As an attention-grabbing title for a slasher-thriller picture of this one's twisted nature, I'd say that the use of a single word, like "Homicidal", was very effective in grasping my curiosity and interest.
But, on the other hand, since Homicidal was apparently William Castle's sneering and envious answer to Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho, then this off-kilter, second-rate, maniac movie repeatedly fell short of its intended goal. It neither shocked me, nor held my attention for more than a few minutes at a time.
Out of this whole movie there were only 2 memorable scenes in its entire 90-minute running time that I thought were stand-outs and worthy of any mention.
The first scene happens at about the 15-minute point when Emily pulls a razor-sharp carving knife out of her purse and immediately begins to brutally stab the old Justice of the Peace in the stomach, over and over again, while 2 horrified witnesses look on.
The second scene containing any fright-value takes place in the last 10 minutes of the story.
In between these 2 moments there's about an hour's worth of story that literally goes nowhere and, believe me, this is more than enough to put most viewers off to sleep while the characters continually bicker away with each other.
Even though I knew from the start that the 2 characters of Emily & Warren were being played by the same person, what came as a real surprise to me was to find out that it wasn't an effeminate man playing these dual roles, but rather a somewhat butch woman.
I understand that it's never been officially revealed as to whether Jean Arless' voice as Warren was really hers, or if it was dubbed. All the same, her performance as a man was very convincing.
I found it really puzzling that if William Castle had really wanted Homicidal to be a much more memorable rip-off of Psycho, then he should've made it a point to include a horrific "shower scene" in his film, as well. But, he didn't do this (much to my disappointment).
All that Castle added to Homicidal, for novelty effect, was a somewhat ridiculous tongue-in-cheek "fright break" of 60 seconds which allowed those in the audience (who were easily frightened) to safely leave the theater before the story's climatic moment of terror got underway.
But, on the other hand, since Homicidal was apparently William Castle's sneering and envious answer to Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho, then this off-kilter, second-rate, maniac movie repeatedly fell short of its intended goal. It neither shocked me, nor held my attention for more than a few minutes at a time.
Out of this whole movie there were only 2 memorable scenes in its entire 90-minute running time that I thought were stand-outs and worthy of any mention.
The first scene happens at about the 15-minute point when Emily pulls a razor-sharp carving knife out of her purse and immediately begins to brutally stab the old Justice of the Peace in the stomach, over and over again, while 2 horrified witnesses look on.
The second scene containing any fright-value takes place in the last 10 minutes of the story.
In between these 2 moments there's about an hour's worth of story that literally goes nowhere and, believe me, this is more than enough to put most viewers off to sleep while the characters continually bicker away with each other.
Even though I knew from the start that the 2 characters of Emily & Warren were being played by the same person, what came as a real surprise to me was to find out that it wasn't an effeminate man playing these dual roles, but rather a somewhat butch woman.
I understand that it's never been officially revealed as to whether Jean Arless' voice as Warren was really hers, or if it was dubbed. All the same, her performance as a man was very convincing.
I found it really puzzling that if William Castle had really wanted Homicidal to be a much more memorable rip-off of Psycho, then he should've made it a point to include a horrific "shower scene" in his film, as well. But, he didn't do this (much to my disappointment).
All that Castle added to Homicidal, for novelty effect, was a somewhat ridiculous tongue-in-cheek "fright break" of 60 seconds which allowed those in the audience (who were easily frightened) to safely leave the theater before the story's climatic moment of terror got underway.