Straight-Jacket

     Kids, Joan Crawford with an ax is all you need to know for this one.  After the success of "Whatever Happened To Baby Jane?" in 1962, suddenly middle-aged actresses everywhere- (Crawford, Bette Davis, Barbara Stanwyck, Olivia DeHavilland, etc.) were starring left and right in cheaply made horror movies.  "Straight-Jacket" was Joan's follow-up to "Baby Jane" after leaving "Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte "(which is a story all on its own...).  The plot is simple.  Joan finds her husband in bed with another woman.  She brutally murders them in bed with an ax.  After being institutionalized for 20 years, she is released to live a normal life.  She goes to live with her daughter on a farm.  She seems alright at first, but has Joan fully recovered?  But she quickly starts to wig out as a series of brutal ax murders rock the farm. Is someone trying to drive her back into madness? Or is it Joan, still crazy as a loon?  I live for this kind of stuff.

      First of all, "Straight-Jacket" is an absolute hoot from start to finish.  There are so many things to love about this movie, I wouldn't even know where to begin.  Joan Crawford is the star of the picture, for one.  I'm sold already.  Joan Crawford brandishing an ax.  Yes please.  And the infamous scene with Joan meeting her daughter's fiance is simply out of of this world and must be seen to be believed.  She's decked out like an 80-year old hooker in a floral print dress, dangling bracelets and black wig with bangs, right?  Swilling bourbon like a lumberjack, she blatantly comes on to the poor guy in a scene that's creepy and disturbing... yet you can't take your eyes off it.  Besides Joan in all her glory, you have to love the blatant placing of Pepsi products. "Straight-Jacket" also boasts a truly original, fun depiction of the Columbia Pictures logo at the end- complete with severed head lying at her feet.  Miss Crawford goes about all this madness with the utmost sincerity, which is what makes it and her so watchable.  "Straight-Jacket" simply is must-see entertainment.  Whether you're a Joan Crawford fan (who isn't?),  a William Castle fan, or just a fan of campy, retro B- movies in general, then "Straight-Jacket" is the one for you.