Watch Strait-Jacket For Free

I love this movie so much

Too much of everything

As Good As It Gets

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Joan Crawford chews the scenery enjoyably in this "Psycho"-influenced shocker (by the same writer!) which has its effective moments (some of them deliciously lurid) but is talky and unevenly paced - and the final twist is precictable. OK for one watch - but there is little need for revisiting it. **1/2 out of 4.

Joan Crawford's performance is masterful, ranging all the way from pitiful to frightening. Crawford was a great movie actress. She commands the screen and has thoroughly prepared for every scene and every word of dialogue, however good or bad the dialogue might be. The whole film is never dull for a moment and is well made within the limits of the guilty pleasure sort of style. Like a train wreck, you can't look away. Supporting cast acting is adequate, especially Diane Baker who works well with Joan Crawford as they create a memorable mother/daughter team. For the ultimate in absurd, guilty pleasure brilliance by director William Castle and star Joan Crawford, view "Straight Jacket" when you get the chance.

Unobtrusive mobile framing and creative use of depth of field have Strait-Jacket starting out on the right footing. The use of music sets up a humorous tone that will permeate the film experience, while the voice over narration creates a pseudo-documentary mood (and all the better for close psychological examination by the audience). Castle employs a lot of useful techniques in his direction in order to emphasize the psychological. The first murder sequence uses great alternating shot scale, effective montage and superimposition of frames. This sequence is a clever and thoughtful bridge for the ellipsis and then title card/opening credits. This opening sequence is also a perfect conduit for properly establishing the psychological relationship of the mother (Crawford) and daughter (Baker). Castle was living his dream with this film as he was able to "partner" with Crawford and "poach" Bloch (writer of Hitchcock's Psycho). The script flows evenly and every scene progresses the dramatic value of the story. Bloch includes lots of cute theme-related puns. The haunting children's rhymes remind one of Craven's Elm Street. Amazing tension is created throughout and advanced especially with the use of sound. The cigarette lighting moment becomes a film classic (in this reviewer's opinion). The butcher scene with George Kennedy is a close second on the visual front at least. The studio distributors had advised Castle to turn away from using gimmicks... although he cheated somewhat, I believe that the film is much better for his decision to secure Crawford in the role and please the distributors. One final note would be to relate Strait-Jacket's moral to that of Renoir's adaptation of Zola's La Bete Humaine in 1938. It may be considered a stretch by some, but the concept of 'hereditary insanity' is a provocative link between the works.

Joan Crawford was a great actress, but Hollywood stops being kind to actresses when they get wrinkly and saggy. Crawford got kind of a second wind to her career with "Whatever happened to Baby Jane", where she and long time rival Betty Davis played women who were truly cruel to each other.After that, Crawford found herself playing the crazy crone in movies made by such operators as William Castle, the Gimmick King. Here she plays the a woman just released from a mental institution, whose daughter sets her up to take the fall for murders she intends to commit.Rather improbably, at the end of the movie, where the daughter is exposed with all the credibility of an episode of "Scooby-Doo", Joan's character suddenly becomes incredibly rational and explains the whole plot.Since I'm trying to get to ten lines, this movie features a fun bit of "Product Placement". There's a package of Pepsi sitting on a counter as they prepare for dinner. Why is this significant? Because in her later life, Crawford was married to Pepsi mogul Alfred Steele. Not sure this was the movie he wanted his product in, but he was dead for a few years.Also the Columbia lady has her head chopped off in the closing Logo, which is interesting. Kind of.