I Saw What You Did
by William Castle
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DVD details
Actor: Andi Garrett, Joan Crawford, John Ireland, Leif Erickson, Sara LaneDirector: William Castle
Cinematographer: Joseph F. Biroc
Producer: William Castle
Editor: Edwin H. Bryant
Producer: Dona Holloway
Writer: Ursula Curtiss
Writer: William P. McGivern
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Format: Black & White, DVD, Letterboxed, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.77:1
Running Time: 82 minutes
DVD Release Date: 1999-08-24
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Starz / Anchor Bay
DVD Reviews of I Saw What You Did
DVD Review: Not William Castle's best flick, but a fun ride
Summary: 4 Stars
I SAW WHAT YOU DID
*** ½ Out of 5
Release Date- July 21st, 1965
Running Time- 82-Minutes
Rating-
Screenplay- William P. McGivern (Ursula Curtiss, Novel)
Director- William Castle
Starring- Andi Garrett, Sarah Lane, John Ireland, Sharyl Locke, Patricia Breslin, Leif Erickson, John Archer and Joan Crawford as Amy Nelson
I Saw What You Did was released in 1965 and directed by William Castle; Castle a cult filmmaker is probably best known for his gimmicks when it comes to his work. In The Tingler certain seats would be rigged to give a zap to the viewer during the scare scenes; with 13 Ghosts the viewer could wear glasses that would allow them to see the ghosts in the house, Homicidal, had the fright meter pop up and finally Mr. Sardonicus the people in the theater voted on what ending they wanted regarding the lead character Mr. Sardonicus. These gimmicks served Castle well and while these movies still might be enjoyable those of us not old enough to see these movies during their original release are missing out.
William Castle was very much a camp director who came up with gimmicks, but he can also tell a story without camp (or too much) and without gimmicks. While I like William Castle's work I wouldn't rate any of his movies among my personal favorites except the 1964 film Straight-Jacket, which was a movie without any gimmicks and in my opinion showed the talent Castle had as a filmmaker when not making anything campy or with a gimmick.
I Saw What You Did is a movie without a gimmick well sort of; there were seatbelts installed in the seats at the theaters so people wouldn't jump out of their seat in fear, but this wasn't the typical Castle gimmick, but I Saw What You Did does have some camp value, which I'm not quite sure how much was intentional and I'll get more into that in just a bit.
The plot is simple, but effective; Libby (Andi Garrett) is watching over her sister Tess (Sharyl Locke) while their parents are away for the night, Libby's friend Kitt (Sarah Lane) comes over to hang out with Libby and with nothing better to do the three girls start to make some prank phone calls. They call a man named Steve Marak (John Ireland), but he's in the shower and when his wife goes into the room in a fit of rage Steve murders her than later buries the body; the girls continue to make prank phone calls only now saying I know who you are and I saw what you did, they end up calling Steve back and say this and of course the girls are unknown to what he actually did, but Steve doesn't know that.
The screenplay by William P. McGivern was based off a novel by Ursula Curtiss; since I've never read the novel I cannot compare the two or what was changed. The script was fairly well written with some decent character development; while the characters don't have a lot of depth McGivern does a good enough job in giving some insight to what the girls are like. Some of the dialogue was a bit silly in some spots and Libby actually goes to Steve's house to see what he looks like and I'm not sure about that. That seems a bit out there, but than again teenagers are known to do some stupid things so I guess it's possible for this to happen. The three main characters are slightly annoying at times, but teenagers and children can sometimes be annoying so the script sort of works due to that. The screenplay is hardly anything special and does have some silly moments, but it serves its purpose.
Director William Castle does a fairly good job with the pacing; even though at times nothing really happens, Castle is able to keep the movie mostly interesting up until the suspense kicks in. I Saw What You Did does have a campy feel through out the movie and I'm not sure how much was intentional; the performances were a bit weak, but the three girls were very early in their career. So with the acting it does add a camp feel. The score was idiotic and felt more like something better suited for a comedy and that also adds the campy feel to the movie.
Castle though manages to deliver some decent suspense and the final act is actually pretty good. The setting is at an isolated farm house and Castle takes advantage of his settings and is able to craft some solid scenes, but the campy acting and silly music does slightly take away from the suspense. The final act almost has a slasher like feel in how its done and I'm sure some filmmakers of the 80s slasher film probably got an idea or two from this. William Castle was an entertaining, but far from masterful director, but movies like I Saw What You Did as well as Straight-Jacket show Castle was a filmmaker with some talent and far more than just a gimmick director.
The performances were ok, but a bit wooden. Andi Garrett and Sarah Lane were good in their roles, but this I believe was their feature film debut so it wasn't perfect, but they do feel real and act like teenagers; Sharyl Locke as Tess was cute, but slightly annoying. John Ireland as Steve was good, but he never has that real creepy feel needed to elevate the movie; Joan Crawford appears in a small role that doesn't really add anything to the movie besides Steve being able to locate the girls.
Overall I Saw What You Did was an entertaining movie that has built up a nice cult following; this was one of Castle's better flicks, but it's far from a classic. Like I said this was an entertaining movie and does make for a fun time. I Saw What You Did would have a TV remake in 1988, which starred a young Shawnee Smith (Saw) and was directed by Fred Walton director of When a Stranger Calls and April Fools Day.
I wonder if this movie was of any influence on Wes Craven; in one scene Tess makes a prank phone call and says she's trying to reach her mother who is supposed to pick her up and she says the theater is on Elm Street, when Tess ends up giving the woman her house number, she calls and Libby answers and pretends to be the mother and refers to Tess as Nancy; I'd say this has to be more than a coincidence.
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