Jean Arless is a pretty good wild-eyed nutcase in William Castle’s shameless imitation of Psycho. It’s got the sudden brutal murder, the strange twist, and even a shot during the climax that takes after Martin Balsam’s famous fall down a staircase. It’s clumsily paced and stands square in Hitchcock’s shadow, but it has a few classic moments, such as a gory stabbing, a beheading, and every scene where our murderess terrorizes Eugenie Leontovich as the old wheelchair-bound mute woman who knows all about Arless’s homicidal tendencies, but can’t tell anyone.
William Castle’s famous gimmick that went along with this one was the “Fright Break”, a 45-second timer that shows up on screen to count down to the climax and over which Castle himself offers the audience a refund if they’re too frightened to watch the rest of the film.