Strait-Jacket Blu-ray Review

One fateful night, Lucy Harbin catches her philandering husband in bed with another woman. Naturally, her first reaction is to grab the nearest axe and decapitate both of them. The fact that she is butchering these two in front of her three-year-old daughter, Carol, does not stop her from exacting her brutal revenge. Lucy’s actions earn her a room in the local insane asylum, while Carol is sent to live with her Uncle Bill and his wife on an isolated farm. 20 years later, Lucy is no longer a threat and is deemed restored to sanity and released from the hospital. Her family welcomes her home with open arms and Carol seems particularly determined to make up for lost time. She is soon to be engaged to her wealthy boyfriend and is eager to have her mother share in the festivities. Lucy tries to comply, but the pressure is too much and soon she is suffering hallucinations and a fresh string of axe murders begin. Has Lucy had a setback or is something sinister going on?

William Castle (The Tingler) was a master showman determined to step out of the long shadow cast by his perceived artistic rival Sir Alfred Hitchcock, the master of suspense. Castle frequently employed the use of gimmicks to attract attention to his low-budget pictures and made every show a real experience. Having seen What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? numerous times, Castle decided his latest angle would be to cast an iconic actress in the leading role of his next horror movie. While he didn’t invent the “hag” sub-genre, he definitely profited from it when he made Strait-Jacket. Starting with just a title and then moving forward with a script written by Robert Bloch (The House That Dripped Blood), author of the book Psycho, Castle was set to attempt his most ambitious bit of casting to date.

Film legend Joan Crawford (Johnny Guitar) stars as the mentally unbalanced Lucy Harbin, throwing herself into the role with reckless abandon. Well aware that she had reached the twilight of her lengthy career, she happily signed on for this star vehicle. Crawford had become accustomed to a certain level of creative control and commanded casting and script approval here. Changes were made to suit the star, including the last minute replacement of her female co-star when Crawford felt threatened by the young beauty. Actress Diane Baker (The Silence of the Lambs) had worked with Crawford previously and was chosen to play the role of daughter Carol. The shoot went smoothly until the finale when the aging star felt Baker was getting too much attention for her performance and demanded a new series of shots that would put the focus back onto Lucy.

Her demanding behavior – including having brandy, vodka and caviar at the ready on set, would be inexcusable for a lesser talent, but honestly, she is so fantastic in this role that it was totally worth the hassles. Crawford, rapidly passing 60, plays the lead as both a 29-year-old and a 49-year-old with little concern for appearances. Her youthful wardrobe consists of a garish floral print dress paired with some jangling bracelets and a sultry wig. There is not a bit of scenery to be found that could escape her insatiable appetite. Lucy provides a wide range of emotions lunging from mousy neurotic to crazed axe-wielding hysterical. The best moment of this madcap performance comes following her makeover before meeting Carol’s boyfriend. She has a few drinks and when the guy arrives, she throws herself at him going so far at one point as to slide her fingers into his mouth. Eek. Another nice touch comes when she strikes a match off a spinning record to light her cigarette. Absolutely bad-ass.

Film nerds will find it interesting that Strait-Jacket marks the debut of Lee Majors (The Six Million Dollar Man) as Lucy’s ill-fated husband. The other notable actor early in his career here is George Kennedy (Just Before Dawn) as a suspicious farmhand. He is impressive in the part, but I doubt this picture ranked very high on his resume. One last comment on Crawford’s power plays comes through her connection to Pepsi-Cola via marriage to the company chairman. She had in part become a spokesman and had a seat on the board, so it seemed perfectly natural to her to give the role of Lucy’s psychiatrist, Dr. Anderson, to fellow board member Mitchell Cox, a man with zero connection to the film industry and was absolutely not an actor. He delivers an acceptable performance, but has no business being in this movie.

Strait-Jacket is a run-of-the-mill B-movie built on schlock and high camp, directed with glee by a master of the art. What makes this picture stand out is Crawford’s performance. She is absolutely marvelous in all her zany antics and is a real delight to watch in every minute of her ample screen time. William Castle eventually found respectability as a producer with Rosemary’s Baby (1968). This title is definitely worth picking up and watching with a group of friends. Make sure you stick around through the closing credits for a final gag that really made me smile.