Strait-Jacket (1964)

To me, this movie is perfection.

Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

You know how young kids sometimes get their consonants mixed up when they're learning new words? Well if you ax me, this flick has one seriously demented performance by the late, great Joan Crawford in what has to be one of her better remembered films on the way down. She actually had me a little frightened watching the picture in scenes where people still had their heads on straight. Man, that scene with her daughter's boyfriend was creepy wasn't it? Sidling right up to him and putting her paws all over his face like that made me wonder why Carol Harbin (Diane Baker) wanted to take the patience and understanding route with dear old Mom in the first place. We find out later why, but gee, swinging the old axe the way she did was a little extreme just so she could blame it on Mommie Dearest and marry Michael (John Anthony Hayes) above his parents' objections. But I guess having seen it up close and personal as a kid, it wasn't too surprising to see where Carol got her instincts from. With a bit of a '"Psycho" flavor to keep things moving, this has just enough misdirection to keep you guessing, and the final ten minutes of the story will have you at the edge of your seat. So much so that even the Columbia logo lady lost her head over the end credits. If you ax me.

The movie was campy, but it was a good choice by William Castle to get Joan Crawford to play the main character. She was seasoned in years by the time she did the film but she still looks good. I notice that Castle did not use any gimmicks in this movie except for her. How much the star has fallen for an Oscar winning actress to do b-grade horror.A step up from his last movie with a similar Hitchcock premise to it, homicidal, Crawford plays a woman who spent 20 years in a loony bin for killing her husband and his lover with an Axe. Attempting to get her life together and bond with the daughter she left behind, Joan's character Lucy finds herself slowly going insane again.The movie is way more develop than homicidal and is given justice by Crawford's acting skills, despite how outdated some of the dialog is. Watching her Axe her husband in the beginning was worth the watch overall.

William Castle directed this (for its time) gory thriller that stars Joan Crawford as Lucy Harbin, recently released from a mental asylum after 20 years for murdering her husband and his girlfriend with an ax. Lucy comes home to stay with her now grown daughter Carol(played by Diane Baker) who had witnessed the crime, but seems to have adjusted well, and is planning on getting married when a new series of ax murders occur. Is Lucy reverting back to her old ways, or is someone trying to frame her? Unappealing and ridiculous film is solely for die-hard fans of Joan Crawford, the unmistakable star of this film, though Diane Baker is quite good in her role...pity about the twist ending!

When Lucy Harbin (Joan Crawford) arrives earlier from a trip, she sees her husband with his mistress sleeping in her bed and she kills them with an ax. Her little daughter Carol witnesses the murder.After twenty years in an asylum, Lucy is released by her Dr. Anderson (Mitchell Cox) and her brother Bill Cutler (Leif Erickson) brings her back to her farm where he lives with his wife and Carol (Diane Baker). Lucy meets her estranged daughter and she learns that she is going steady with the wealthy Michael Fields (John Anthony Hayes). Sooner Lucy has nightmares and hears children singing a pejorative song about her.When Dr. Anderson unexpectedly visits her at home, she shows that she is unbalanced and the doctor decides to take her back to the asylum. However he is axed in the barn. Is Lucy killing again?"Strait Jacket" is a predictable thriller by William Castle with Joan Crawford, who has a great performance as usual. It is not difficult to guess who the killer is, and the conclusion gives a satisfactory motive. My vote is seven,Title (Brazil): "Almas Mortas" ("Dead Souls")