Homicidal

After this movie, my mom, a big movie fan, proclaimed, "That was even better than Hitchcock!" I don't know, I wouldn't go that far. However, to the local detractors, if you dispense with the meaningless comparisons, you have to admit that William Castle did a good job. The twist at the end really surprised me, and I consider myself a fairly astute viewer (and I didn't research anything about this film beforehand, so that's why), and some of the visual gimmicks, like the 50-second pause to leave the cinema before a tense scene, really amused me. I wish I could have been at the premiere at the time and heard the audience's look of amazement at the reveal :o) The year it was released, the prestigious Time magazine listed Homicide as one of the 10 best films of the year, congratulations. (10/26/2018)

A very good follower of Psycho. I’m intentionally saying follower instead of rip-off because, despite of being clearly inspired on Hitchcock’s masterpiece, I don’t see any reason why a viewer of Psycho couldn’t have a really good time with Homicidal. The twist is (to some extent) pretty predictable, but paradoxically, its premature reveal adds tension to some parts. The scary pause right before the end is off the mark from a modern point of view, but I’d lie if I said that the sequence that follows it doesn’t generate at least a little fear, because it does. Overall, I think Homicidal is a good mysterious thriller that works the way it should, but that also has some notable elements that don’t work today (where a modern film would use a flashback, here the characters have to blabber like robots). 8/10 (01/25/2011)

Five years after the first viewing, I forgot how intricately constructed the storyline of Homicidal is. Apparently, the creators deliberately tried to confuse the audience as much as possible with the relationships within the family of the main characters, so that no one figures out the deep mystery the movie is rooted in. The final dumbed-down explanation from the scientist thereafter only acts to secretly mock the viewer who may have been trying to find a logical thread running through the storyline. However, if we ignore the stilted add-on to the plotline aside, the movie has a lot to offer mainly thanks to its solid directing - William Castle, although attacking mainly with black humour, can jump-scare you quite unexpectedly with gory bloody scenes (brave for 1961) and a well built-up mysterious atmosphere. Homicidal is a very playful movie following the classic Psycho and definitely has its own charm. [The Shockproof Film Festival 2020] (03/11/2020)

If you’re not even a little bit blown away by Psycho (what are you looking at?), it's hard to get a kick out of this unceremonious rip-off pieced together from redundant dialogue and transitions between three locations. Fortunately, with the arrival of a young version of Gott, who only turns his heel on set in 90° and 180°, it gets a whole new breath of fresh air, and his mere presence in front of the camera produces a scene that will more than once leave you giggling uncontrollably like a complete retard. Unfortunately, when the big reveal comes, his character even retrospectively transforms from irresistible cringe to creative intent, making it once again a gutted Hitchcock, so not that great. (03/05/2020)