I'm still a little clueless as to why William Castle is a horror icon. It's most likely because my view of horror is way different than what was done in the 60'sI saw the the old Dark House which I thought was amusing more than scary, and this movie seem to becoming from that perspective. Like The old Dark House it stars Tom Poston, who would seem like a weird leading man if this was not a William Castle film. Tom plays a language expert who reads the dead language on a coin and it gives him the ability to kill anyone he points his finger at. despite the dark story with Poston at the helm as the lead actor, it as a very Nutty professor feel to it.The chemistry between Tom and the lead actress playing his love interest is also a high part of the entertainment value of the movie.like the old Dark house this William Castle flick is worth seeing to be entertained by Tom Poston.

A professor of ancient Asian languages (Tom Poston) comes across a coin sent to his niece from a former student. After translating the coin's inscription, he finds that the bearer has godlike power: he can slow time, or even kill living things simply by pointing his finger and saying "zotz".This is one of the lesser known William Castle films, not even released on DVD until October 20, 2009 (which you should pick up in the magnificent Castle Collection available now). It is less horror, more science fiction and a healthy dose of comedy. We have the absent-minded professor, some goofy Russians, and some cheesy special effects. Critics have complained that the film cheapens the book for the sake of focusing on special effects: I don't agree. The effects are amusing, but not a focal point of the film for me.As for the book, which I confess I haven't read, it seems that Castle did not stray too far from the source. Written as an allegory about the danger of nuclear weapons during World War II, only one major change was made: moving the setting to the Cold War. The nuclear weapon analogy is there, and we have the hint of an arms race, which I think is a far more poignant issue than World War II's nuclear concerns.I enjoyed this film greatly. As I said, you must pick up the William Castle Collection. He's truly a master of the genre, and even forgotten films like this illustrate that. I hope this film's release generates a resurgence of interest in Castle's films, or at the very least additional showings of them at screenings and on networks such as AMC.

Charles Miller's excellent review pretty much says it all. One can only hope Mr. Karig got a goodly sum for the movie rights. (Yeah. Sure.)If you have fond memories of this film -- and especially if you don't -- the novel is worth looking up, if only to see (as if you had to be told) how Hollywood hacks like William Castle can ruin an interesting story by assuming the audience is just too stupid to understand anything that might provoke thought. (One might also locate "The Circus of Dr. Lao", to see how George Pal butchered/eviscerated/raped a magnificent novel.)"Zotz!" the novel is unusual in that it has illustrations -- more like cartoons, actually. The only one I remember is that of a young woman coming to visit Dr. Jones who has her clothes blown off by a lightning strike.Regardless, your time would be much better spent with the novel than the film. Which is almost always the case.PS: Since writing this review, I got a copy of the novel and reread it. It's even better than I remembered, but it's not a story that lends itself to a straightforward film adaptation. That, however, does not justify William Castle appropriating the cheaply appealing part of the story, and ignoring everything else. Had he done it "properly", he would have anticipated "Indiana Jones" by 20 years.

Here's something that you don't see every day. In "Zotz!", a college professor (Tom Poston) discovers an ancient coin which has three uses for whomever holds it: if you point to someone, the person feels a sharp pain; if you say "zotz" to someone, the person goes into slow motion; if you point to someone and say "zotz", it kills the person. Not only does he start using it throughout town - with some unintended consequences - but the Soviet Union gets wind of the story (so you know what that means).Overall, the movie was pretty (seeing him make Jim Backus move in slow motion was something), but the part about the Russian agents trying to steal the coin was sort of silly.