Battle-Axe: The Making of 'Strait-Jacket' (2002 Video) User Reviews

I'm not sure why this is ranked relatively low.

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 28 October 2009]

This featurette was made for the film STRAIT-JACKET and was included on the double-disk that featured STRAIT-JACKET and HOMICIDAL--two of director William Castle's best films. Because of this, regardless of the quality of this short film, it's well worth getting the DVD.

This film is about STRAIT-JACKET, but it really is focused mostly on Joan Crawford and the effect having her in the film had on the rest of the cast. There was all kind of interesting background information, such as the use of refrigerated sets to keep Crawford's makeup from running (sort of inspired by "The Portrait of Dorian Gray"?), the product placement of Pepsi and the way she dominated the production (mostly for good).

Overall, an interesting little addition to the DVD (especially for Crawford fans) but, and this is important, DO NOT WATCH THIS UNTIL AFTER YOU SEE THE FEATURE!!! There are too many spoilers in this short and seeing it first will hinder your enjoyment of STRAIT-JACKET.

Could've been better

[BrillsteinGray · 1/10 · 21 July 2002]

This is really a missed opportunity. You'd think that with so many Joan Crawford fans still around there's be a market for a better, more professional documentary on one of her more infamous films. This just isn't worth your time. There is a new documentary about JC that was made for Turner Classic Movies that features footage fromthis movie and more informative interviews from her co-stars. It's a lot better this piece of crap and is funny to boot. Skip this and set your TiVo for it.

Who so short?

[preppy-3 · 3/10 · 7 April 2016]

A VERY short making of documentary of the 1964 Joan Crawford horror film "Strait-Jacket". It has commentary by a few film historians and Diane Baker (probably the only living cast member). It does point out that Crawford was difficult and demanding but that's hardly news. The basic problem is that it's too short. Seriously--only 14 minutes??? It should have been longer. Also there are short clips of William Castle, Robert Bloch and Crawford sitting around talking about the movie. Why just a clip or two? Why not the whole thing? There has to be more information or people they could have bought up but didn't. It's frustrating because this will probably never be done again. Too bad.

Some Great Stories on Crawford

[Michael_Elliott · 1 June 2016]

Battle-Axe: The Making of 'Strait-Jacket' (2002)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

STRAIT-JACKET co-star Diane Baker is joined by Donald Glut, Michael Schlesinger and film historian David Del Valle as they discuss the now famous William Castle film that featured Joan Crawford in the lead.

Needless to say, the majority of the 15 minute running time is devoted to talking about Crawford but can you blame anyone? Del Valle tells some wonderful stories about how it was Castle's dream to try and get an "A" picture done with a famous star and this was it. He talks about the various demands that Crawford had and Baker also tells some great stories of what it was like working with her. This includes discussions on the ending, which was changed at Crawford's request.

BATTLE-AXE is a highly entertaining and very fun featurette that gives us some great stories about the production and even better is the fact that we get an interview with someone who was actually there and on the set. If you're a fan of the film or of Crawford then this is certainly a must see.