| Director | William Castle |
|---|---|
| Box office | $2.2 million |
Lucy Harbin has a solution for adultery—an axe. When she finds her husband in bed with his lover, it's off with their heads. Unfortunately, Lucy's three-year-old daughter, Carol, witnesses the deed. Lucy is tried and judged criminally insane. She spends the next 20 years at a mental institution, which is how long it takes for her to regain emotional stability. Upon her release, Lucy moves in with her brother and his wife on their farm. There, she is reunited with daughter Carol, who is now an artist and sculptor and dating Michael, the richest young man in town.
Carol attempts to create a bond with her mother, but Lucy is troubled by dreams and flashbacks of her horrific act. She envisions lying in bed with the severed heads of her two victims. One day, Dr. Anderson, her psychiatrist back at the asylum, comes to visit Lucy. The encounter proves too much and she experiences a breakdown. The doctor now questions the institute's decision to release her. Shortly after, the doctor's body is found dismembered in the barn. Lucy fears she may have chopped up the doctor during one of her traumatic flashbacks. Daughter Carol attempts to hide the doctor's car but is blackmailed by the farm's meddling handyman. A short time later, he is found decapitated.
One evening, Lucy and Carol visit Michael and his parents for dinner. It is not a happy affair. Michael's mother believes Carol is unfit to marry her son and says so. In a rage, Lucy storms out of the house, pursued by Carol and Michael, leaving Michael's parents alone in their home. Later, while in his closet, Michael's father is butchered. Michael's mom is subsequently confronted by the killer, who is wearing a latex mask that resembles Lucy's face. Lucy herself then enters, having returned to the house. Lucy fights and subdues the killer. She removes the mask, revealing the murderer. It is Carol. She admits to the killings, having been motivated by greed. Carol had hoped to murder Michael's parents and frame Lucy, enabling her to marry Michael. In the film's ironic finale, Lucy prepares to visit Carol in the same psychiatric hospital where she was once confined.