''Zotz!'' is a 1962 American

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and d ...

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

produced and directed by

William Castle William Castle (born William Schloss Jr.; April 24, 1914 – May 31, 1977) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. Orphaned at 11, Castle dropped out of high school at 15 to work in the theater. He came to the attenti ...

, and starring

Tom Poston Tom or TOM may refer to: * Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of people with the name) Characters * Tom Anderson, a character in '' Beavis and Butt-Head'' * Tom Beck, a character ...

, Julia Meade,

Jim Backus James Gilmore Backus (February 25, 1913 – July 3, 1989) was an American actor. Among his most famous roles were Thurston Howell III on the 1960s sitcom ''Gilligan's Island,'' the father of James Dean's character in '' Rebel Without a Cause, ...

Fred Clark Frederick Leonard Clark (March 19, 1914 – December 5, 1968) was an American film and television character actor. Early years Born in Lincoln, California, Clark was the son of Fred Clark Sr. He attended Stanford University with plans to become ...

, and

Cecil Kellaway Cecil Lauriston Kellaway (22 August 1890 – 28 February 1973) was a South African character actor. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor twice, for '' The Luck of the Irish'' (1948) and '' Guess Who's Coming to Dinner ...

. It is about a man obtaining magical powers from a god of an ancient civilization. It is based on Walter Karig's 1947 novel.

Plot

A brilliant but peculiar professor of Ancient Eastern languages, Jonathan Jones, finds that an amulet sent to his niece Cynthia by a boyfriend from an archeological dig has magical powers. Whoever has the amulet in their possession can 1) cause great pain by pointing at another living creature, 2) cause time to go into slow motion by saying the word "Zotz!", or 3) cause instant death by simultaneously pointing and saying "Zotz!". Both government and Communist agents immediately develop an interest in the amulet's possible military use. (This is a

metaphor A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide (or obscure) clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas. Metaphors are often compared wi ...

for the age of

nuclear weapon A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions ( thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bom ...

s, as the novel was written two years after atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki). In the meantime, Jones and rival professor Kellgore are both in line for a promotion to take over from retiring Dean Updike as head of this California university's language department. A new colleague and possible romantic interest, Professor Fenster, is startled by Jones' behavior, particularly at a party thrown by Updike's wife that turns into chaos. Near the end of the movie, Jones refers to Fenster as Mrs. Jones, inferring that they were either already married, or that they were going to get married soon. Professor Fenster’s first appearance occurs moments after Jones first mentioned the name of Zotz in one of the early scenes of the movie. She was standing naked just outside one of the windows of his home during a thunderstorm that Jones (unintentionally) just so happened to conjure up when he mentioned Zotz. Shocked and embarrassed by her nakedness, he quickly closed the window on her. Feeling somewhat sorry for her, though, he waved her over to go to the front door. Shortly after Jones handed her his suit coat so that she could cover her private parts, he temporarily permitted her to come into the house. When firmly asked by Jones to leave, so as not give the wrong immoral impression to his niece who was asleep upstairs in her bedroom, Fenster refused to go back out into the storm half-naked. Fenster emphatically explained to Jones, in hopes that he would sympathize with her, that she was “hurrying along, trying to beat out this sudden storm,” when she was apparently struck by lightning. Moreover, she also told Jones that her clothes were blown off by the electrostatic charge embedded within the bolt that hit her. After listening to her seemingly “far-fetched” story, he mentioned that he remembered hearing about an actual incident where someone’s clothes were literally torn from their body as a direct result of being struck by lightning. Finally realizing that she was telling the truth, Jones lent Fenster some of his niece’s clothes. Now, fully clothed and armed with an umbrella that Jones also lent her, Fenster opens the door to brave the elements and go home. The storm was, however, now over and the umbrella was no longer needed.

Cast

as Professor Jonathan Jones * Zeme North as Cynthia Jones * Julia Meade as Professor Virginia Fenster *

as Professor Kellgore *

as Dean Updike *

Margaret Dumont Margaret Dumont (born Daisy Juliette Baker; October 20, 1882 – March 6, 1965) was an American stage and film actress. She is best remembered as the comic foil to the Marx Brothers in seven of their films; Groucho Marx called her "practically ...

as Persephone Updike *

as General Bullivar

Promotion

During the initial theatrical run, theater patrons received a full-size plastic replica of the amulet as a promotional item. In color, size and design, the replicas were essentially identical to the film amulet, with the additional feature of a small hole drilled at the top, for a key chain.

DVD release

On October 20, 2009, ''Zotz!'' was released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

by Sony Pictures as part of ''The William Castle Collection'' box set.

References

External links