The ultimate Master of Gimmicks, Director Willam Castle (13 Ghosts [1960]) first paid homage to his idol Alfred Hitchcock with Homicidal [1961] with another marketing ploy that tested the audiences’ courage, however with the Strait Jacket his approach was to make a horror psychological film without his standard flair. While this film didn’t set the cinematic stage afire, it was a step in a more professional direction letting his directorial skills create the art, although I feel it goes a tad deeper, the viewers were growing tired of his tactics, and wanting to experience the chilling thrill of Psycho [1960] once again. His first step was to hire Robert Bloch the author of that famed title and use the similar inspiration to a woman recovering and adjusting to normal life once more, the second was to get a known Hollywood actress for the movie, which was Joan Crawford who was experiencing a resurgence in her career at the same time.
Castle opens his film with a shocking scene, something out of the ordinary for 1964, Lucy Harbin (Joan Crawford (Berserk [1967])) arrives home surprising her husband (Lee Majors (Killer Fish [1979])) who was sharing his bed with another woman, both recovering from the throws of passion. Distraught from his betrayal she grabbed a nearby axe and proceeded to chop them into bits all before the eyes of her three-year-old daughter, Carol. Now 20-years later, Lucy has been granted a release from a psychiatric hospital and is welcomed to live with Carol (Diane Baker (The Ghost of Sierra de Cobre [1964])) who was raised by her aunt and uncle Bill (Leif Erickson (Night Monster [1942])) and Emily Cutler (Rochelle Hudson (The Night Walker [1964])), who all live on a working farm. Carol gives a tour all to help her mother readjust to society. However, it’s not all peaches and cream Lucy has personal demons she still battles and can’t quite embrace the role of a loving mother. The rift is translated well in the film, even as Carol carries on about her fiancé Michael Fields (John Anthony Hayes) wanting her mother, who refrains from initially at first to meet him. However, Carol assists and insists Lucy in finding a new appearance and provides comfort in her new surroundings. We witness tiny fractions in her mental stability, hearing voices and sounds that undermining her in new ways. Meanwhile this new stressor leads to farmhand Leo (George Kennedy (Death Ship [1980])), wielding an axe and beheading chicken as Lucy watches even offering her to ‘take a swing’.
Strangely, during her first meeting Lucy attempts to seduce Michael, who exhibits some confusion yet hints in acceptance of this mannerism while Carol is more perplexed by the perverse nature of both. As the film progresses Lucy tries to maintain her hold on reality, but a series of visions and strange sounds become more frequent leading to fears of madness and a return to the prison hospital. Others also begin to question her actions from Dr. Anderson (Mitchell Cox) to Michael’s parents, who are more appalled about her past and Carol’s motives in this tangled web.
Bloch takes his time with the material, slowly observing Lucy’s false sense of stability, but unlike Psycho that masked the insanity with the primary character of Norman and Hitchcock’s carefully orchestrated psychological horror-thriller this story struggles with pace and tries to create too many twists in the script. However, Castle has some great ideas to keep audiences invested, by layering shots over each other and corporates a Vertigo-shot that makes the illusion that Lucy is trapped in a cell of her own making thereby exuding a form of paranoia. Although, one must admit this all works because of Crawford’s command of the character, with a bit of overacting still sells well, though a few unsettling scenes she appears in an attempt to show the mental anguish she is suffering from, one can’t omit an interesting and intriguing sequence with her Kennedy.
VERTIGO SHOT
Castle does a solid job of keeping the mystery ‘in-play’ to the climax while Crawford gives a full testament to the material, the weakest among the secondary characters falls to Hayes. It is effectively shot and portrays the struggles with mental health on a low-budget scale with a screenplay that lacks in certain areas. Therefore, if you seek some camp, with a tinge of gothic undertones and you love William’s movies here’s a hidden rough gem to discover for a brief bit of entertainment.
TAGLINES:
- HER HUSBAND…HER ROOM… ……AND ANOTHER WOMAN
- WARNING! ‘Strait-Jacket’ vividly depicts ax murders!
- Keep Saying to Yourself – It’s Only a Film…It’s Only a Film…It’s Only a Film…
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058620/
IMDb Rating: 6.8/10
Baron’s Rating: 6.5/10