I Saw What You Did (1965)

hyped garbage

Absolutely the worst movie.

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Clearly, William Castle was no great director, certainly no Hitchcock, but this silly little gem of a B-movie works better than most Castle movies because the camera man, Joe Biroc, gives the picture a macabre dignity mostly lacking in Castle's other work as a director... (Just imagine if Castle's first movie with Joan Crawford, STRAIT-JACKET, a film with obvious potential, had been photographed by Biroc and all its sloppy, slipshod flaws were obscured -- it would have wound up the masterpiece Castle had hoped it would be, instead of a tacky cult curio). I SAW WHAT YOU DID presents a cozily idyllic, B&W, semi-rural, claustrophobic alternative reality at midnight, what with the split-level house on a hill in the middle of a really cool farm, and Crawford and John Ireland competing in the Who's Creepiest sweepstakes... and William Castle even uses a very effective fog in the latter scenes which makes me wonder why none of the other grand dame guignol pictures ever did that, not even HUSH... HUSH, SWEET CHARLOTTE (which Biroc also shot). So ISWYD works on atmosphere and good-naturedness.

I Saw What You Did (1965) *** (out of 4)Libby (Andi Garrett), Kit (Sara Lane) and Libby's younger sister Tess (Sharyl Locke) are home alone when they decide to have some fun by prank calling people. They start telling people "I saw what you did and I know who you are" but unfortunately for them they say this to Steve Marak (John Ireland) who has just murdered his wife.William Castle's I SAW WHAT YOU DID is an extremely entertaining and satisfying thriller that manages to be the director's best film next to HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL. The film has such a simple set-up and the director manages to do so much with it that it's a real shame the movie has never gotten the credit it deserves. This here is certainly much better than the other psychological thrillers that he was making during this period and he didn't have to resort to any sort of gimmick.What works so well here is the fact that the story is simple. I'm sure most people watching the movie has done something childish and stupid like the teens did here and of course sometimes you do it to the wrong person. The idea of saying something innocent as a prank to someone who has actually killed their wife just makes for a person story and it really gets hammered home thanks to Castle's direction. There are a couple terrific sequences here including the murder of the wife, which takes place in the shower and is rather violent. The other great moment happens at the very end when the two sisters are being chased around the house by the killer. There's some real tension in this sequence and it's certainly the highlight of the director's career.Another thing that works perfectly here are the performances. Both Garrett and Lane are wonderful in their roles and I thought both of them were very believable playing the naive teens. You've also got strong supporting performances by Leif Erickson and John Archer. There's also Ireland who turns in a wonderful and sinister performance as the man who just snaps and then has to resort to more murder to cover up his crimes. Ireland really nailed the part and sold it so well that you could believe he was this creep. Joan Crawford got top-billing but she's really not in much of the film. It's still fun to see her however and she's still quite good.I SAW WHAT YOU DID certainly deserves to be much better known than it is. Of all the film Castle did this one here contains his greatest director and proves that he could build up suspense and tension if he needed to.

Teenagers Libby and Kit innocently spend an evening doing random crank calls. These calls lead to murderous consequences.William Castle made a lot of great films, both horror and comedy. Here he has made a good film, but not a great one, due largely in part to its not being a great horror film or great comedy. Much of it is just meandering with kids using the telephone.The only real star is Joan Crawford, who is over the top in her final American film appearance. I suppose at this point in her career, that is what she had become known for. As a whole, she doesn't add much, and the story would have benefited more from tightening the script or maybe even cutting a few minutes.

I Saw What You Did is directed by William Castle and written by William P. McGivern. It stars John Ireland, Joan Crawford, Leif Erickson, Andi Garrett, Sara Lane and Sharyl Locke. Music is by Van Alexander (Joseph Gershenson supervising) and cinematography by Joseph F. Biroc. When two teenagers on babysitting duties decide to have fun making prank phone calls, their evening turns sinister when they call up a man who has just murdered his wife… William Castle was of course better known for his gimmicks than for his ability as a film maker, I Saw What You Did shows the best and worst of the great entertainer. Castle produces and directs this one so is accountable for getting the mix completely wrong. At times the picture is genuinely suspenseful, the premise at the core superb, but at others it feels like it wants to be a comedy, further compounded by Alexander's awful musical score. It's a score that belongs in something like Bewitched or The Munsters, and quite often takes you out of the thriller zone. Castle unsurprisingly borrows off of some films that influenced his career, but aided by McGivern's screenplay he manages to put some different spins on the twisty plot developments. It also helps having Biroc (The Killer that Stalked New York/Cry Danger/The Garment Jungle) on photography duty, he's able to make Castle's fog scenes appear icy cold, to blend the shadows into the story like foreboding prowlers. Cast wise the elder cast members aren't stretching themselves here, with Crawford working for food and Ireland on auto-pilot, but the younger actors are great fun and really nail that naivety of youth thing to the max. All told it's a fun film, if not always for the right reasons. With some Castle invention (eyelet vision?!) and steals – and Biroc on form, there's more than enough here to compensate for the confusing mix of genres. 6/10