A mysterious hypnotist is suspected by the police of being responsible for a wave of female mutilation victims.A mysterious hypnotist is suspected by the police of being responsible for a wave of female mutilation victims.A mysterious hypnotist is suspected by the police of being responsible for a wave of female mutilation victims.
- King of the Beatniks
- (as Eric 'Big Daddy' Nord)
- Emergency Doctor
- (as James Lydon)
- Waiter serving Desmond and Marcia
- (uncredited)
- Audience Member
- (uncredited)
- Observer at Scene
- (uncredited)
- Audience Member
- (uncredited)
- Mrs. McNear
- (uncredited)
- Audience Member
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaShot in 12 days.
- GoofsWhen Dodie is suspended in air, wires holding her body up can clearly be seen near Desmond's head. This is an unfortunate side effect of modern film restoration; things that were unseen in the original 35mm prints now become visible because of the increased sharpness.
- Quotes
King of the Beatniks: [reading his poem at a nightclub] I have just written a poem... Confessions of a Movie Addict. Or, The Holy Barbarian Blues. - - "I was a teenaged movie monster. I cut my teeth on Clara Bow. I dug Rudolph Valentino. I was hooked on all the vampire movie queens. I rode with the posse, and cut 'em off at the pass. I was thrilled by The Thing from Outer Space. Man, I was a mess. And I was turned on by Shakespeare, Plato, Aristotle, Edgar Guest. I saw "Charley's Aunt" in the original, uncut version. Crazy, man, crazy. One day I wandered drunk, dazed, wild-eyed, into an art movie house - you know, loose smocks, with subtitles... Now I'm cool, man, cool. I've kicked the movie habit. I'm off to make the interstellar scene. Aloha, dosvedanya, au revoir, goodbye. Later, man, later."
- Crazy creditsRather than listing the character he plays, one actor is listed in the main credits as "FRED DEMARA (THE GREAT IMPOSTER)" to emphasize that he was the real life subject of the popular movie "The Great Impostor" (1960) that was released the same year.
- ConnectionsFeatured in It Came from Hollywood (1982)
Jacques Bergerac is probably best known as being middle-aged Ginger Rogers' ex-gigolo...I mean, husband. He became an actor after their marriage. A couple of years after they divorced, he married Dorothy Malone. He's kind of creepy which works for the part. B movie queen Allison Hayes has the best role as his sexy assistant. Hayes is a favorite of mine. She made every one of the low-budget movies she appeared in better. Joe Patridge is the incompetent and obnoxious detective who couldn't find his ass with both hands and a flashlight. This guy is such a jerk and he's supposed to be the hero! Not to mention he's such a poor detective his girlfriend has to do his job for him. Guy Prescott is his psychiatrist sidekick. He's moderately smarter than his buddy and he seems to be a bit of a voyeur, judging by the stakeout scene. Marcia Henderson plays the girlfriend and amateur sleuth.
Schlocky horror-thriller that's better than it has any right being. The "HypnoMagic" stuff is great. There are also a couple of pretty effective shocks that pushed the boundaries for 1960. A woman sets her head on fire, another washes her face with acid, and something else that happens in the climax. I mean it's not gory but still pretty rough for the time. Love the campy beatnik scene. It's an imperfect but fun movie. A nice way to pass the time but nothing extraordinary. Allison Hayes fans will definitely want to see it.
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- The Screaming Sleep
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $365,000 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 19 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.78 : 1