Shanks (1974): cast, story & where to watch

Released in 1974, Shanks is a fantasy and horror film directed by William Castle, running about 93 minutes. “A new concept in the macabre in which the Good come out of the grave and the Evil are sent to fill the vacancy.” — that tagline sets the tone.

What it’s about. Malcolm Shanks is a sad and lonely man, deaf, mute and living with his cruel sister and her husband, who delight in making him miserable. His only pleasure, it seems, is in making and controlling puppets. Thanks to his skill, he is offered a job as a lab assistant to Dr. Walker, who is working on ways to re-animate dead bodies by inserting electrodes at key nerve points and manipulating the bodies as if they were on strings. When the professor suddenly dies one night, Shanks gets the idea to apply their experimental results to a human body, and then to start exacting some revenge.

Who’s in it. Shanks stars Marcel Marceau as Malcolm Shanks / Old Walker, Tsilla Chelton as Mrs. Barton, Philippe Clay as Mr. Barton and Cindy Eilbacher as Celia, among others.

How it landed. With an audience score of 5.6/10, Shanks has drawn a solid, mixed-to-positive response.

Where to watch. In US you can rent or buy it from Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies and YouTube. See the full, country-by-country breakdown on our where to watch Shanks page.

If you liked it. Fans of Shanks tend to enjoy The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, The Green Mile, Spirited Away and The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.