I was completely blown away by Homicidal, the William Castle film that, not surprisingly came out in ’61. Not surprising because that would be but one year after Psycho was released, and Homicidal is such a total rip-off of the Alfred Hitchcock film that it proves utterly hilarious.

The film opens with a nasty childhood rivalry playing itself out. Cut to decades later, when said children have grown up but still harbour deep seated resentments. There’s an old mute woman in a wheelchair who probably knows much more than she can tell, plenty of talk of a hefty inheritance that’s up for grabs and a mysterious ending that no one should ever ruin for you. Stuff this in your DVD player at your next video party and play the guess-the-final-catch game. Castle even offers a fright break in the film’s final moments—giving the audience the option of walking out if they’re too overcome by fear! Never has being so derivative looked so good. Available only at the Boîte Noire on St-Denis.