And now a postscript, if you will, to our discussion of the William Castle Film Collection, a nifty box set about to be unleashed on an unsuspecting world by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.

As I said yesterday, all of the films in the set -- 13 Frightened Girls, 13 Ghosts, Homicidal, Strait-Jacket, The Old Dark House, Mr. Sardonicus, The Tingler, and Zotz! -- are genuine 60s exploitation classics, several of which scared the bejeezus out of the adolescent me back in the day.

But if you thought I was kidding about the new to DVD Zotz! -- in which absent-minded professor Tom Poston has the magic power to kill people merely by pointing his finger and uttering the titular word -- then think again.

Here's the trailer, in case you don't believe me.

This is one of the films in Castle's ouevre that has pretty much dropped off the radar, which I find a little odd, given its boundlessly wacky and surreal originality, not to mention the ace supporting cast. (Have I mentioned that the lovely Julia Meade, the 60s icon of elegance who used to do the live car commercials on The Ed Sullivan Show, is one of the co-stars? As is Steve Allen Show and Curb Your Enthusiasm comic genius Louis Nye?) In any event, the overdue video release of the thing will hopefully encourage a critical reappraisal.

In the meantime, you can read much, much more about all things Zotz! over here. More to the point, you can preorder the newly remastered DVD (as part of the fabulous Castle box set) right here. ASAP would be a good idea, I think.