I SAW WHAT YOU DID: a great star hanging on by her manicured fingernails

Thirty five years before "I Know What You Did Last Summer" put a bunch of teenagers in fear of their lives after accidentally killing a creepy looking fisherman in a hit and run, low budget horror meister William Castle gave us two teenagers in fear of their lives after unknowingly prank calling a murderer in I SAW WHAT YOU DID.

One could ponder on the relative scariness of knowing and seeing. Is it worse to imagine or actually witness a murder?  For me though, that's not the pertinent question. For me it's a question of which one would I want to watch more than once and the answer's easy.
I SAW WHAT YOU DID features the final appearance in an American made cinematic release of Joan Crawford. By 1965 this legendary film star was reduced to making low budget schlock horror B-movies but she refused to give in to her diminished circumstances. Crawford gives her part the same enthusiasm, (possibly alcohol fueled) energy and commitment as she did in her heyday, working opposite the true greats like Clark Gable, Melvyn Douglas, John Garfield and John Barrymore.
It's a pretty crummy part, playing a sex-starved older woman with all the appeal of a worn-out armchair, so desperate for attention she's prepared to blackmail a murderer (John Ireland) into marrying her, but there's not an ounce of shame or embarrassment in her performance. There's a certain fascination in watching this once great star work, seemingly oblivious to the passage of time, and the toll that it takes on the human body. It's tempting to describe Crawford as desperate - so desperate to continue working that she'd take a part like this - but that would suggest that she knew it was wrong for her and demeaning, and that's not at all what comes through in her performance.
Director Castle was damn lucky Crawford agreed to make the film because without her he's got nothing. Ireland clearly thinks the subject matter is beneath him, co-star Leif Erickson emotes with all the gusto of a California Redwood, and Sara Lane and Andi Garrett as the two prank-calling terrorised teenagers are what's mercifully described as 'inadequate.'
If you ever wondered where the makers of 'Scooby Doo' got their inspiration check out I SAW WHAT YOU DID.