By the time 1965 rolled around, William Castle was pretty much out of ideas and gimmicks. "I Saw What You Did" was nearly Castle's last movie and it shows. The only two gimmicks left to the old carny was the warning on the poster for this snoozer: "This picture is about UXORCIDE!!". This is an obscure term for the murder of one's wife. Castle was out of ideas by now, no skeletons on a wire, no punishment poll, no ghost viewers. Only a forgotten term for murder...and Joan Crawford.
ISWYD is a movie trapped in it's own time bubble, a look at the hijinks of teenage girls left alone with a telephone for fun and games. Once, telephones only made calls in or out, nothing more. Phone pranks have pretty much gone the way of high-button shoes and horse-drawn carriages. This look back at girls in 1965 is sweet, as well as irritating. Home-alone teens Libby and Kit amuse themselves by making dozens of stupid prank calls, along with prepubescent Tess, Libby's beyond annoying little sister. Using the tag line "I saw what you did and I know who you are" finally hits the jackpot when the two gals inadvertently reach a man who's just murdered his wife. Serious tomfoolery continues until the murderer reaches the girls (don't ask how, it's ludicrous) and lessons are learned.
ISWYD is obviously dated and claustrophobic, being filmed entirely on sound stages at Universal. It has the cheap look and feel of a bad TV sitcom. The "outdoor" sets are painfully fake, and one wonders when Mr. Ed or Herman Munster will pop out of the canned fog. There's also a misplaced super perky soundtrack by the heinous Van Alexander who specialized in terrible TV themes and phony "rock and roll". Don't expect tension when bad transistor radio beach party music underscores the action.
Which now leads us to the two very sad things about this moldy oldie: the murder of the wife (UXORCIDE!!!, remember?) and Joan Crawford. William Castle was the first to blatantly copy Psycho (1960) with his cross-dressing maniac in Homicidal (1961). ISWYD again wanders onto Hitchcock's lawn with the second "shower murder" of the 60s. This time, however, Castle stages the murder in reverse, where the victim is pulled into the shower and stabbed to death. Castle was really stretching things here. Now, Joan Crawford. Over 60 by this time, she was obviously finishing her contract work with Castle after the campy "Strait-Jacket". Here, Joan is swamped by an enormous hairdo, all swoops and curls embellishing a beehive of gargantuan proportion. Joan is playing an extremely horny neighbor, who is having an affair with the shower murderer, played by John Ireland. Joan isn't in the movie for long, which is good. She appears to be drunk and unable to cope with the gigantic hairdo or the huge tacky necklace that's strangling her. Watching Joan purr and slink around Ireland is about as sexy as watching your grandma get her groove on. We are happy when Joan is killed and her hair deflates. Ireland just looks coarse, nervous, and wondering where his check is.
ISWYD is frozen in cheap movie studio set Hell, and isn't worth revisiting unless you want your pleasant memory of this potboiler ruined. The available DVD is pretty pricey for a bare bones presentation if you seek it out. The only thing that could have saved this would have been Mr.Ed rescuing the two silly girls from John Ireland. Ring ring! Wilbur,it's for you!
ISWYD is a movie trapped in it's own time bubble, a look at the hijinks of teenage girls left alone with a telephone for fun and games. Once, telephones only made calls in or out, nothing more. Phone pranks have pretty much gone the way of high-button shoes and horse-drawn carriages. This look back at girls in 1965 is sweet, as well as irritating. Home-alone teens Libby and Kit amuse themselves by making dozens of stupid prank calls, along with prepubescent Tess, Libby's beyond annoying little sister. Using the tag line "I saw what you did and I know who you are" finally hits the jackpot when the two gals inadvertently reach a man who's just murdered his wife. Serious tomfoolery continues until the murderer reaches the girls (don't ask how, it's ludicrous) and lessons are learned.
ISWYD is obviously dated and claustrophobic, being filmed entirely on sound stages at Universal. It has the cheap look and feel of a bad TV sitcom. The "outdoor" sets are painfully fake, and one wonders when Mr. Ed or Herman Munster will pop out of the canned fog. There's also a misplaced super perky soundtrack by the heinous Van Alexander who specialized in terrible TV themes and phony "rock and roll". Don't expect tension when bad transistor radio beach party music underscores the action.
Which now leads us to the two very sad things about this moldy oldie: the murder of the wife (UXORCIDE!!!, remember?) and Joan Crawford. William Castle was the first to blatantly copy Psycho (1960) with his cross-dressing maniac in Homicidal (1961). ISWYD again wanders onto Hitchcock's lawn with the second "shower murder" of the 60s. This time, however, Castle stages the murder in reverse, where the victim is pulled into the shower and stabbed to death. Castle was really stretching things here. Now, Joan Crawford. Over 60 by this time, she was obviously finishing her contract work with Castle after the campy "Strait-Jacket". Here, Joan is swamped by an enormous hairdo, all swoops and curls embellishing a beehive of gargantuan proportion. Joan is playing an extremely horny neighbor, who is having an affair with the shower murderer, played by John Ireland. Joan isn't in the movie for long, which is good. She appears to be drunk and unable to cope with the gigantic hairdo or the huge tacky necklace that's strangling her. Watching Joan purr and slink around Ireland is about as sexy as watching your grandma get her groove on. We are happy when Joan is killed and her hair deflates. Ireland just looks coarse, nervous, and wondering where his check is.
ISWYD is frozen in cheap movie studio set Hell, and isn't worth revisiting unless you want your pleasant memory of this potboiler ruined. The available DVD is pretty pricey for a bare bones presentation if you seek it out. The only thing that could have saved this would have been Mr.Ed rescuing the two silly girls from John Ireland. Ring ring! Wilbur,it's for you!