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Homicidal

Play trailer Poster for Homicidal 1961 1h 27m Horror Play Trailer Watchlist
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77% Tomatometer 13 Reviews 67% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
Chaos and danger reign when good girl Miriam Webster (Patricia Breslin) meets her half brother's girlfriend, Emily (Jean Arless), a mysterious blonde bombshell living at their family's Southern California estate. Emily serves as the nurse for the sibling's aging, wheelchair-using guardian, Helga Swenson (Eugenie Leontovich). She is not, however, as sweet as she seems. Emily soon reveals herself to be a murderous schemer who will stop at nothing to steal Miriam's extensive inheritance.
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Homicidal

Critics Reviews

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Maxine Dowling New York Daily News Sep 22, 2021
3/4
Castle, whose specialty is turning out horror and ghost tales, has succeeded in achieving several moments of terror in this story of a homicidal maniac on the loose in a small, sleepy community. Go to Full Review
Noel Murray The Dissolve Oct 21, 2013
3.5/5
What's really surprising about Homicidal is that...it's an enjoyably bizarre film, making some of the basic elements of Psycho even freakier. Go to Full Review
Matt Brunson Film Frenzy 1 day ago
3/4
While traveling along similar lines as Psycho, Homicidal manages to include enough originality to stand apart. Go to Full Review
Joe Lipsett Horror Queers Podcast Jul 5, 2026
3.5/5
It's basically just 'William Castle does Psycho', but you can't deny it's entertaining. Jean Arless is fantastic in her dual performance Go to Full Review
Trace Thurman Horror Queers Podcast Jun 30, 2026
3/5
A tongue-in-cheek riff on Hitchcock's 'Psycho', William Castle's 'Homicidal' boasts an excellent first and last 15 minutes, with a middle hour filled with so much clunky exposition that it threatens to derail the whole experience. Thankfully, it doesn't. Go to Full Review
Wesley Lovell Cinema Sight Nov 22, 2022
1.5/4
Mediocre to acceptable acting is plentiful and the plot, while for the most part inventive, lacks a lot of good narrative structure and yields an intriguing, but predictable ending. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Bill B @RT01438538 Oct 27, 2026 Campy, and predictable for most of it. But I'll give it an "E" for effort. See more
Ollie W @RT90619198 Aug 27, 2026 The beginning is intriguing, the ending is great, but the middle is a slog. The performances are all pretty great. Jean Arless, who usually goes by Joan Marshall, is particularly good as the main protagonist. I found her performance compelling. See more
Martin B @RT44235356 Dec 9, 2025 About as good as they get for a campy horror-ish late 50's, early 60's era B movie. The cast not really that good at all, mostly TV actors but the concept for the movie so unique it made it all work. See more
nick s @Nick_S Nov 6, 2025 Had a good hook at the start. Kept kept you guessing most of the way through. But the ending seemed a little absurd, especially if you stop & think about all the character actions/motives. In order to plant the deception they also had to do some off-putting ADR. See more
Ronald H @RT44372985 Aug 7, 2025 Another campy, insane thriller from the great William Castle. I've often wondered what it was like on the sets of his movies. While on camera, the actors must have worked hard to keep a straight face. Between takes, I'm sure everybody was laughing their ass off. Castle aficionados know about the big reveal at the end, but the uninitiated will be surprised. Why is Warren so wooden faced and unemotional? At first, it just seems like bad acting. But Castle always has a trick up his sleeve. Joan Marshall is remarkable in a very difficult role. B movies don't get any better than this. See more
Aug 19, 2021 The blonde gal/guy is a treat. See more
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Homicidal

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Cast & Crew

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William Castle

Director

Glenn Corbett

Karl

Patricia Breslin

Miriam

Joan Marshall

Emily

Eugenie Leontovich

Helga

Alan Bunce

Doctor Jones

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Homicidal

Homicidal (1961) Homicidal (1961) Homicidal (1961) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis Chaos and danger reign when good girl Miriam Webster (Patricia Breslin) meets her half brother's girlfriend, Emily (Jean Arless), a mysterious blonde bombshell living at their family's Southern California estate. Emily serves as the nurse for the sibling's aging, wheelchair-using guardian, Helga Swenson (Eugenie Leontovich). She is not, however, as sweet as she seems. Emily soon reveals herself to be a murderous schemer who will stop at nothing to steal Miriam's extensive inheritance.
Director
William Castle
Producer
William Castle
Screenwriter
Robb White
Distributor
Columbia Pictures
Production Co
Columbia Pictures Corporation, William Castle Productions
Genre
Horror
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Jul 26, 1961, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Aug 31, 2010
Runtime
1h 27m
Sound Mix
Mono
Aspect Ratio
35mm
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