Zotz!
| Zotz! | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Directed by | William Castle |
| Produced by | William Castle |
| Written by |
Walter Karig Ray Russell |
| Starring |
Tom Poston Julia Meade Jim Backus Fred Clark Cecil Kellaway |
| Music by | Bernard Green |
| Cinematography | Gordon Avil |
| Edited by | Edwin H. Bryant |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
|
Release date
|
October 3, 1962 |
|
Running time
|
87 min. |
| Country | US |
| Language | English |
Zotz! is a 1962 fantasy/comedy film produced and directed by William Castle, about a man obtaining magical powers from a god of an ancient civilization. The film is based on the 1947 novel of the same name by Walter Karig.
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.
Just by pointing at another living creature and saying the word "Zotz!", Jones can cause great pain or a strange change in another person's behavior. Both government and Communist agents immediately develop an interest in the amulet's possible military use. (This is a metaphor for the age of nuclear weapons, 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.
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.
On October 20, 2009, Zotz! was released on DVD as part of The William Castle Collection box set by Sony Pictures.
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Wikipedia