William Castle Movies

[paul bisson]

Hi

Out in September on US release is a box set of films by William Castle.Included are Homicidal and Dr Sardonicus ...2 quite difficult films to get ....There are 3 other titles .Does anyone remember some of the stunts he used to sell his Films

[torinfan]

I've seen Homicidal, but not Dr, Sardonicus. His "The Spirit Is Willing" is entertaining, though. Who knew that ghosts had a sex life?

[Carl V]

Off the top of my head, the only films I can recall seeing from William Castle are House On Haunted Hill (1958), The Tingler (1959) and 13 Ghosts (1960).



In the late 1950s he began to specialize in chillers and horror films, and a few were panned by the critics. He certainly promoted his films well and would introduce gimmicks, for example, insuring audiences with Lloyds of London should any of them die of fright during the screening of Macabre (1958). For the film The Tingler, some of the seats were wired to produce very mild electric shocks on a number of scenes.

[Dr. Schreck]

I rather liked his two Robert Bloch-written movies, The Night Walker (with Barbara Stanwyck and Robert Taylor) and Strait-Jacket (with Joan Crawford). They didn't turn out the way Bloch would have liked to see, but they are quite entertaining, especially the latter.

[will.15]

Sardonicus would be more watchable if it starred Vincent Price. It probably is the worst movie ever made that has a brilliant twist ending. It's pretty tedious until the whammy at the end. An episode of the TV series, The Wise Guy, had a character who watched the movie endlessly.

[Film Man]

On the region 1 DVD of 'Thirteen Ghosts' there is a great documentary of William's stunts...great entertainment...Didn't Joe Dante use Castle's ideas in 'Matinee' (with Mant)? Don't forget he (Castle) also produced quality movies like 'Rosemary's Baby'.

Film Man.

[Ray]

name='Dr. Schreck']I rather liked his two Robert Bloch-written movies, The Night Walker (with Barbara Stanwyck and Robert Taylor) and Strait-Jacket (with Joan Crawford). They didn't turn out the way Bloch would have liked to see, but they are quite entertaining, especially the latter.

I have 87 of Barbara Stanwyck's 88 films, and I would definitely place The Night Walker near the top of the list of her 10 worst films. Sadly, it was also her last big screen film before moving to TV.

[will.15]

William Castle had bought the rights to Rosemary's Baby and wanted to direct it. The studio picked Polanski to direct and Castle became the producer. Polanski said he was a good producer, which meant Castle let Polanski do what he wanted. That was the second time Castle ended up the producer of a film he wanted to direct. Castle was originally supposed to be the director of Lady from Shanghai, with Welles producing. Despite the wild story Welles told about spotting the paperback at the airport (it never appeared in paperback in the 1940's), it was Castle who found the novel. Welles had a deal with Columbia to produce, not direct, and Welles picked Castle because of his direction of the Columbia B, When Strangers Marry. Apparently, it was Harry Cohn who had them switch places.

[Dr. Schreck]

name='Ray']I have 87 of Barbara Stanwyck's 88 films, and I would definitely place The Night Walker near the top of the list of her 10 worst films. Sadly, it was also her last big screen film before moving to TV.

I found her and Taylor a fascinating example of miscasting, both being far too old for their parts, and not too convincing in them. But it's fun nevertheless. To me, that is.

[Ray]

name='Dr. Schreck']I found her and Taylor a fascinating example of miscasting, both being far too old for their parts, and not too convincing in them. But it's fun nevertheless. To me, that is.

Well as you know, Castle always had to have a gimmick in his films, and it got him a lot of publicity co-starring a couple who had once been married. I have a film of the Press party, and looking at it you would have thought that it was going to be a big budget film, everyone was in attendance, from Gloria Swanson to Charlton Heston. I remember it opening at The New Victoria on the bottom half of a double bill with Secret of Blood Island.

[scenesixty]

name='Carl V']Off the top of my head, the only films I can recall seeing from William Castle are House On Haunted Hill (1958), The Tingler (1959) and 13 Ghosts (1960).



In the late 1950s he began to specialize in chillers and horror films, and a few were panned by the critics. He certainly promoted his films well and would introduce gimmicks, for example, insuring audiences with Lloyds of London should any of them die of fright during the screening of Macabre (1958). For the film The Tingler, some of the seats were wired to produce very mild electric shocks on a number of scenes.

Surprisingly neat little horror chiller. I have a VHS copy-generally difficult to get hold off and rarely seen. An evening graveyard sequence is quite unsettling, as are the undertker's parlour with coffins and so on-in one sequence a coffin is unearthed from the graveyard in torrential rain. great close-ups etc, however I won't reveal the main plot for the benefit of those still to view! the original US one-sheet poster had superb and colourful graphics-it can be googled. Best- B.

[Lord Brett]

name='Ray']I have 87 of Barbara Stanwyck's 88 films, and I would definitely place The Night Walker near the top of the list of her 10 worst films. Sadly, it was also her last big screen film before moving to TV.

I can't resist asking, Ray... which Barbara Stanwyk movie don't you have?

[Reeldigger]

The box set also includes a fairly new but never-before released documentary on Castle which is probably more entertaining than at least a couple of films in the set. Very thorough, affectionate and informative with interesting interview clips with his daughter and actors who worked with him over the years. I think even viewers who have no particular interest in his career will have a good time with it. He might not have been a great director but he was an extraordinary showman. And,I dare say, an American original.

[John Llewellyn Moxey]

name='Reeldigger']The box set also includes a fairly new but never-before released documentary on Castle which is probably more entertaining than at least a couple of films in the set. Very thorough, affectionate and informative with interesting interview clips with his daughter and actors who worked with him over the years. I think even viewers who have no particular interest in his career will have a good time with it. He might not have been a great director but he was an extraordinary showman. And,I dare say, an American original.

He was indeed a remarkable man; and a joy to work with.

[darrenburnfan]

William Castle's 13 Ghosts was billed as being in Illusion-O and some cinemas billed it as being in 3-D because of the red and blue cardboard spectacles "Ghost Viewer" issued to every patron. But it wasn't 3-D at all. I went to see it in 1961 and still have my "Ghost Viewer" 48 years later. The film was in black and white with the ghost sequences in colour. The ghosts were red on a blue background. If you wanted to see them when the ghost sequences came on, you looked through the red sellophone window (which was wide enough to use both eyes) and if you didn't want to see them, you looked through the blue one.



Unfortunately, when the film was released on a PAL VHS video in 1996, it was all in black and white, including the ghost sequences, so my "Ghost Viewer" was rendered useless. The ghost sequences were also different than those I remember seeing in the original film at the cinema.

[Ray]

name='Lord Brett']I can't resist asking, Ray... which Barbara Stanwyck movie don't you have?

It's funny, but whenever I mention that I always get asked the same question.

She was a 20 year old Broadway star and had scored a big success in the play Burlesque. She was offered a small role as a dancer in a silent movie, Broadway Nights, filmed in New York in 1927, the first, and last time that she didn't get star billing. Sylvia Sidney also made her debut in the film, I doubt that a copy of it even exists today.

[scenesixty]

name='scenesixty']Surprisingly neat little horror chiller. I have a VHS copy-generally difficult to get hold off and rarely seen. An evening graveyard sequence is quite unsettling, as are the undertker's parlour with coffins and so on-in one sequence a coffin is unearthed from the graveyard in torrential rain. great close-ups etc, however I won't reveal the main plot for the benefit of those still to view! the original US one-sheet poster had superb and colourful graphics-it can be googled. Best- B.

Have any other members actually ever seen this film? My (VHS) copy was taped in the mid-Nineties by a friend, and is collecting dust-somewhere... Surprised it hasn't yet been released, the production values are not bad when compared with 'Strait-Jacket' (1963).

[scenesixty]

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Have any other members actually ever seen this film? My (VHS) copy was taped in the mid-Nineties by a friend, and is collecting dust-somewhere... Surprised it hasn't yet been released, the production values are not bad when compared with 'Strait-Jacket' (1963).

I have seen a USA Ebayer selling this-it is quite good!!

[paul kersey]

I have just bought a copy of "Macabre" from Movie-mars inc via Amazon. It was described as Region 1 NTSC playable. Unfortunately it turns out to be from "Warner Archives" and is un-playable on my Sony multi-region player/recorder and my PC won't touch it either. I have now sent it back in the hope of being given a refund. I won't be holding my breath though!

[will.15]

They are showing this week at various times. Homicidal. which I never saw before. Caught it on Wednesday. I made the effort because someone was looking for a movie with a grisly scene and it seemed Homicidal was it. They couldn't confirm based on what was on youtube, but thought it might be it. Two weeks later I see its listed on television and I wanted to see the gory scene. Not a bad movie, a Psycho rip off with Castle's usual flat footed direction with occasional flourishes, but well plotted. Apparently, a lot of people saw the twist coming, not me, had me fooled. Could have done without the "fright break."