William Castle's Tranny Slasher "Homicidal" (1961)

I love that film and think it is massively underrated! Not many people have even heard of it... The 'Fright Break' was a real tension builder! And was Jean Arless a man or a woman in real life!!! Never liked chair-lifts lol!

Jean Arless isn't her real name. It's Joan Marshall. They wanted to keep her true gender a secret. Sure it's a rip-off of "Psycho" but not totally. This is about a transsexual. They bring up Denmark all the time, which at the time, was the only country to do sex change operations.

I'm surprised this movie doesn't have a bigger DL following. It's hilarious.

Is this the one that has a clock appearing on the screen with a countdown to the big scary part?

r4, yes

R2

SPOILERS ahead .......

It's not that Emily/Warren was a transsexual per se. The story is that Emily who had been born female and the wealthy father had wanted a son; a son to whom he'd leave his inheritance etc...so the mother, the nurse (Helga) had paid off the doctor, officials etc to go along with their plan to raise 'Emily' as Warren.

I met Pat Modell who played the half sister Miriam. The Modells lived near where I do in Maryland. I brought up her performance in Homicidal. "Oh, that one again," she said. She told me that she found it amusing that of all of the films, television that she had appeared in that the movie Homicidal was what most people asked her about, followed by her 2 stints on The Twilight Zone & PEYTON PLACE.

I loved "Homicidal." Always lump it in with the "Alfred Hitchcock Hour" episode about the nurses being murdered. It's actually suspenseful and I imagine 1960s TV audiences were jolted when "Nurse Betty Ames" was revealed to be...

R7

I remember that episode. Like an evil Eltinge. Same actor played a tranny on an episode of THE WILD WILD WEST and starred as both parents in that weird movie THE NAME OF THE GAME IS KILL with Jack Lord & Susan Strasberg.

The Name of the Game is Kill is hilarious

This has long been one of my favorite films. Joan Marshall was the original Lily Munster (called Phoebe) in the unaired color pilot of The Munsters--axed because she was too similar to the already established Morticia Addams. Notice, also, that the house exterior at Universal hadn't been too Munster-ized yet and still looked as it had in tbe 40s and 50s. It's now completely altered following Desperate Housewives.

The wedding scene is one of the greatest EVER!

I bet that justice of the peace wished he hadn't kissed the bride!

What's with all the knocking? Oh that's just Helga.

LOVE THAT MOVIE! Castle was a real showman. From The Tinger to Rosemary's Baby.

Sorry Tingler.

I Saw What You Did, Mr. Sardonicus, 13 Ghosts, Strait-Jacket....all fun, campy William Castle films

Joan, who was very gay friendly was often escorted by Dick Chamberlain when he needed a girl to be seen with. She was also good friends with Dirk Summers back in the 50s, 60s. Dirk was the guy who later (allegedly) bilked Rue McClanahan out of some money.

She, Joan was once married to Hal Ashby and he incorporated some of her tales from when she was young, her sex and the single girl period in his 1975 film SHAMPOO.

They really had Joan Marshall looking like a tranny in the film though didn't they ?

Something I noticed about many trannies is that they seem obsessed with the era that their respective mothers were young women and (they) incorporate a good deal of what was in style then into their current look. Odd, but accurate observation.

Joan Crawford is often scarier in this film than is John Ireland who's suppose to be the dangerous killer.

Of course you can't blame Joan for wanting Ireland all to herself. During filming of QUEEN BEE 10 years earlier the two had had a hot sexual fling; even while she was dating Al Steele whom she eventually married. Ireland was known around Hollywood for being a rough lay & for having a nice big cock.

trivia: Ireland was the brother in law to whom ?

answer: HOLLYWOOD SQUARES host Peter Marshall

R15, We aren't discussing Crawford here. This is about Joan Marshall in a William Castle Film. Though ihe did employ Crawford twice and almost in Rosemary's Baby, and, I agree with what you say.

I would love to know who did Jean's voice in Homicidal. William Castle said that he hired her when he heard her do a man's voice, that she did the voice herself. He was such a liar right up until the end. BTW, the "revelation" was in his book.

R16

Crawford was only suppose to be in one scene for ROSEMARY'S BABY. There was a scene which showed Rosemary (Farrow) and her friend Hutch (Maurice Evans) leaving a broadway show (I think it was suppose to be THE FANTASTIKS) and the two encounter Crawford & Van Johnson who also had attended.

Polanski nixed it; he had to fight too to win. Roman contacted Bob Evans at Paramount to back him on that one. He believed that Castle just wanted to add the 2 film veterans for publicity & Roman though the two would be too much of a distraction had he used the footage.

This angered Crawford incidentally who thereafter lumped Polanski in with "this new crowd of rude snobbish geeks in Hollywood !"

Evans knew a drunk when he saw one. That one scene would take a month to film. With all the flops out there with the exception of Oliver! And The Thomas Crown Affair, he couldn't risk it.

THIS ISN'T A GODDAMN THREAD ABOUT JOAN CRAWFORD.

They all seem to wind up at La Crawford's ample feet eventually.....but this was a learning experience for me since I never knew "Rosemary's Baby" was produced by William Castle! Makes sense but still a surprise

Never seen it, OP.

Easily William Castle's best film.

My partner and I watched it decades ago. We recently watched it again but he had forgotten it and the end fooled him again. Great stuff.

Wasn't there an episode of the original Charlie's Angels about about a tranny serial killer?

^^ Yes. And the scenes were originally shot with Joan Crawford. But at her age they couldn't make her believably feminine enough to even play a drag queen.

Yes there was, r24. The tranny's name was Margo, and she has become a DL fave.