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Joy House

Joy House

Thriller · Crime · 1964

A small-time con man on the run from his girlfriend's gangster husband hides out in a strange, brooding mansion run by two mysterious women, where he finds himself trapped in deception between the two.

Movie details

Joy House

“The Women of the "Joy House" Allowed Him Every Freedom...Except the Freedom to Leave!”

1964 Thriller · Crime 1h 37m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.4 / 10

Community rating

A small-time con man on the run from his girlfriend's gangster husband hides out in a strange, brooding mansion run by two mysterious women, where he finds himself trapped in deception between the two.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Joy House?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

Death of a Corrupt Man

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Diabolically Yours

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A wealthy amnesiac begins to suspect that his devoted wife is not really his wife and that he is not the man people keep telling him he is.

Without Apparent Motive

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A series of murders is committed in Nice on the French riviera. The commissaire Carella is in charge and tries to find a missing link between all these murders.

Let Her Kill You

Let Her Kill You

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Alone in the mountains of Switzerland, Anne discovers that her isolated chalet is on surveillance and has been bugged. Caught up by her former life as an intelligence secret agent and an affair with her handler, Anne can only count on herself to get out alive.

The Glass Key

The Glass Key

Crime · 1942

A crooked politician finds himself being accused of murder by a gangster from whom he refused help during a re-election campaign.

The Seven-Ups

The Seven-Ups

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A tough detective who is part of an elite New York City unit is trying to find out who killed his partner, but uncovers a plot to kidnap mobsters for money.

Unsubmissives

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Saloum

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Night Watch

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A woman recovering from a nervous breakdown tries to convince her husband and and the local London police that she has witnessed a murder in the abandoned house next door.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

René Clément

Written by

Pascal Jardin · Charles Williams · René Clément

Alain Delon

Alain Delon

Marc

Jane Fonda

Jane Fonda

Melinda

Lola Albright

Lola Albright

Barbara

Sorrell Booke

Sorrell Booke

Harry

Carl Studer

Carl Studer

Loftus

André Oumansky

André Oumansky

Vincent

George Gaynes

George Gaynes

Cast

Court is in session

Put Joy House on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Big-Idea Head

“Its refusal to behave is the point.”

The strange choices create the kind of friction that follows you out of the theatre and into the argument.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Oddness is not depth.”

A film can break every rule and still leave nothing behind but the memory of how hard it tried to be singular.