Zotz!

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Zotz!

1962

1h 27m

Comedy

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2 Reviews

21%

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100+ Ratings

Professor Jonathan Jones (Tom Poston) is given an ancient coin that provides him with new abilities. Jonathan can cause pain, slow time or kill, all through the mystical coin and a special word: "Zotz." When Jonathan tries to explain the power, few believe him, and he loses ground to a competing professor (Jim Backus). However, Russian spies find out about the coin, and they kidnap Jonathan's niece (Zeme North) as well as a female professor he likes (Julia Meade).

Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

William Castle tries but fails with this one.

Rated: C

May 18, 2011

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Dennis Schwartz

Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

Just a dreadful film.

Rated: C-

Mar 16, 2009

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Audience Member

One of great movies of my childhood.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/20/23

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Audience Member

Really fun quasi sci-fi films I remembered as a kid and recently was able to see and it still holds up - plenty of entertaining performances by Tom Poston and Jim Bachus.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/23/23

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eric b

"Zotz!" has a fun premise, a good cast (Tom Poston, Jim Backus, even Marx brothers legend Margaret Dumont) and William Castle's slick directing style, so why is this film such a drag? Poston is a college professor of languages who gets his hands on an ancient coin that bestows three magic powers upon its owner. Simultaneously, he is competing with Backus for a department promotion and courting an attractive new faculty member. So far, so good. But what are those powers? Something exciting like invisibility, telekinesis, flying or mind-reading? Nope. He can cause intense stomach pain, make things run in slow motion or shut down a person (or machine) altogether. Ho hum. Not so interesting, eh? "Zotz!" never overcomes this script problem, and a late attempt to add Cold War-era Soviet villains doesn't help.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

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ashley h

Zotz is another disappointing film. It is about Jonathan Jones who comes into possession of an ancient coin. Tom Poston and Julia Meade give horrible performances. The screenplay is badly written. William Castle did a terrible job directing this movie. I did not think that this motion picture was funny and was not impressed.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

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Audience Member

Harmless nonsense is a change-of-pace for director Castle.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/27/23

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Audience Member

William Castle tries but fails with this one.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

01/21/23

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William Castle

Director

Tom Poston

Prof. Jonathan Jones

Julia Meade

Prof. Virginia Fenster

Jim Backus

Prof. Horatio Kellgore

Fred Clark

Gen. Bullivar

Cecil Kellaway

Dean Joshua Updike

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Synopsis

Professor Jonathan Jones (Tom Poston) is given an ancient coin that provides him with new abilities. Jonathan can cause pain, slow time or kill, all through the mystical coin and a special word: "Zotz." When Jonathan tries to explain the power, few believe him, and he loses ground to a competing professor (Jim Backus). However, Russian spies find out about the coin, and they kidnap Jonathan's niece (Zeme North) as well as a female professor he likes (Julia Meade).

Director: William Castle
Producer: William Castle
Screenwriter: Ray Russell
Production Co: Columbia Pictures Corporation
Genre: Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Jun 4, 2018
Runtime: 1h 27m