Indicator, out now

Another quartet of horror auteur William Castle’s 1960s movies gets the UK Blu-ray premiere treatment from Powerhouse, showcasing a wide range of subjects and quality.

The most fun aspect of William Castle’s early films [link to volume 1] was his employment of gimmicks like Illusion-O, Percepto, the Punishment Poll and Fright Breaks. These four movies don’t benefit from such a hook, though all are distinct from one another, as will become apparent.

Zotz! (1962) is a bizarre family adventure movie following the hilarious antics caused by a mysterious ancient amulet coin which offers its holder three super powers – causing great pain, slowing down time or instant death. They’re pretty random and unconnected powers that exist purely to propel the plot’s flimsy narrative forwards, and hijinks follow as both domestic and foreign secret services follow our hero. In truth, it’s little more than fluff, and while Tom (Newhart) Poston is agreeable as the hapless lead, there’s little to recommend to a modern audience.

13 Frightened Girls (1963) is another high concept movie, its title no doubt trying to conjure up a connection to Castle’s horror hit 13 Ghosts. It’s actually about a Swiss boarding school for diplomats’ daughters one of whom is involved in espionage. Kathy Dunn is all teeth and smiles as would-be sleuth Candy Hulk, with support from Murray (Jaws) Hamilton as a secret agent, but again it’s generic, disposable fare.

Things perk up with The Old Dark House (1963), a remake of the James Whale 1932 classic [link to review] which as the distinction of being a Hammer co-production. Indeed, the British locations and cast of theatrical thesps (Robert Morley, Joyce Greenfell) make it feel more Hammer than Castle, and there’s s lovely turn by Fenella Fielding that foreshadows her classic role in Carry on Screaming. It’s not a patch on the Whale version, being neither scary nor funny, but it passes the time in an undemanding manner. The disc also offers the options of original colour, black and white an truncated ‘A’ Certificate versions.

Final disc, Strait-Jacket (1964), is by far the most interesting, with Joan Crawford in full-on ‘psycho biddy’ or ‘hag horror’ mode. Crawford is a convicted axe murderer released 20 years later from an asylum, but when grisly decapitations begin, all eyes turn to her. Written by Robert (Psycho) Bloch, and featuring Lee Majors’ first screen role, Crawford never gives less than 200%, and the supporting documentaries reveal that she really was running the show at every level. The ending suffers from the lack of possible suspects that the murderer could be, but it’s a fun romp with so unintentionally hilarious severed heads.

Verdict: Not William Castle’s finest hours, but this eclectic mixed bag of horror, espionage, fantasy and comedy is a great example of the showman’s range, and there really is never a dull moment. 7/10

Nick Joy