shilo69 Review of The Caretakers

The Caretakers (1963)

good message but more for the sake of exploitation than enlightnment.

[5/10 · 22 January 2007]

Have not seen this movie since I first saw it back in the 60s. I had remembered it as a horror-melodrama. Seeing it again on DVD, it seems more like a cliché-ridden, exploitation rehash of disturbed women locked in a boiler room environment. The cases are not interesting enough. The characters are just stereotypes without any depth. The conflict of represented of old force vs. humane treatment doesn't add up to anything based on what actually happens. I was bored with most of the histrionics and (spoiler) not to have that final confrontation between Stack and Crawford is a real cheat to the audience, since it had been building throughout the film. The film does sport a mix of good actors (Crawford, Marshall, Barrie, Corby) with some of the young b-actresses (Oliver, McBain, Hugueny)of the time. Most of the real juice is supplied by the driving score by Elmer Bernstein which reinforces the melodramatic aspects of the story.