William Castle: Grandmaster of Exploitation Cinema

For those of us who love B-movies and cult cinema the name William Castle (1914-1977) will conjur up thoughts of all kinds of creepy creatures and wild promotional campaigns that rivaled other famous film showmen of his day like Alfred Hitchcock. Castle may have been known primarily as the producer/director of his outrageous ouvre but when all was said and done he was really the star of them too because of his engaging, boisterous persona and intriguing methods of entertaining audiences.

William Castle was born William Schloss Jr. in New York City. After being orphaned at the young age of 13 he met the already legendary actor Bela Lugosi one day after a stage play of Dracula. It was here that Castle first realized he wanted to work in show business. A few years later, due to Castle's persistance, Lugosi recommended him for a position of an assistant stage manager on the national tour of the play. An already ambitious Castle decided to drop out of high school to take the job. Following this initial adventure he got several jobs on Broadway doing things such as building sets and acting in bit parts. After moving out to Hollywood at age 23, Castle went to work for Harry Cohn at Columbia Pictures. With Cohn as his mentor he learned many important secrets of the booming film business. Castle got his first work as an actual director on low budget B-films like The Chance of a Lifetime (1943) as well as four movies in the popular The Whistler series. He later was hired on Orson Welles' film noir The Lady from Shanghai (1947) as a second unit location scout.

From the late 50s through to the 70s, William Castle directed and produced a variety of low budget genre films (mostly horror/thrillers and science fiction) that became cult classics due to their inherant schlocky qualities but more prominently because of the various promotional gimmicks that were used to shock and thrill audiences. Castle set the mark as a one of a kind Film Showman and grabbed the attention of moviegoers across the country through his ambitious multimedia marketing campaigns that really were a form of entertainment all their own.

Macabre (1958)

The young daughter of Dr. Rodney Barrett (William Prince) is kidnapped by a maniac who proceeds to bury her in a coffin. The good doctor is then given five hours to find its location before the oxygen supply runs out. Barrett gets his family and friends to help him in the frantic search as various red herrings are set up to confuse them and the viewer. TRIVIA: During its initial theatrical release, attendees were given a small badge that said, "I'm no chicken. I saw Macabre. GIMMICK: A certificate for a $1,000 life insurance policy from Lloyd's of London was given to audience members in case he/she should die of fright. Some showings had ushers dressed as surgeons with an ambulance parked outside theaters.

House on Haunted Hill (1959)

Vincent Price plays millionaire Frederick Loren. He and his wife Annabelle invite five people over for a little "haunted house" party. The main rule being whoever stays one night will earn $10,000 as a prize. As the night progresses, all the guests are trapped inside with a myriad of scary ghosts and other freakish frights. TRIVIA: The large grosses for this film were noticed by Alfred Hitchcock. This led him to create his own low-budget horror film - Psycho. GIMMICK: Emergo - An inflatable glow-in-the-dark skeleton that would fly over the audience during certain scenes.

The Tingler (1959)

A pathologist, Dr. Warren Chapin (Vincent Price) discovers a parasite in humans which feeds on fear that he names the "Tingler". The creature gets its name by making the spine of its host "tingle" when they are frightened. To make things worse, the more scared the host gets, the larger it grows. One of Castle's most famous cult classics and in our Top 3 favorites of his work. TRIVIA: The Tingler is a large scale model of velvet worm, also called peripatus. GIMMICK: Percepto - Castle purchased military airplane wing de-icers for their vibrating motors and had a crew install them under some of the theater seats. The devices were activated when Vincent Price tells the audience to "scream - scream for your lives!". Bloody Bathtub: The film was shot in black and white but Castle also added one scene with color in which blood flows from a sink's water tap and a hand comes out of a bathtub filled with bright red blood.

13 Ghosts (1960)

When an old man dies and leaves his home to his nephew, he and the family move in unaware of they aren't the only residents. Along with a maid and some hidden treasures, the residence also contains 13 ghosts. TRIVIA: The original theatrical version had the main title/credits sequence in color. GIMMICK: Illusion-O - Each patron received a handheld ghost viewer/remover. During certain parts of the film, a person could see the ghosts by looking through the red cellophane, or remove the images if they were too frightening by looking through the blue.

Homicidal (1961)

A mysterious woman, a mute nurse who uses a wheelchair and an heir on the verge of gaining the family estate all stay in a large creepy mansion where strange disturbances begin to occur. TRIVIA: This was one of the most successful knock-offs of Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. GIMMICK: The Fright Break showed a timer over the film's finale. The audience was given 45 seconds to leave and receive a full refund if they were too frightened to see what happens. In one early showing, attendees sat through the movie a second time and left during the break to get their money back. To prevent this ripoff, Castle had different color tickets printed for each showing.

Mr. Sardonicus (1961)

The face of Baron Sardonicus (Guy Rolfe) becomes frozen in a terrifying grin while robbing his father's grave to obtain a winning lottery ticket. He then goes mad and tries to have his face turned back to its original state with the help of a surgeon Sir Robert Cargrave (Ronald Lewis). In our Top 3 favorites of Castle's work. GIMMICK: Audiences were given the opportunity to participate in the "Punishment Poll". Each person was given a glow-in-the-dark card featuring a hand with the thumb up. They voted by holding the card with either the thumb up or down to choose if Sardonicus would live or die. The story goes that no audience ever offered mercy so the alternate ending was never screened. TRIVIA: When Sir Robert first arrives at Castle Sardonicus, the lighted windows make it look like a skull.

Strait Jacket (1964)

Lucy Harbin (Joan Crawford) has been in a mental hospital for 20 years after being convicted of the axe murder of her husband (Lee Majors) and his mistress. Following her release she moves in at the farm of her brother Bill and sister-in-law Emily. Soon more axe murders begin occurring. One of our Top 3 Castle picks. Co-starring Diane Baker, Leif Erickson, Rochelle Hudson. TRIVIA: Mitchell Cox (Dr. Anderson) was not an actor but was actually the vice-president of the Pepsi-Cola Company. GIMMICKS: Castle had been told by producers not to use gimmicks for the film so he had star Joan Crawford go on a promotional tour to various theaters. He did however have cardboard axes made and given to theatergoers.

I Saw What You Did (1965)

Two teenage girls play pranks by dialing random phone numbers and telling the people who answer "I saw what you did, I know who you are". One of the calls is accidentally placed to a man who has recently murdered his wife and hidden her body. Starring Joan Crawford, John Ireland, Leif Erickson, Andi Garrett, Sarah Lane. TRIVIA: This was Joan Crawford's last appearance in an American film. GIMMICK: William Castle states: This is a motion picture about UXORICIDE!". In one promotional trailer he explains theaters will be equipped with belts for audience members "who might be scared out of their seats". This gimmick was never actually used. The trailer also has a voiceover repeating: "DON'T ANSWER IT!!!".

Bug (1975)

During an earthquake mutant cockroaches that can create fire by rubbing their cerci together begin appearing. Most of them perish due to the low air pressure on the Earth's surface. A scientist, Dr James Partimer (Bradford Dillman) is able to keep one alive in a pressure chamber then successfully breeds it with another domestic species thus creating a highly intelligent, deadly super bug. Co-starring Joanna Miles and Richard Gilliland. TRIVIA: The set of the Partimer home was originally used for the The Brady Bunch. GIMMICK: A million-dollar life insurance policy was taken out on the film's star, a cockroach named "Hercules".

Matinee (1993)

This 1993 comedy directed by Joe Dante (Gremlins) stars John Goodman as producer/director Lawrence Woolsey who was clearly a stand-in for William Castle. It will take you right back to the days when Castle was promoting his films with all kinds of crazy gimmicks like the ones we listed above. Matinee has a film within the film called MANT (based on classic B sci-fi films like Them!, The Fly. We highly recommend this Joe Dante cult classic to Castle fans!

External Links

• WILLIAM CASTLE.COM