Alan Bunce Movies

Homicidal represents producer/director William Castle's slant on Hitchcock's Psycho. The film concerns a young woman named Miriam Webster (Patricia Breslin) who seemingly has everything a girl could want - including a successful flower shop business, and a handsome beau, Karl (Glenn Corbett), who works as a pharmacist. Events take a turn for the worse, however, when Miriam's half-brother, Warren, returns from Europe - with a rather unpleasant friend in-tow: a blonde named Emily (Jean Arless). Emily promptly sets about destroying Miriam's life: the newcomer attempts to wheedle Karl away from Miriam, then rips the flower shop to pieces, then ultimately reveals a little taste for knife-wielding that directly threatens Miriam's safety. Like The Tingler and other Castle outings, this one originally featured a gimmick, preserved in the video release: a "fright-break" just prior to the climax, which allowed terrified audience members approximately 45 seconds to get out of their seats and leave the theater - to avoid the prospect of being "frightened to death." One look at Jean Arless's credit in the cast listing betrays the final twist in this one, directly (and unapologetically) lifted by Castle from Psycho. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A late '50s upgrade of the 1931 film by the same title, this version of trouble on death row by Howard Koch is more violent than its predecessor -- a hint of the trend toward shock for its own sake that would one day dominate action films and thrillers. The setting is a cell block of nine inmates scheduled for execution and the first half of the drama focuses on the horror of that last walk. A grim death in the electric chair is in no way glossed over. All nine prisoners are more appealing than any single guard, giving rise to the question of whether or not the men should exchange places. Then "Killer" John Mears (Mickey Rooney) comes along. His vicious attitude infects the environment and his plans to break out of prison are the catalyst for tragedy. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

Unknown Soldier Speaks is a fascinating example of 1930s liberal rhetoric, courtesy of writer (and later director) Robert Rossen. Assembled by a firm called Lincoln Productions, this 70-minute oddity is told from the point of view of the "spirit" residing in the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Washington, D.C. The ghostly narrator recalls the horrors of WWI, then warns that the same horrors could well be inflicted on the world so long as despots like Hitler and Mussolini hold sway in Europe. There is also a swipe against the oppression directed at American Negroes in the Depression Era. Despite the bleakness of its early scenes, Unknown Soldier Speaks ends on an optimistic note, with the hope that America will be able to straighten out its problems, and, by extension, the world's problems. Alan Bunce, later the star of radio's Ethel and Albert, is the narrator. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi