In Craze, Jack Palance gets it on with Swedish horror babe Julie Ege, which just goes to show that there's no such thing as 'out of your league'. He also scores with Diana Dors, although that's a tad more believable, the actress having smashed more than a few trays of Krispy Kremes since her '50s blonde bombshell days.
Palance is definitely enjoying himself in this darkly humorous offering from Hammer director Freddie Francis: not only does he get to play the lothario, but his character, Neal Mottram, is also the head of a coven who sacrifices women to African god Chuku in exchange for wealth, all the while maintaining the respectable facade of a London antiques dealer. He kills a woman who wants to take his treasured idol; he picks up a swinging traveller (Ege) who he also kills (by shoving her head in a furnace); he carries out an elaborate plan to murder his rich Aunt Louise (Edith Evans); and he throttles call girl/masseuse Sally (Suzy Kendall). Mottram is reluctantly aided in his nefarious work by his nervous shop assistant Ronnie (Martin Potter).
Meanwhile, Detective Constable Russet (Percy Herbert) and Detective Wilson (David Warbeck) keep a close eye on Mottram, convinced that he is responsible for the murders, even though he has seemingly water-tight alibis.
A product of the swinging early-'70s, the film features plenty of nudity, some light drug use (Palance sharing a joint with Ege), and scenes set in groovy London night-spots, plus quite a bit of mean-spirited violence. Francis's direction is workmanlike - nothing too showy - but it suffices, the director happy to let his star steal the limelight - and boy, does he ever! Palance's character is sleazy, scheming, cold-hearted, and, in the film's finalé, totally off his rocker. It's a performance to rival Peter Cushing in Corruption (1968) and Vincent Price in Theatre of Blood (1973). In other words, check it out!
Palance is definitely enjoying himself in this darkly humorous offering from Hammer director Freddie Francis: not only does he get to play the lothario, but his character, Neal Mottram, is also the head of a coven who sacrifices women to African god Chuku in exchange for wealth, all the while maintaining the respectable facade of a London antiques dealer. He kills a woman who wants to take his treasured idol; he picks up a swinging traveller (Ege) who he also kills (by shoving her head in a furnace); he carries out an elaborate plan to murder his rich Aunt Louise (Edith Evans); and he throttles call girl/masseuse Sally (Suzy Kendall). Mottram is reluctantly aided in his nefarious work by his nervous shop assistant Ronnie (Martin Potter).
Meanwhile, Detective Constable Russet (Percy Herbert) and Detective Wilson (David Warbeck) keep a close eye on Mottram, convinced that he is responsible for the murders, even though he has seemingly water-tight alibis.
A product of the swinging early-'70s, the film features plenty of nudity, some light drug use (Palance sharing a joint with Ege), and scenes set in groovy London night-spots, plus quite a bit of mean-spirited violence. Francis's direction is workmanlike - nothing too showy - but it suffices, the director happy to let his star steal the limelight - and boy, does he ever! Palance's character is sleazy, scheming, cold-hearted, and, in the film's finalé, totally off his rocker. It's a performance to rival Peter Cushing in Corruption (1968) and Vincent Price in Theatre of Blood (1973). In other words, check it out!