MIDNIGHT MOVIES
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Friday, April 4, 12:00 MID - 1:30 AM at Enzian - Purchase Now

STRAIT-JACKET
USA, 1964, 89 MIN
DIRECTED BY WILLIAM CASTLE
After a decade of increasingly outrageous promotional gimmicks, from Macabre's “death-by-fright” insurance policy to The Tingler's electrifying Percepto system, William Castle seemed to have given the hullabaloo a rest with Strait-Jacket. As it would turn out, the master showman had instead unleashed his ultimate gimmick: the inspired casting of Joan Crawford as an unhinged axe murderess. Years before the ploy of "stunt casting" became fashionable, Castle gave Crawford the role of a lifetime as Lucy Harbin--chain-smoking, bewigged, and beleaguered after a twenty-year stretch in an asylum for the criminally insane. Two decades after decapitating her cheating spouse and his lover in bed, Lucy encounters the customary problems adjusting to a "normal" life. When heads once again begin to roll (literally!) it’s obvious that all is not well in the House of Harbin! In addition to a no-holds-barred performance by the incomparable Crawford, Strait-Jacket boasts a taut, delightfully lurid script by Robert Bloch (Psycho) and a stellar supporting cast including Rochelle Hudson, George Kennedy, and, in his film debut, a young Lee Majors as the ill-fated Mr. Harbin. And don't miss a primordial instance of product placement, courtesy of Ms. Crawford's Pepsi-Cola affiliations!