Starring Jean Arless, Glenn Corbett, Patricia Breslin, Eugenie Leontovich, Alan Bunce
Directed by William Castle
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)
A young woman intricately arranges and commits the bloody murder of a Justice of the Peace, and returns home, where she displays cruelty towards others who may be her next victims.
It's quite obvious from watching this thriller from William Castle to confirm what many have already written, that he fashioned this film to capitalize on the success of Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. There's similar character types, suspense scenes, and a psychotic villain drawn from the same cloth as Norman Bates. This is no carbon copy of Hitchcock's film however, nor could it ever hope to be as effective a shocker. However what Castle has done is deliver a picture that unreels with a captivating enough story, and keeps the audience guessing. The highlight is a fine performance by Jean Arless (better known by her real name of Joan Marshall, and probably more famous for her role as Areel Shaw in Star Trek's "Court-Martial" episode). She has to do more in this film than you might expect, and pulls it off admirably. The film isn't the classic Hitchcock's was, but I believe Castle's fans are sure to enjoy it.
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