Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.5
Audio		2.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.0

Homicidal Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman July 25, 2016

Note: 'Homicidal' is currently only available as part of a double feature with 'Mr. Sardonicus.'

A woman calling herself "Miriam Webster" checks into the Hotel Ventura. She brings a young bell boy named Jim Nesbit (Richard Rust) to her room and offers him $2,000 to marry her, with the understanding the marriage will be annulled immediately after. Jim decides to go through with it, unable to resit that much money for such a simple task. They arrive for the nuptials late at night, wake the justice of the peace, and as soon as they're married, she murders the official. Turns out she's actually a young lady named Emily (Jean Arless) and Miriam (Patricia Breslin) is actually a woman she knows whose brother Warren has just returned from Europe. And it is Warren to whom Emily is secretly married. Miriam and her man Karl (Glenn Corbett) slowly piece together the shocking truth behind Emily and Warren's marriage and what it means for a large inheritance hanging in the balance.

Homicidal.

The film opens with a slick, smart, and mysterious hook that leaves the viewer guessing. Director William Castle's reveals are slow, steady, and intriguing. There's always another layer to peel back, even as the film largely maneuvers through standard-fare procedural stylings. The plot threatens to become bogged down in excess complexity, but Castle's ability to pace the film is commendable. Performances are quite good, particularly from Jean Arless. Watch for this film's Castle gimmick, the silly "fright break" near the end, allowing squeamish audiences to leave before the big reveal.

Homicidal Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Homicidal arrives on Blu-ray with a fair 1080p transfer. The black-and-white image features a rather thick, but largely evenly dispersed, grain structure. Light print wear is evident throughout, but not to a seriously distracting level. Details fare well enough. Period attire -- suit jackets particularly -- reveal adequate fabric definition, and various backgrounds find good tactile detailing thanks to the image's stout clarity. Shadow details and black levels appear fine.

Homicidal Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Homicidal's Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack demonstrates no range, pushing to the middle for a tiny, empty listen. There's no sense of vitality. Ambient effects and music struggle to even find modest pronouncement and clarity, hovering well below the rather crude, straightforward dialogue. The spoken word is fine, hardly lifelike and lacking realistic clarity but usually with enough definition to scrape by. A few lines are much more shallow than others ("I'll take the double," for example, which Miriam/Emily says early in the movie).

Homicidal Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This Blu-ray release of Homicidal contains no supplemental content.

Homicidal Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Homicidal's twist ending isn't particularly shocking by today's standards, but the movie makes for a fairly well paced Thriller with a few surprises up its sleeve. Performances are quite good, particularly from Jean Arless in a...challenging part. Mill Creek's Blu-ray features fair video, straightforward and bland audio, and no extra content. Fans probably won't find a better release, as meager as this one is, for quite some time.