Strait-Jacket Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.0

Strait-Jacket Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf September 30, 2018

1962’s “Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?” reignited interest in Joan Crawford’s career, also giving the world the rise of “Hagsploitation,” where older actresses could dominate screens once again with material that plays to their aging appearances. Jumping on the chance to use a newly in- demand Crawford is William Castle, noted architect of “ballyhoo” cinema, and a man who knew exactly how to bring in an audience using the art of the gimmick. For 1964’s “Strait-Jacket,” the pull would be Crawford, who’s tasked with creating a dimensional character out of an ax murderer. Castle uses the inherent ugliness of beheading to prime the creative pump, but the majority of “Strait-Jacket” belongs to Crawford, who huffs and puffs her way throughout the picture, giving it a rhythm of intensity it needs as it plows through Robert Bloch’s screenplay, which isn’t completely convinced that maniac mode is the best way to make it from start to finish.

20 years ago, Lucy (Joan Crawford) murdered her husband and his mistress with an ax in front of her daughter, Carol (Diane Baker). Now, Lucy is being released from a psychiatric hospital, and Carol is hoping to offer her estranged mother a new life on her family farm. Trying to make a connection to the fried woman, Carol provides Lucy with a new look and safe surroundings, also introducing her to Michael (John Anthony Hayes), her fiancé. While Lucy tries to play nice, the pressure of madness returns to her life, finding violent visions and sounds trailing her every move. Once bodies start turning up on the property, Lucy’s grasp on reality slips away, leaving Carol to pick up the pieces, also facing resistance from Michael’s parents, who are appalled by Lucy’s behavior.

Bloch is best known as the author of “Psycho,” with “Strait-Jacket” taking more than simple inspiration from the Alfred Hitchcock classic. Here’s another tale of a psychologically wrecked loner trying to maintain a normal life, following Lucy as she struggles to find her place in Carol’s life, with the daughter wanting something special from their reunion the mother can’t provide. Bloch takes his time with the material, slowly observing Lucy’s false sense of stability, accepting a new outfit and a stylish wig to restore some youth to her weary self, while life on the farm proves to be challenging, with the killer exposed to knives and an ax swung by dim-wit farmhand Leo (George Kennedy), making comfort impossible.

“Strait-Jacket” struggles with pace, working very hard to reach a 90-minute run time, but Castle has some great ideas to keep audiences invested in this problematic reintroduction to society. Crawford takes command of the film, but shock value is returned to occasionally, with lopped-off heads a common sight. Lucy’s haunting isn’t explicit, with much of her unraveling detailed through visions and sounds she’s can’t place, while a nightmare realm is visited. Most enticing is the character’s bad ideas, with the most unsettling scene found in “Strait-Jacket” not involving a beheading, but a moment of seduction, where Lucy, with Carol sitting in the same room, tries to seduce Michael, offering him a taste of her madness. The young man is understandably paralyzed with confusion, but he doesn’t push her away, hinting at a more perverse level of sexuality that really would’ve blown the roof off this movie.

Strait-Jacket Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The AVC encoded image (1.78:1 aspect ratio) presentation doesn't have it easy on Blu-ray, with the viewing experience encountering heavy amounts of grain, with some scenes giving off a slight white noise appearance. Not helping are Crawford's close-ups, which are often blurred for glamour reasons, diming clarity and thickening grain. While intense at times, nothing seems artificial, with the majority of the movie retaining a filmic appearance. Detail goes about as far as it can with this specialized cinematography, finding many scenes displaying facial textures and farm decoration, while ghoulish events also maintain clarity, giving violence and practical effects a chance to be studied. White levels are stable, while delineation is comfortable, maintaining frame information with shadow play and evening encounters. Source is in decent condition, without major elements of damage.

Strait-Jacket Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 2.0 DTS-HD MA sound mix provides an enjoyable sense of scoring efforts, with instrumentation clear and loud, giving musical emphasis appealing priority to set the ambiance of "Strait-Jacket." Dialogue exchanges are also compelling, delivering defined voices and levels of emotional outbursts, with Crawford's own screaming pushing the limiting of the original sound work. Sound effects are basic but appreciable, along with mild atmospherics.

Strait-Jacket Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary features authors Steve Habermann and David J. Schow.

• "Joan Had Me Fired" (6:47, SD) is a heavily edited conversation with Anne Helm, who was originally cast as Carol before being dismissed days into the shoot. Helm explores her relationship with director William Castle, recalling him as a friendly man with big plans for the actress, excited for their collaboration on "Strait-Jacket." She also describes her initial meeting with star Joan Crawford, who initially offered kindness to the actor. Once cameras rolled, Crawford became a different woman, and Helm shares the specifics of the icon's monstrous behavior, including Helm's sin of drinking Coca-Cola on-set during the heyday of Crawford's Pepsi ambassadorship. There are some juicy tales of tantrums, and Helm details the moment she was fired, forced to walk away from a part she was looking forward to playing.

• "On the Road with Joan Crawford" (6:35, SD) examines the work required to promote "Strait-Jacket," with publicist Richard Kahn sharing his adventures with the star, who elected to participate in a cross-country bus tour to numerous movie theaters, making appearances to boost ticket sales. Crawford's extreme control over all aspects of travel is detailed, including to-the-minute stage arrival times and road maps to find the most precise directions between stops. Her demands were great, but Kahn is careful to emphasize that Crawford's intensity worked, with excited fans showing up wherever they went.

• Making Of (14:40, SD) tracks the development of "Strait-Jacket," starting with Castle's fondness for "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?" Approaching Crawford for the lead role, Castle hired grand personality, and one who wasn't going to be complacent during the shoot. A team of film historians and co-star Diane Baker are here to clarify the movie's journey to the screen, examining casting, demands, and Crawford's insistence that Pepsi be prominently featured on-screen, even bringing in soda executive Mitchell Cox to portray Lucy's asylum doctor. Crawford's intense control of the shoot is inspected, with Castle working to keep his vision intact while dealing with his volatile star, who, no matter what, always had to be the center of attention.

• Costume and Makeup Tests (3:29, SD) feature Crawford parading different looks for the camera.

• Ax Swinging Screen Test (:38, SD) is a brief look at a fake head being forcibly removed from its body.

• Still Gallery (2:17) collects lobby cards, publicity still, BTS snaps, and poster art.

• And Theatrical Trailer #1 (2:14, HD) and Theatrical Trailer #2 (:22, SD) are included.

Strait-Jacket Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

"Strait-Jacket" has its meandering moments, but it does build to a satisfying conclusion, actually finding a way to keep the mystery alive to the climax. Crawford is also compellingly committed to the material, giving her traditional emphasis to line-readings and close-ups, making Lucy's unraveling intermittently enjoyable, especially during campier moments. Castle doesn't have a major gimmick here, but he does have Crawford and some choice ax swings, building a sluggish but capable dance with insanity in "Strait-Jacket."