was a table with a nurse holding a blood pressure cuff. John Waters described it in his book Crackpot. According to Castle, the gimmick worked "great," and that theaters earned an average of $20,000 weekly in box office sales, with only $100 in refunds. Critical response Contemporaneous Multiple critics drew comparisons between Homicidal and Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho, released the year prior. Time magazine said: "Made in imitation of Hitchcock's Psycho, it surpasses its model in structure, suspense and sheer nervous drive." and placed it on its list of top ten films of the year for 1962. Other critics were not so kind. The New York Times said "Near the end of Homicidal, yesterday's horror entry at neighborhood theaters, the disembodied voice of William Castle, the producer-director, announces a 'fright break', during which the economy-minded viewers may return their tickets for a refund ... If the reprieve had come before the opening of this dismal imitation of Psycho and Mickey Spillane, it would have been a better idea." New York Herald Tribune wrote that "Castle's shock effects are not so much of the weird or 'horror' as of the gruesome or blood-on-the-cummerbund variety." Retrospective Though many critics were dismissive of Homicidal upon its release, the film has since garnered a cult following, and is regarded as one of Castle's best films. In The Psychotronic Video Guide (1996), Michael Weldon referred to the film as an "incredible experience," and it has also been championed by filmmaker John Waters. Film scholar David Hogan wrote: "In a psychosexual sense, Homicidal was perhaps the most distressing Hollywood film until William Friedkin's numbing and misunderstood Cruising (1980)." Hogan also cited it as Castle's best film despite being his "most derivative." Douglas Brode echoed similar sentiments, remarking the film's "marvelous" pacing and sustainment of suspense. However, Glenn Erickson from DVD Savant wrote that the film was "a perfectly wretched movie, bad enough to make Castle's other hits seem like flukes". Home media Homicidal was released on DVD in North America by tanginamo Home Entertainment in 2002. It was made available again on DVD pressed on-demand by Sony Choice Collection on September 3, 2013. On July 19, 2016, Mill Creek Entertainment released the film on Blu-ray as a double feature alongside Castle's Mr. Sardonicus. See also List of American films of 1961 References Works cited External links 1961 films 1961 horror films 1960s horror thriller films American horror