5/5 Crazy Crawford Cracks!
  by Dennis (New York, NY USA)
One of Joan's best films of her golden years. She revisits the inner being she found for her roll in 1947's masterpiece "Possessed" and gives it a new demention in this brilliant, underplayed performance.

2/5 Strait-Jacket Schlock
  by B26354 (Atlanta, GA)
Low budget, B-grade slasher flick complete with cheesy special effects, heads-a-rolling, a transparent inplausible plot, and lots of screaming. At the end of Crawford's career she was clearly taking roles that she normally would not have bothered with, so even though many people rated this film highly, I think it's sad to see her in a movie like this, even though her performance is gutsy and interesting to watch. It's also pretty neat to see actors so early in their careers, like Lee Majors and George Kennedy. Best scene in the film: when the shrink from the asylum drops by for a visit and Crawford spontaneously lights a match on the turntable WHILE the record is playing (it reminds me of when Jack Lemmon strikes the match on his teeth in The Great Race). Not many actors could pull that off on camera, and it was perfectly in keeping with the character she was portraying. Sad to see her so deep in B-movie material such as this, especially when you compare it to her other great films like The Women, the 1927 silent movie with Lon Chaney called The Unknown, and Sudden Fear, but her performance here is certainly worth taking a look at, especially fans of Castle and Crawford or just of this movie genre.

4/5 Joan's last good movie after Baby Jane
  by R. Pepper (Los Angeles)
After the success of Whatever Happened to Baby Jane, Bette's career was revived, and she had several good roles after that film and continued to work until her death. Joan...eh, not so much. But this one is the most memorable and entertaining. Bette Davis who had filmed Hush...Hush Sweet Charlotte and Dead Ringer the same year called this film "tacky," and I have to agree. However it is still enjoyable on a more campy level. Joan Crawford had cast and script approval on Strait-Jacket and there is even a "Pepsi" product placement shot in a kitchen scene because Joan was once married to a Pepsi Cola executive until his death. It is actually very fun watching Joan Crawford trying to get back to a "normal" life after being locked up in an asylum for 20 years for beheading her husband and his mistress with an ax. There is even an uncomfortable scene where she puts the moves on her daughter's boyfriend right in front of her after woofing down some booze. Directorial duties were handled by William Castle (an inferior compared to Hitchcock) who made several B-movie horror pictures through the years. I gave Strait-Jacket four stars because I consider Bette's films superior and worthy of 5 stars.

4/5 A Really Swinging Performance by Ms. Crawford
  by William E. Erdmann (University Park, Illinois)
Ms. Crawford turns in a rather eccentric performance as Lucy Harbin in a movie made during the downward arc of her career. The movie opens with the axe murder of Lucy's philandering husband (played by a very young Lee Majors)and his lover. After spending around twenty years in an asylum for the criminally insane, Lucy is released and moves in with her brother and his wife at their farm. Lucy is also reunited with her daughter, played by Diane Baker, whom she hasn't seen since the double homicide.

Soon after Lucy arrives at the farm, she starts having nightmares about the double murder. A doctor from the asylum who has travelled to check on Joan disappears soon after visiting her. A creepy handyman, played by Lee Marvin, is brutally murdered on her brother's farm. Is Lucy the one responsible for the doctor's disappearance and the handyman's murder, or is she being set up? And what is with her daughter getting her mom to dress up in the tarty clothes, complete with black wig, that she used to wear twenty years ago?

While the performances by Ms. Crawford and Ms. Baker may be overwrought at times, they never descend to the level of camp. The movie evokes suspense and chills without being gory or excessively frightening. The ending evokes a sense of "Whoa! I didn't see that coming!" While this movie cannot be called a horror classic on the level of "Psycho", it is an entertaining way to spend an evening with friends. There is also some commentary about the making of the film which includes an interview with a much older Diane Baker along with some film of Joan doing some practice swings with an axe - I found that to be more bizarre than the movie.

5/5 strait jacket
  by peter pan (viña del mar chile)
when joan crawford became old she found the thrillers as bette davis and both of them,did it well,a fine example is whatever happened to baby jane,a real classic