By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Jeffrey Schwarz
Country: united_states
Year: 2008
Running time: 82
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0795473/
Bruce says: “Today William Castle is not exactly a household name although he was quite well known in his day. Labeled the B-Movie Alfred Hitchcock, he never argued that point as he reveled in a spotlight borrowed from P.T. Barnum. Castle (his birth name was William Schloss, which means ‘castle’ in German) was born with drive and determination. Badgering his way into offices and forcing introductions he became Orson Welles Assistant Director on THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI and became the golden boy for Harry Cohn, the much disliked head of Columbia Pictures. For Columbia, William Castle directed and produced thrillers. Like Hitchcock, Castle often appeared in his films. Unlike Hitchcock he incorporated shameless gimmicks as part of the filmgoing experience.
“Castle’s daughter Terry provides great insight into what made her father tick. Other talking heads offer their memories and opinions, such as John Waters who states that THE TINGLER is his all-time favorite movie. Beginning with MACABRE (1958), Castle was on a roll. Audience members who cared to fill out the forms could get $1,000 free insurance against death by fright. Next came HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL (1959) featuring EMERGO which involved placing real nurses in the audience to administer to those overcome by shock. THE TINGLER (also 1959) followed; for this film Castle placed electric shock buzzers under some of the seats. In 1960 13 GHOSTS featured ILLUSION-O, color tinted glasses with ghost viewer red and ghost remover blue. A lot of silliness but it worked. Castle was not truly satisfied with his success. He wanted to direct big stars in big budget films. Vincent Price starred in HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL and THE TINGLER but that was not enough. Finally Castle hit the jackpot by signing Joan Crawford to STRAIGHT-JACKET. The experience was not what he had envisioned. Crawford had her own ideas about how the film should be made.
“Castle’s biggest contribution to cinema was to secure the rights to ROSEMARY’S BABY. His heart was set on directing it but the studio head Bob Evans hired Roman Polanski instead. Castle was only the producer with a small acting part. He admitted later that Polanski did a better job than he ever could have done. Castle discovered Hollywood was not very kind as he got older. In 1977 he died of a heart attack at age 63. SPINE TINGLER! THE WILLIAM CASTLE STORY is a very nice tribute to a man who loved film and who knew what the public wanted – to be scared out of their wits. 3.5 cats
“SPINE TINGLER! THE WILLIAM CASTLE STORY screened at the 2008 Provincetown International Film Festival.”