going to start with a young woman (Jean Arless, but actually Joan Marshall acting with a temporary stage name) checking into a hotel and demanding a young bellboy (Richard Rust) help her to her room with her bags. The woman signs the hotel registry with the name Miriam Webster, which has got to be a personal joke from Castle. Anyway, she tips the bellboy $100 and promises him another $1,900 if he will marry her, telling him that the marriage will be immediately annulled. Off they go to a justice of the peace, and in the middle of the ceremony, she pulls out a knife and stabs the justice and runs off. Later, we see her telling an old, mute, wheelchair-bound woman named Helga (Eugenie Leontovich) about what she has done.
Naturally there’s going to be an investigation, and it turns out that Miriam Webster (Patricia Breslin) is a real person—she runs a floral shop in a nearby town. Someone used her name, she has a rock-solid alibi, and the bellboy clears her as not the woman he attempted to marry. We learn that the old woman in the wheelchair was once the nurse of the local doctor. She is recently returned from Denmark with Miriam’s half-brother Warren. The woman we saw earlier is Emily, who takes care of Helga after Helga suffered a stroke. Emily, who clearly has her own agenda, came with Helga and Warren from Denmark.
Now, like any good movie of this sort, there’s inheritance to worry about. Warren stands to inherit a great deal from his and Miriam’s father, who was a terribly misogynist. In fact, the only way that Miriam can inherit is if Warren dies before marrying. This certainly gives Miriam the motive for some shenanigans that follow, but what we soon learn is that all of the descriptions that come out of the murderer, all of the information leads directly to Emily. We, of course, know that Emily is guilty, so what were watching is the characters on screen figure out that Emily is guilty. Of all of them, Warren is the one who resists the most.
There’s a reason for this, of course, and it’s the reason that I put all of this under a spoiler tag. What we discover as Emily continues on her murderous rampage is that William Castle is making a low-budget version of Psycho. Miriam’s and Warren’s father was desperate for a son, and when Warren was born, it turns out he was a she, and all of Warren’s existence is a ruse. To capitalize on the inheritance, Warren lived as a man but created Emily to get rid of the people who knew that he was actually a woman, and of course, his/her half-sister Miriam to prevent her from inheriting. And, once all of them (the justice of the peace killed in the opening, Helga, and Miriam) are done away with, Warren goes on as Warren with the millions of inheritance and Emily disappears forever. Selling the whole deal is that Warren is also played by “Jean Arless.”
Homicidal is clearly derivative, but it’s better than it has a right to be. There’s a great sequence where Emily is openly threatening Helga and clearly planning on murdering her, but someone shows up. Helga is desperate to communicate, but since she has had a stroke, she can neither speak nor write. It’s surprisingly tense, particularly when Helga is once again left alone with Emily and her fate is sealed.
I love that the “Fright Break” is still a part of the film, a 45-second sequence where the camera slowly pans up to a house where the conclusion will happen. I love that according to legend, Castle originally wanted to cast different people in the Emily and Warren roles, until Joan Marshall auditioned, then showed up later dressed as a man and auditioned again. This is fun stuff, and honestly one of the more tense and less ridiculous Castle films, even if it’s clearly stealing from superior material.
Why to watch Homicidal: William Castle films should be treasured.
Why not to watch: Castle is very clearly just trying to remake Psycho.