In my entry for the 19th of April , I discussed the many "gimmicks" that the great William Castle used to promote his films.  In that article- and the previous ones in the William Castle Tribute series, you probably noticed that I put quotes around the word, "gimmick".  The reason for this is that I really don't like that word as it applies to William Castle movies.  The word implies that the ways he promoted his films were silly, frivolous, and pointless. I would have to disagree. Personally, I think of his "gimmicks" more in the terms of "Audience Participatory Supplements."  This term is actually more accurate than the commonly used term "gimmick". "How?" you may ask?  Well, I'll tell you. Let's take Castle's movie, "The Tingler".  By rigging the seats with essentially giant joy buzzers, and having Vincent Price tell the audience that they need to scream for their lives, William Castle mad...

In 1958, the world was introduced to William Castle's movie, "Macabre," and the first of many "gimmicks" that he would use to promote his movies. The "gimmick" for "Macabre" was pretty simple compared to some of the later ones.  To market his movie, a certificate for a $1,000.00 life insurance policy- issued by Lloyd's of London was handed out to movie goers.  These certificates would only be redeemed if the movie goer died of fright during the movie.  To add to the flavor of this promotion, hearses were parked outside the theaters showing the movie, and nurses were placed in the lobbies... just in case. William Castle followed up the life insurance certificate with the introduction of "Emergo"- a new technology that helped to bring the audience closer to the action on the screen.  It was in fact, more 3D than 3D!  During the climatic scene of "House on Haunted Hill", this technology was used to add to the intensi...

In " William Castle Tribute II: Crime and Westerns ", I outlined a bit about William Castle's early films, which were mostly in the Crime Drama and Western genres.  I finished the article by stating that in 1958, he began to work his way into the hearts of horror fans. I said it because it's true. Up until that year, Crime Dramas and Westerns were popular- which was why many of Castle's early films were in those genres.  However, as the 1960's started to approach, the Horror and Suspense/Thriller genres were starting to gain in popularity... and the man that would become a staple of the Horror Industry went with that flow. William Castle's first foray into my favorite genre was with what most critics consider a Suspense/Thriller rather than a horror... even though I consider both to be closely connected.  In order to take this step, he mortgaged his own house into order to independently produce the movie.  The 15th of August, 1958 saw the first scen...

William Castle is well known for his horror movies- especially "House on Haunted Hill", "The Tingler", and "Homicidal", but he didn't start out in my favorite genre. Castle actually got his start working on Broadway in various jobs from set construction to even acting.  All of this experience would help him in the future when, at the age of 23, he moved out west to Hollywood and got started in the movie industry.  Even before he directed his first film at the age of 29, he'd worked with such people as Orson Welles as his assistant.  He worked on his film, "The Lady From Shanghai"- doing most of the second unit location work. In 1943, William Castle directed his first film- "The Chance of a Lifetime", which was a crime drama feature the character of "Detective Boston Blackie".  Castle claimed that he had been "saddled with a hopeless project", and in order to make the film watchable, he had to re-arrange t...