13 GHOSTS

Rosemary DeCamp, Donald Woods, Martin Milner

13 GHOSTS (1960). Produced and directed by William Castle. Colorized. 

Cyrus Zorba (Donald Woods of The Black Doll), who works in a museum, inherits a house from his late uncle, a researcher in spirits. Cyrus movies his wife and two children into the spooky manor, then learns that his uncle actually collected ghosts and they are haunting the place! A special viewer that resembles weird binoculars enables Cyrus to see the ghosts, which include a headless lion tamer, the lion, an axe murderer, and others. But Cyrus may have more problems besides ghosts -- the uncle left a fortune in the house and a certain individual will stop at nothing to get his hands on it, including murder!

Martin Milner and Jo Morrow

13 Ghosts is a fun movie that may, at times, be sillier than it needs to be even if it occasionally has a darker tone to it as well. Woods is fine as the hapless Cyrus, and he gets good support from Rosemary DeCamp as his wife, Jo Morrow as his daughter, and Charles Herbert as his little boy, Buck, not to mention Martin Milner as an amiable lawyer who dates Morrow and befriends her brother. John Van Dreelen (of The Leech Woman) is Wood's boss -- smooth as ever -- and Margaret Hamilton is adequate as the crusty housekeeper.  Jo Morrow, a very appealing actress, also co-starred in The Three Worlds of Gulliver. 

Verdict: One of Castle's better movies. ***. 

HOMICIDAL

HOMICIDAL (1961). Director: William Castle. Screenplay by Robb White.

A cold, rather weird-looking blond named Emily (Jean Arless) pays a handsome bellboy (Richard Rust) to marry her, then immediately after the ceremony, takes out a butcher knife and plunges it into the stomach of the justice of the peace, drawing much blood. Emily is apparently the wife of a slender young fellow named Warren, who lives with his old nurse Helga (Eugenie Leontovitch), who has suffered a stroke and is being taken care of – in more ways than one – by Emily. Then there's Warren's half sister Miriam (Patricia Breslin) and her druggist boyfriend Carl (Glenn Corbett), both of whom come to suspect that there's more to Emily than meets the eye. The whole business is tied into Warren's upcoming inheritance and the macabre truth about his birth. 

Castle's shameless imitation of Psycho is an entertaining picture in its own right, if decidedly less “artistic.” While Homicidal may be rather stupid all told, it is an effective horror comic with fascinating elements and some well-directed murder sequences. Castle obviously didn't take it too seriously – it's often overwrought like a burlesque -- and the picture emerges as a very amusing black comedy once you're clued in to its psycho-sexual dynamics. 

Watch out! Arless goes after Leontovich

Castle introduces the picture in an unnecessary prologue, and offered theater patrons a “fright break” so they could leave the theater before the gruesome climax. Critics of the period were either amused or outraged, with some opining that the great Leontovitch was debased by appearing in such a film, and that Jean Arless had the most embarrassing debut of any actress in movies. Actually, Leontovitch offers an excellent, intelligent performance despite the fact that she hasn't a word of dialogue (not to mention her tumbling head in the movie's sickest – or funniest – sequence), and Jean Arless – according to imdb.com – was better-known as Joan Marshall, who later played an old girlfriend who's prosecuting Captain Kirk on an episode of Star Trek. Marshall also married director Hal Ashby and had a small role in his film Shampoo (1975) with Warren Beatty. Arless is definitely not Leslie Parrish, as some have theorized, who also appeared on Star Trek and was in movies [Li'l Abner/1959] under her own name before Homicidal was made. Castle also directed Strait-Jacket and many, many others.

Verdict: Not at all in the same league as Psycho, but zesty and amusing nonetheless. ***. 

STRAIT-JACKET

Joan Crawford

STRAIT-JACKET (1964). Produced and directed by William Castle. Screenplay by Robert Bloch.

Lucy Harbin (Joan Crawford) comes home unexpectedly, discovers her handsome husband Frank (Lee Majors) in bed with a local trollop, and takes the ax to both of them. Twenty years later Lucy is released from an asylum, and comes to her brother, Bill's (Leif Erickson) farm, where he lives with his wife, Emily (Rochelle Hudson), and Lucy's daughter, Carol (Diane Baker). Carol seems anxious to help her mother, dolling her up with a new dress and a visit to a wig maker, but when Lucy's Dr. Anderson (Mitchell Cox) comes a callin', he thinks Lucy might have to return to the hospital with him. Before he can do so however, Anderson is dispatched with an ax by a shadowy figure. More beheadings follow ... 

Crawford comes on to John Anthony Hayes

You can certainly pick apart Strait-Jacket in any number of ways, but it's actually one of William Castle's better and more entertaining movies. Crawford is terrific, on top of every emotion that Lucy has to display, be she humble and confused or overwrought and angry, and in general the rest of the cast follows suit: Diane Baker [The Ghost of Sierra de Cobre] as the daughter; John Michael Hayes as her suitor (his first film); Erickson and Hudson as the concerned, somewhat frightened brother and sister-in-law; Howard St. John and especially Edith Atwater (of Die Sister, Die!) as Hayes' upper-crust, disapproving parents. And let's not forget George Kennedy as Leo Krause, the blackmailing handyman who comes to a nasty end in the movie's best and most suspenseful sequence. 

Joan Crawford and Diane Baker

Robert Bloch wasn't crafting any kind of serious drama when he wrote Strait-Jacket -- it has the gimmicky, somewhat far-fetched twists that you associate with the writer -- but it's amazing how well he (and the actors) delineate the fears and concerns of those in Lucy's orbit, all of them trying to be as solid and compassionate as possible while also trying to avoid the elephant in the room: the grisly facts of Lucy's actions years ago. That dreary farm setting and the black and white cinematography (Arthur E. Arling) work well with this infinitely depressing storyline. As if acknowledging that, the film has a very funny final gag. 

Verdict: A gruesome black comedy with fascinating aspects and a fine Crawford performance. ***. 

MACABRE

William Prince and Jacqueline Scott

MACABRE (1958). Director: William Castle.

Dr. Rodney Barrett (William Prince) lost his wife, Alice (Dorothy Morris), when she died in child birth, something for which Sheriff Tyloe (Jim Backus of Angel Face) has always blamed Barrett. Tyloe was in love with Alice but married her blind sister, Nancy (Christine White). Now Nancy has died and her funeral is to be held at midnight in the town cemetery. Then the doctor learns that his and Alice's young daughter, Madge, has been kidnapped, and is buried in a small coffin somewhere in the cemetery ... The race is on to find the child before the air runs out and everyone becomes a little crazier than they already are. 

William Prince and Jim Backus

Macabre is William Castle's first horror film, although it might be more accurately called a thriller, with the location of the cemetery adding to the horrific ambiance. The acting in the film -- especially by Jacqueline Scott, who plays Barrett's nurse, suffering from unrequited love, in her first movie -- is considerably overwrought even when one takes into account the desperate situation, but I suspect Castle directed everyone to act a little strange so as to increase suspense and suspects. 

Prince and Scott in the office

Prince gives a good performance, and Backus is better than I've ever seen him. Christine White scores as Nancy, and Jonathan Kidd makes an effectively quivering funeral director. Les Baxter [Jungle Heat] offers one of his better scores, which adds a great deal to the eerie quality and tension of the film, as does the photography by Carl E. Guthrie. Castle's direction is generally good but there are clumsy moments, and Robb White's script -- taken from the novel The Marble Forest (which was apparently written by several crime writers as an experiment) -- has its dumb aspects, making some sequences unintentionally comical. All in all, this is an interesting and yes, macabre, motion picture with a very good premise and plot. 

Verdict: One of Castle's better pictures. ***.   

STEP RIGHT UP! I'M GONNA SCARE THE PANTS OFF AMERICA

STEP RIGHT UP! I'M GONNA SCARE THE PANTS OFF AMERICA. The Memoirs of Hollywood's Master Showman. William Castle. 

In this vaguely entertaining but rather unsatisfying autobio of the late filmmaker, Castle writes of his association with studio boss, Harry Cohn, who gave him his earliest breaks. Castle actually began in the theater, as both actor and stage manager, and he frequently inserts flashbacks to those days in the present-day narrative. After toiling for Columbia doing programmers, he became an associate producer for Orson Welles when the latter directed Lady of Shanghai (according to Castle this was originally a film for The Whistler series!) -- years later he produced Rosemary's Baby, among others -- but didn't really come into his own as a director until he tried to outdo Alfred Hitchcock and the success of Psycho. Because of this Castle got a reputation as a horror specialist, when actually many of his films were not really in that genre. Castle's horror flicks weren't always great -- on occasion they were downright awful -- but he did do some nifty items such as House on Haunted Hill, The Tingler, Mr. Sardonicus, Homicidal, and Strait-Jacket. Castle became King of the Gimmicks, floating skeletons over audiences' heads, and wiring seats to give some patrons a shock (a really dumb idea). As much as I get a kick out of some of his movies, I didn't find myself especially liking or admiring Castle, who comes off as a self-absorbed and insensitive hustler more than anything else. I also found myself not believing much of what he's written (did Welles and James Agee really admire Castle's terrible When Strangers Marry?) The weirdest sections of the book deal with Castle's assertions that witches were responsible for his gall stones after Rosemary's Baby was released!

Verdict: Castle gets credit for making some fun movies that have stood the test of time, but this bio is hardly the last or most objective word on his career. **1/4.  

THIRTEEN FRIGHTENED GIRLS

 13 FRIGHTENED GIRLS (1963). Director: William Castle.

Candace Hull (Kathy Dunn) is an American diplomat's daughter who attends Miss Pittford's Academy for Young Ladies along with many other diplomats' daughters. Her best friend is Mai-Ling (Lynne Sue Moon), whose father is Red Chinese. Candy has a big crush on Wally Sanders (Murray Hamilton of Jaws fame), who works for the state department and may soon be out of a job. When a murder occurs while Candy is visiting Mai-Ling in the Chinese embassy, Candy decides to become a spy -- code-named "Kitten" -- so that she can help Wally out of his career problems. If it all sounds pretty awful, believe me it is -- but not bad enough to be good. This is one of the few William Castle films that has virtually no entertainment value. Kathy Dunn is so shrill and whiny at times that you want to slap her; Lynne Sue Moon is cute and charming, however. Candy's obsession with Wally is inexplicable when there are handsome guys closer to her own age in the movie, with whom she flirts -- but only as part of her spy activities. Hugh Marlowe of Earth vs. the Flying Saucers plays Candy's dad. Joyce Taylor of Atlantis the Lost Continent and who also (badly) played "Rappaccini's Daughter" in Twice-Told Tales, plays Wally's fiancee. Alexandra Bastedo and Judy Pace are two of the girls who became somewhat better known years later. Khigh Dhiegh plays Kang, Mei-Ling's uncle. 90 minutes of your life you can never get back. 

Verdict: Read a Nancy Drew book instead. *.

NEW ORLEANS UNCENSORED

Beverly Garland and Arthur Franz

NEW ORLEANS UNCENSORED (1955). Director: William Castle. 

New Orleans, the second busiest port after New York City, has become a hotbed of crime and violence. Dan Corbett (Arthur Franz) only wants to fix up an old rust bucket of a ship and start his own business, but for now he works on the docks. Dan gets involved with two women: Alma Mae (Helene Stanton), who is the sexy girlfriend of mob boss "Zero" Saxon (Michael Ansara); and Marie Reilly (Beverly Garland of Soldiers of Fortune), whose husband, Joe (William Henry of Uranium Boom) works for Saxon and later winds up dead. Dan agrees to help the authorities expose Saxon's corruption by going to work for him undercover, even though he knows he's putting himself in harm's way. 

Arthur Franz and Helene Stanton

Frankly, there's enough material in this picture to have made an exciting thriller, but New Orleans Uncensored just ambles along without ever once igniting. The performances are all credible, although the cops and other authorities are played by real-life policemen. The suspenseful climax the film has supposedly been building to never quite materializes. Other cast members include Mike Mazurki as Saxon's dumb enforcer, and Ed Nelson as a dock worker. This same year Helene Stanton played a blonde goddess in the Jungle Jim film Jungle Moon Men. 

Verdict: Surprisingly, a rather dull William Castle movie. **. 

URANIUM BOOM

Wm Talman, Dennis Morgan, Philip Van Zandt

URANIUM BOOM (1956). Director: William Castle. 

During a uranium boom in Colorado where everyone hopes to strike it rich, Brad Collins (Dennis Morgan) and Grady Mathews (William Talman) come to blows over a hotel room, but then decide to strike out together to make a killing. The two men find what they're looking for with the help of Navajo Charlie (Philip Van Zandt), and Brad goes back to town to stake their claim. In town Brad meets up and falls in love with Jean Williams (Patricia Medina), not realizing that Jean is the very woman Grady is hoping to spend his life with ... 

Ladies Meet: Tina Carver, Patricia Medina

Uranium Boom is a low-budget version of the rags-to-riches, two-rivals-fighting-over-the-same business-and-woman movies that in former years would have starred the likes of Clark Gable or Spencer Tracy. Morgan, best-known as a song and dance man, is perfectly adept, however, and Talman, best-known as the prosecutor on Perry Mason, is also very good. Van Zandt is mildly amusing as the inscrutable Indian, and Medina adds some class as the woman that both men love. Tina Carver, a TV actress most famous for her role in From Hell It Came, is not quite as sexy as everyone seems to think, but she's okay as another woman who tries to throw a monkey wrench in Collins' plans. William Henry and S. John Launer, who frequently played a judge on Perry Mason, have smaller roles and are effective.  Talman and Morgan have a lively fight scene, but the two ladies never come to blows, alas. 

Verdict: Strangely entertaining. **1/4.