Réalisation:
William CastleScénario:
Robert BlochPhotographie:
Arthur E. ArlingMusique:
Van AlexanderActeurs·trices:
Joan Crawford, Diane Baker, Leif Erickson, Howard St. John, John Anthony Hayes, Rochelle Hudson, George Kennedy, Lee Majors, Edith Atwater (plus)Résumés(1)
Lucy Harbin (Joan Crawford) has been in an asylum for 20 years after axing her husband and his mistress during a crime of passion, witnessed by her young daughter, Carol. While trying to renew ties with Carol (Diane Baker), who is now a young woman about to be married, heads begin to roll again. Is Lucy repeating her past? (texte officiel du distributeur)
(plus)Vidéo (1)
Critiques (4)
Un thriller old-school formel et sympathique, raconté et joué avec une grande qualité psychologique, avec un profond traumatisme, des meurtres à la hache, une jolie fille et un jeune George Kennedy. C'est juste dommage qu'à la fin il tombe dans les méandres des série B avec un revirement prétendument choquant qui, en niant explicitement tous les comportements précédents des personnages, avoue essentiellement que le seul but du film est de tromper momentanément le spectateur de manière assez modeste.
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Une agréable escroquerie bien dans le style de William Castle qui, malheureusement, est aussi l’une de ses œuvres les plus transparentes et les moins satisfaisantes en ce qui concerne son dénouement. Ce film surprend certainement plus par quelques-unes de ses scènes relativement audacieuses pour le milieu des années soixante que par ce que j’hésite à appeler un retournement de situation. Cela dit, grâce à la sympathique distribution et à la vibe totalement old-school, le tout reste très agréable à regarder.
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William Castle made very entertaining movies and it didn't even matter that they were such derivatives of Hitchcock, including the powerfully shocking twists, which aren't lacking here either. But I have to say that it was probably the only weak moment. Not that it wasn't surprising, but I was expecting a different plot direction at the end. If you're expecting some shocking moments, better ignore it. A few heads do get chopped off, but it all happens off-camera, or in one case in a millisecond, so don't really expect anything like the stabbing in Psycho. Joan Crawford gives a fantastic performance, stealing every scene for herself, though her film daughter is not far behind. My fourth William Castle film and probably the weakest, but still great fun.
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The combination of William Castle, Robert Bloch and Joan Crawford worked great and I watched Strait-Jacket with the satisfaction of watching something that was good, that actually tried to keep the viewer at least a little tense. Indeed, it's clear that William Castle took a lot of inspiration from the imagery of Psycho - the comparison is also there thanks to Bloch - but still, Strait-Jacket works very well as a horror film.
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Annonces