Strait-Jacket (1964)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

William Castle

Writer:

Robert Bloch (writer)

Release Date:

19 January 1964 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

HER HUSBAND...HER ROOM... ......AND ANOTHER WOMAN

Plot:

After a 20 year stay at an asylum for a double murder, a mother returns to her estranged daughter where suspicions arise about her behavior.

Plot Keywords:

Asylum | Murder | Axe Murder | Mother Versus Daughter | Product Placement

Cast

Joan Crawford	...	Lucy Harbin
Diane Baker	...	Carol Harbin
Leif Erickson	...	Bill Cutler
Howard St. John	...	Raymond Fields
John Anthony Hayes	...	Michael Fields
Rochelle Hudson	...	Emily Cutler
George Kennedy	...	Leo Krause
Edith Atwater	...	Mrs. Fields
Mitchell Cox	...	Dr. Anderson

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Germany:18 | Portugal:M/16 | USA:Approved | USA:TV-14 (TV rating) | UK:X (theatrical release) (cut) | Finland:(Banned) (1964)

Company:

William Castle Productions

Trivia:

The sound effect for the heads being chopped off was the prop man wielding an ax and cutting a watermelon in half.

Goofs:

Continuity: Opening sequence includes close-up of front page newspaper story announcing that Lucy has been declared insane. But photo used to illustrate story shows character wearing earrings that weren't purchased until years later, after her release.

Quotes:

First little girl: Lucy Harbin took an axe, gave her husband forty whacks, when she saw what she had done, she gave his girlfriend forty one.
Carol Harbin: [Lucy storms out to find two girls playing jump rope] What is it, Mother?
Lucy Harbin: I heard them...
First little girl: London bridge is falling down, falling down, London bridge is falling down, my fair lady.
Carol Harbin: It's just a nursery rhyme, mother.
Second little girl: Take the key and lock her up, lock her up, lock her up, take the key and lock her up, my fair lady.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Nightmare Theatre's Late Night Chill-o-Rama Horror Show Vol. 1 (1996) (V)

Soundtrack:

There Goes That Song

Crawford and Castle

Strait-Jacket (1964)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Joan Crawford chops off her husbands head as well as his lover and gets sent away to an asylum. Twenty years later she is released and goes to live with her daughter (Diane Baker) but soon more headless bodies start to pile up. This is a pretty good shocker that works mainly because of the Robert Bloch screenplay, which slightly borrows from his very own Psycho. Needless to say, there's a very big plot twist at the end of the film but I caught onto it within the first ten minutes of the movie so I doubt this twist comes as a shock to anyone. Castle's direction is a tad bit soft during the majority of the film but he does a great job when it comes to the axe murders. The murder sequences are well staged and contain some nice editing. Another good sequence comes when the mother and daughter are first united and try to get to know one another. The biggest problem is that I caught the twist so the middle section of the film had me yawning a few times waiting for the big climax. Crawford is good in her part as is Baker. A young George Kennedy adds some fun to the film as well.