Homicidal

Immediately after Hitchcock’s Psycho proved to be a huge box office hit, a whole series of clones and imitations appeared. Among the most successful was the thriller Homicidal by American screenwriter, director, and producer William Castle. Castle was famous in the US film industry as the “master of gimmicks.” For Homicidal, he copied the strategy used in Psycho and other films with a surprise twist, whereby viewers were not allowed to be seated during the screening. For particularly frightened members of the audience, he included a short fright break during which they could leave the theater and request a refund at the “Coward’s Corner.” In one of the trailers, Castle then warned viewers of his film not to reveal the ending to their friends under any circumstances. Failure to comply would mean nothing less than death. Castle knew how to grab attention… (mh)