Spine Tingler! The William Castle Story (2007)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Director:

Jeffrey Schwarz

Release Date:

20 October 2009 (USA)

Genre:

Documentary

Tagline:

He was just another movie director...until he found himself a gimmick.

Plot:

Chronicles the last great American showman, filmmaker William Castle, a master of ballyhoo who became a brand name in movie horror with his outrageous audience participation gimmicks. |

Plot Keywords:

Character Name In Title

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

Forrest J Ackerman	...	Himself
John Badham	...	Himself
Diane Baker	...	Herself
Sidney D. Balkin	...	Himself
Steve Bickel	...	Himself
Robert Bloch	...	Himself (archive footage)
Budd Boetticher	...	Himself
Bob Burns	...	Himself
Kathy Burns	...	Herself (archive footage)
Terry Castle	...	Herself
William Castle	...	Himself (archive footage)
Harry Cohn	...	Himself (archive footage)
Roger Corman	...	Himself
Joan Crawford	...	Herself (archive footage)
Joe Dante	...	Himself
David Del Valle	...	Himself
Ralph Edwards	...	Himself (archive footage)
Mia Farrow	...	Herself (archive footage)
Donald F. Glut	...	Himself
Stuart Gordon	...	Himself
Cary Grant	...	Himself (archive footage)
Anne Helm	...	Herself
Darryl Hickman	...	Himself
Alfred Hitchcock	...	Himself (archive footage)
Adolf Hitler	...	Himself (archive footage)
Norman Horowitz	...	Himself
William J. Immerman	...	Himself
Richard Kahn	...	Himself
Jacqueline Kennedy	...	Herself (archive footage)
John F. Kennedy	...	Himself (archive footage)
Hawk Koch	...	Himself
John Landis	...	Himself
Gene Lesser	...	Himself
Pamela Lincoln	...	Herself
Marcia Scully Little	...	Herself
Barry Lorie	...	Himself
Bela Lugosi	...	Himself (archive footage)
Leonard Maltin	...	Himself
Marcel Marceau	...	Himself
Marilyn Nash	...	Herself
Kyle Newell	...	Himself
Will Newell	...	Himself
Steven North	...	Himself
Thomas Page	...	Himself
Roman Polanski	...	Himself (archive footage)
Vincent Price	...	Himself (archive footage)
Fred Olen Ray	...	Himself
Paul Sammon	...	Himself
Michael Schlesinger	...	Himself
Jacqueline Scott	...	Herself
Ruth Scully	...	Herself
Jeannot Szwarc	...	Himself
Bob Thomas	...	Himself
John Waters	...	Himself
Orson Welles	...	Himself (archive footage)
Robb White	...	Himself (archive footage)

Runtime:

82 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Company:

Automat Pictures

Movie Connections:

References Drums of Tahiti (1954)

An A rate document of a B rate director

I was lucky enough to catch this movie while volunteering at the Maryland Film Festival. I've always been a fan of classic horror films and especially the gimmicks of William Castle, so this was definitely a must-see for me.

This is about the life and work of William Castle, who in my opinion was an underrated director. True, he made some cheap budget schlocky horror films, but he added something to these films: real live theater gimmicks that you don't see anymore. For example, he had nurses in case someone had a heart attack at his movies and put vibrators at the bottoms of chairs in THE TINGLER.

This is truly a well-made documentary and brings this rather shadowed director into the light, and celebrated his contributions to horror cinema. It also paints Castle as a larger than life character, who was very well-liked and had a smile on his face.

Unlike most film documentaries that mostly show testaments from film historians, SPINE TINGLER! shows interviews mostly from his family members and directors who were influenced by his work, such as John Waters, John Landis, and Joe Dante. A must see for classic horror and sci-fi fans.