Who payed the critics

Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

Joan Crawford's performance is masterful, ranging all the way from pitiful to frightening. Crawford was a great movie actress. She commands the screen and has thoroughly prepared for every scene and every word of dialogue, however good or bad the dialogue might be. The whole film is never dull for a moment and is well made within the limits of the guilty pleasure sort of style. Like a train wreck, you can't look away. Supporting cast acting is adequate, especially Diane Baker who works well with Joan Crawford as they create a memorable mother/daughter team. For the ultimate in absurd, guilty pleasure brilliance by director William Castle and star Joan Crawford, view "Straight Jacket" when you get the chance.

...ly bad" in what is almost certainly her worst performance. When she steps off the train, bracelets jangling, looking like a drop-out from a school for prostitutes, it's impossible not to start screaming -- with laughter. This continues throughout most of the film, with one scene of ludicrous emoting following another.You have to be incredibly dense not to figure out right at the start who the ax murderer is going to be.The script -- by Robert Bloch, of all people -- is 90% exposition, with little in the way of suspense or dramatic interaction. It alternates between risibility and tediousness. Van Alexander's score is atrocious. He has no idea how to write effective film music.This is a "strictly for laughs" film, perfect for party viewing. I'd suggest it as MST3K fodder, but it's so awful that it's its own self-parody.

The star, Joan Crawford, and the period (the early '60s) makes this almost work...It's shuddery and creepy, though cartoonishly schlocky, obviously.If it's not the best really bad movie ever made, then it's certainly close.Yes, it's a legendarily ridiculous movie. The music score, in the innocuous scenes, sounds like it comes from a sitcom of that era, while the dramatic moments indeed sound as if they're composed for a sci-fi thing.Joan acts her little heart out as the tormented maniac, though her transformation from 60 years old to "29 years old" isn't entirely successful. Go figure.Overall, the movie is badly edited, unevenly acted, and William Castle's work is mediocre even by his standards -- the way the opening murder scene is ruined by his cinematic incompetence is astounding! No subjective camera view? Even during the the killings?? My favorite part of the film is probably the party at the Fields' house near the end, Mr Fields' doomed closet, all the way thru Diane Baker's breakdown. So funny.It's undeniably fun, but imagine if Castle had done a better job on this film without leaving all the responsibility to Joan.Oh, the missed opportunities from Castle. Such good ideas yet so little talent!

Have suspense films really changed so much in just a few short years? It's hard to imagine that so many people went to see this, let alone have left glowing reviews of it."Straight-Jacket" might have been better titled "Hysteria." The entire production is an exercise in excess, one so blatant that it's difficult not to laugh out loud.Every actor in the production, including star Joan Crawford, conducts themselves as if they are in a stage production. They flail their arms. They mug for the camera at every opportunity. They screech and cry and rant maniacally (if they are female). It's shameless overacting to a degree seldom seen.This would be fine, if there was a subtle script to balance it. What "Straight-Jacket" offers instead is a bludgeon. In case you didn't realize that the actors were supposed to be dramatic, you get lines of dialog that border on parody. The ending, which features a rant so over the edge that it's hilarious, typifies the film. "I love her! I hate her! I love her! I hate her!" The icing on this over-baked cake is the musical score, which has to be heard to be believed. In case you missed the film's lack of subtlety, the score pummels you with further shrill punctuations every time there's supposed to be a scare.I'm astounded that this picture has picked up the kind of IMDb rating that it has. Did anyone actually watch this picture?