William Castle directed Zotz! a fantasy comedy, starring Tom Poston, Julia Meade, Jim Backus, Fred Clark, and Cecil Kellaway.
Based on Walter Karig’s 1947 novel, it is a tale about a man obtaining magical powers from a god of an ancient civilization.
Premise:
Tom Poston (TV’s “Newhart”) finds a Zotz coin and discovers its awesome powers. After attempting to share its secret with the U.S government (where, initially, he is brushed off as a lunatic), his discovery captures the interest of foreign agents, who attempt to steal it.
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 cause great pain by pointing at another living creature, can cause time to go into slow motion (but only for the target(s)) by saying the word “Zotz!” and can cause instant death by simultaneously pointing and saying “Zotz!”.
Both government and Communist agents develop interest in the amulet’s possible military use.
The novel was written two years after atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, so the object might have been a metaphor for the age of nuclear weapons.
To promote the film, William Castle provided each filmgoer with a “magic” coin which, unfortunately, did absolutely nothing.
Running time: 87 minutes
