Қанды қырғын: 1961 жылғы қорқыныш фильмі

1961 film by William Castle

Homicidal is a 1961 American horror thriller film produced and directed by William Castle, and starring Glenn Corbett, Patricia Breslin, Eugenie Leontovich, Alan Bunce and Jean Arless. The film follows a murderous woman in a small California town whose presence unearths secrets concerning a prominent local family. As with many of Castle's films, the film was released with a promotional gimmick—in this case, a "fright break," that allowed patrons to receive a refund if they were too scared to stay for the climax of the film.

A mysterious woman named Emily convinces the bellboy at a local hotel in Ventura, California to meet her later that day at a local justice of the peace to get married, offering him two thousand dollars in compensation. Baffled by the request, he agrees. The two arrive at the justice of the peace's home late in the night, and pay him to marry them. Emily then savagely murders the justice of the peace during the ceremony, and flees. She later gloats to a mute, invalid elderly woman named Helga (for whom Emily is a nurse and works for a wealthy family) of her deed. The police investigate the crime and learn that the nurse was given the name of a local flower shop owner Miriam Webster, who has an alibi of the night of the murder. It is revealed that Miriam and her brother Warren, who has recently returned from Denmark after the death of his last surviving parent, are heirs to Warren's father's estate. The two talk about how Warren's father was abusive to Warren growing up and the details of the will. Miriam stands to inherit the estate if Warren dies before marrying, as Warren's father was a misogynist who went out of his way to make Warren his sole heir so that only a male child of his could inherit. Miriam also confesses to Warren good news of her own, that she is engaged to be married to her boyfriend. That evening, Emily breaks into Miriam's flower shop and wrecks the store. She is interrupted by Miriam's boyfriend, who comes to the store because he did not know that Miriam had left early that evening. Miriam and her boyfriend arrive at Warren's house the next day to visit Helga and confront Emily. Helga frantically tries to communicate with Miriam, who later finds out from Warren that Emily is actually his wife; he had hired her to take care of Helga and ultimately married her. Miriam later overhears Warren and Emily talking in the next room but does not see them together. Miriam's boyfriend learns of the murdered justice of the peace and that Emily resembles the suspect. Miriam ultimately goes to visit Warren and Emily, having realized that Emily is a murderer. She enters the house, and sees Helga descending the staircase on the stairlift. As she nears the bottom of the stairs, Miriam witnesses Helga's severed head fall off her body. She is then attacked by Emily; the two fight, and Emily removes her wig and prosthetic teeth, revealing herself to be Warren. Warren then tries to kill Miriam, but is distracted when a police officer enters. While Warren tries to kill the officer, Miriam shoots Warren dead. Afterward, the police talk to Miriam as the truth about Warren is revealed: Warren was really a girl. The secret of the child's gender was known only to the child's mother, Helga the housekeeper, and the county clerk (who later became a justice of the peace), who had been bribed to enter the birth of a boy. This was done mainly to avoid the murderous wrath of Warren's father, who wanted a boy and would have harmed the child. "Emily" was an alternate identity Warren had created overseas to be able to live as a woman away from those who knew him. When Warren's father died and he learned of the clause in the will that would have denied him his inheritance if it was known he was a female, he resumed the alter ego of Emily in order to kill and silence those who would know the truth about him.

After fifteen years directing a string of B movies for Columbia, Universal, and Monogram, William Castle mortgaged his house and formed William Castle Productions in 1958. His first release, Macabre, was a modest thriller. To draw attention to the film, he offered every audience member a $1,000 life insurance policy from Lloyd's of London against death by fright during the film. Castle promoted the film with TV commercials and previews that focused more on the life insurance policy than the film. The public bought it and the film was a financial, if not critical, success. William Castle added a gimmick to most of his films over the next ten years.

Actress Joan Marshall was cast in the dual role of Emily/Warren, credited under the stage name Jean Arless. Originally, Castle had intended to cast two different actors for the roles of Emily and Warren.

Homicidal was released theatrically in the United States on June 28, 1961. It after received a theatrical run in New York City beginning on July 26, 1962. The "Coward's Corner" was a table with a nurse holding a blood pressure cuff. John Waters described it in his book Crackpot. According to Castle, the gimmick worked "great," and that theaters earned an average of $20,000 weekly in box office sales, with only $100 in refunds. and placed it on its list of top ten films of the year for 1962. Other critics were not so kind. The New York Times said "Near the end of Homicidal, yesterday's horror entry at neighborhood theaters, the disembodied voice of William Castle, the producer director, announces a 'fright break', during which the economy minded viewers may return their tickets for a refund If the reprieve had come before the opening of this dismal imitation of Psycho and Mickey Spillane, it would have been a better idea." New York Herald Tribune wrote that "Castle's shock effects are not so much of the weird or 'horror' as of the gruesome or blood on the cummerbund variety."

Though many critics were dismissive of Homicidal upon its release, the film has since garnered a cult following, and is regarded as one of Castle's best films.

Homicidal was released on DVD in North America by Columbia Pictures Home Entertainment in 2002. On July 19, 2016, Mill Creek Entertainment released the film on Blu ray as a double feature alongside Castle's Mr. Sardonicus. In 2021 Powerhouse/Indicator Films released a high definition remaster Blu ray, accompanied by special features.