HOMICIDAL no stars

William Castle's homage to "Psycho" may have been something of a cheap rip-off but "Homicidal" is still entertaining, if hugely predictable. As it stands, it's like something that might have turned up on television as an episode of "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour" but is given something of a lift by Jean Arless (aka Joan Marshall) as the homicidal Emily, Eugenie Leontovich, the old lady in the chair, and Burnett Guffey's excellent cinematography. It's a pity then that Robb White's screenplay was is shockingly derivative so the 'scares' when they come just aren't scary, (despite the 'fright break'), and the plot twist is obvious thirty minutes into the movie, (and logically, it's also preposterous) so that even if we hadn't just seen "Psycho" we could still figure it out. Also the acting by leads Glenn Corbett and Patricia Breslin is poor meaning this one is strictly for the fans.