''Zotz!'' is a 1962 American

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

produced and directed by William Castle, and starring

Tom Poston Thomas Gordon Poston (October 17, 1921 – April 30, 2007) was an American actor, appearing in television roles from the 1950s through the early to mid-2000s, reportedly appearing in more sitcoms than any other actor. In the 1980s, he played ...

, Julia Meade, Jim Backus, Fred Clark, and Cecil Kellaway. 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 An amulet, also known as a good luck charm or phylactery, is an object believed to confer protection upon its possessor. The word "amulet" comes from the Latin word , which Pliny's ''Natural History'' describes as "an object that protects a perso ...

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 (but only for the target(s)) 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 usually meant to cr ...

for the age of

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

s, as the novel was written two years after

atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki On 6 and 9 August 1945, the United States detonated two atomic bombs over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, respectively, during World War II. The aerial bombings killed between 150,000 and 246,000 people, most of whom were civili ...

). 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's 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, implying 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 mentions the name of Zotz in one of the early scenes of the movie. She is standing naked just outside one of the windows of his home during a thunderstorm that Jones (unintentionally) just so happens to conjure up when he mentions Zotz. Shocked and embarrassed by her nakedness, he quickly closes the window on her. Feeling somewhat sorry for her, though, he waves her over to go to the front door. Shortly after Jones hands her his suit coat so that she could maintain her modesty, he temporarily permits 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 is asleep upstairs in her bedroom, Fenster refuses to go back out into the storm half-naked. Fenster emphatically explains to Jones, in hope 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 tells 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 mentions that he remembers 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 is telling the truth, Jones lends Fenster some of his niece's clothes. Now, fully clothed and armed with an umbrella that Jones also lends her, Fenster opens the door to brave the elements and goes home. The storm is, however, now over and the umbrella is no longer needed.

Cast

as Professor Jonathan Jones * Zeme North as Cynthia Jones * Julia Meade as Professor Virginia Fenster * Jim Backus as Professor Kellgore * Cecil Kellaway as Dean Updike * Margaret Dumont as Persephone Updike * Fred Clark 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.

Home media

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 ki ...

Sony Pictures Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment studio conglomerate that produces, acquires, and distributes filmed entertainment (theatrical motion pictures, television programs, and rec ...

as part of ''The William Castle Collection'' box set.

References

External links