Spine Tingler: The William Castle Story poster & wallpaper
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John Waters, Terry Castle, John Landis, Roger Corman, Joe Dante ... see more see more... , Stuart Gordon , Leonard Maltin , John Badham , Diane Baker , Marcel Marceau , Darryl Hickman , Jeannot Szwarc

Over the course of a Hollywood career that spanned five decades, William Castle directed dozens of movies and earned a reputation as a clever hand with a low-budget thriller, but the movies he made ar... read more read more...en't always as well remembered as the way he sold them to the public. During the Fifties and Sixties, Castle was one of Hollywood's greatest and most shameless showmen, and he achieved some of his greatest box office successes with movies promoted with outlandish gimmicks. Castle's reign as the King of Gimmicks began with 1958's Macabre, in which he gave each member of the audience a $1,000 insurance policy against being scared to death by the film. With his next release, 1959's House on Haunted Hill, theaters were equipped with "Emergo," in which a plastic skeleton would fly through the theater on wires at certain moments in the action, and for The Tingler, released later the same year, seats were wired with electrical buzzers to give patrons a shock as "materialized fear" stalked the screening room. While Castle later took up more respectable projects -- most notably producing Roman Polanski's film Rosemary's Baby and collaborating with famous mime Marcel Marceau on the bizarre fantasy Shanks -- his playful, gimmicky horror films are still remembered by film fans today, and Jeffrey Schwartz pays homage to his life and career in the documentary Spine Tingler!: The William Castle Story. In addition to clips from many of Castle's movies (as well as their trailers, many of which featured the director explaining his latest gimmick to prospective patrons), Spine Tingler! includes interviews with a number of fans and fellow filmmakers, including John Waters, Joe Dante, Leonard Maltin, Roger Corman and John Landis; the film received the audience award at the 2007 American Film Institute Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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Unrated, 1 hr. 22 min.

Directed by: Jeffrey Schwarz

Release Date: November 8, 2007

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DVD Release Date: June 21, 2011

Stats: 46 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (46)

  • filmcans
    September 25, 2008
    filmcans
    Wow, this is an incredible fast-paced documentary. It?s basically one of those docs that you get in the special features of a DVD?the usual talking heads (Leonard Maltin, John Landis, Jon Waters), a couple seconds of footage from each important film, and lots of computer graphic... read mores to slick things up a bit. The information is interesting, if anecdotal, and makes you want to seek out more of his films (Homicidal and Shanks, esepcially), so, mission accomplished in that regard. I don?t think I?ve ever seen someone?s life story told this quickly.
  • CRDFilm
    May 3, 2008
    CRDFilm
    William Castle was a showman who made Grade B horror films and sold them to mass audiences through showmanship and gimmicks. Seats were wired to buzz during THE TINGLER, a skeleton floated over the theatre audience in HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL, life insurance policies were given out... read more at MACABRE. Castle's films made money but the man never got the respect he craved and deserved. Filmmaker Jeffrey Schwarz has crafted a wonderful documentary now making the rounds of the festival circuit and it's a must-see for fans of the Castle ouvre and movie fans in general. Schwarz has gathered an impressive list of family, fans and friends of Castle - from his daughter to directors Joe Dante (who made the Castle homage MATINEE) to John Waters (who honored Castle with his own gimmick, Odorama for POLYESTER) - to craft a loving tribute to the man who loved entertaining the masses but wanted to be known for classier films as well (Castle produced - and wanted to direct - ROSEMARY'S BABY!). I wish I had been around during Castle's reign as the king of the gimmicks and watching Schwarz' film only makes me wish those days were still here. Hopefully this film will get more people to check out Castle's legacy on film and video!

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Critic Reviews

Felix Vasquez Jr.
October 3, 2010
Felix Vasquez Jr., Cinema Crazed

Will remind audiences that the genre can be fun first and important second... Full Review

Sean Axmaker
October 19, 2009
Sean Axmaker, Seanax.com

It's a portrait in contradiction, a man who finds success in gimmicks but so wants to be taken seriously. Full Review

Luke Y. Thompson
April 24, 2008
Luke Y. Thompson, OC Weekly

Gone are the days when you could rig a movie theater's seats with electric buzzers to simulate a monster attack...but you can relive them via this exuberant tribute Full Review

Scott Weinberg
February 4, 2008
Scott Weinberg, FEARnet

A long overdue and very entertaining documentary on one of Hollywood's most colorful salesmen. Full Review

October 18, 2008
Variety

Click to read the article Full Review

February 5, 2008
Film Threat

Click to read the article Full Review

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