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R.I.P. Original ‘Psycho’ Star John Gavin Has Died
“I didn’t have an inkling they would be classics. Had I realized that, perhaps I would have paid more attention,” John Gavin once reflected on his two most iconic roles, which saw him play Sam Loomis, Marion Crane’s boyfriend, in Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho and Julius Caesar in Stanley Kubrick’s Spartacus.
Today we’re sad to report that Gavin has passed away at 86. The news comes to us from The Exorcist director William Friedkin, who tweeted today, “[Gavin was] one of the finest men I knew, and like a brother to me.”
What you may not know about John Gavin (born John Anthony Golenor) is that he was originally attached to play James Bond in the 1971 film Diamonds are Forever, which needless to say would’ve taken his acting career to a whole new level. Ultimately, Sean Connery was convinced to return, but Gavin saw it as a blessing in disguise.
Leaving acting behind after appearing in a handful of films and television shows throughout the ’70s, the Golden Globe-winning Gavin was freed up to pursue his real childhood dream, which saw him appointed Ambassador to Mexico by President Reagan in 1981. He served until 1986, later becoming a successful businessman and civic leader.
Other titles on John Gavin’s acting resume include Imitation of Life, “Destry,” “The Alfred Hitchcock Hour,” “The Love Boat” and “Fantasy Island.”
Let’s start with the good news. Lockbox looks far better than its misleading marketing materials suggest, a supernatural horror movie so darkly lit and color graded that you’ll have to squint your way through jump scares. It’s also anchored by reliable genre performers. That’s also about where the good news ends with this rote adaptation of Knifepoint Horror Podcast story “Winthrop.”
The empathetic Carla Gugino gives her all as Ellen, a saint of a woman with boundless patience who takes on life’s hard luck with a kind smile. After giving up her career as a fashion designer to become caretaker for a dying mother, she’s then forced to reinvent herself once more when her caretaker role ends. That catches us up to the events of Lockbox, where Ellen is asked to take in a cousin she hasn’t seen in quite some time who’s dealing with severe PTSD.
Just as Ellen finally establishes a real connection with Winthrop (Lou Taylor Pucci), it’s interrupted by the arrival of peculiar neighbor Vahna (Katharine Isabelle), who spells clear trouble. When Vahna shows up dead, it sets in motion a supernatural battle of possession.
Image Credit: Aura entertainment
Director Daniel Stamm (The Last Exorcism, Prey for the Devil) and screenwriter Justin Yoffe approach Lockbox in the broadest of brushstrokes, dooming it from the start with clunky storytelling and woefully underdeveloped themes of heady topics like PTSD. Winthrop is a character that comes loaded with emotional baggage and trauma that’s piled on throughout his tragic life, but much like its title, his interiority and history are treated like a tightly guarded secret meant to prolong the supernatural mystery.
The problem here, though, is that Lockbox is too sparse to sustain mystery at all, and it instead robs Winthrop of characterization. It winds up trapping the talented Pucci without anywhere to go, toggling between wounded animal and mentally disoriented.
From there, Lockbox bounds through plot developments without any sense of stakes or purpose, peppered by a smattering of haphazard paint-by-numbers jump scares. The only unwavering constant is Ellen’s resolute faith, and Stamm seems to leave it entirely to Gugino to guide confused audiences through this inconsequential story right up until its supernatural climax.
Image Credit: Aura entertainment
To give more credit, Lockbox at least injects an unconventional exorcism here; just don’t expect much in the way of explanation. When the film finally reveals the meaning behind its title, it dangles a fascinating carrot it has zero interest in delivering. More than a severe lack of fleshing out its characters beyond plot drivers or devices, this faith-based flick also seems terrified to offer any worldbuilding whatsoever.
Yoffe’s script stretches the short story beyond its means instead of fleshing it out, and Stamm fills out the gaps with cheap CGI scares and overwrought performances; Isabelle’s Vahna is beyond cartoonish in her villainy. It’s also pretty nonsensical, treating only Ellen’s faith with the utmost sincerity and largely squandering its typically reliable talent. So much so that the final imagery, pure sunkissed saccharine sentimentality, leaves you with the feeling that this horror movie might be better suited as an entry in Chicken Soup for the Soul.
Lockbox releases in select theaters on July 3, 2026.
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