Tag: William Castle

Strait-Jacket (1964) – By Baron Craze

The ultimate Master of Gimmicks, Director Willam Castle (13 Ghosts [1960]) first paid homage to his idol Alfred Hitchcock with Homicidal [1961] with another marketing ploy that tested the audiences’ courage, however with the Strait Jacket his approach was to make a horror psychological film without his standard flair. While this film didn’t set the…


13 Ghosts (1960) – By Baron Craze

William Castle, the name alone is recognized by horror fans and filmmakers, he was the ultimate in theater gimmicks and marketing guru, in fact if alive today the social media platforms likely couldn’t handle his craftiness; there’s even movies that pay homage to his wackiness such as Popcorn (1991) and Matinee (1993). However, by 1960,…


Bug (1975) – By Baron Craze

This was the last film William Castle (House on Haunted Hill [1959]), who admired the simplistic concept of nature attacking the human race, and then seeing his favorite director Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds (1963), but wouldn’t engage in the topic until the mid-seventies, well after producing Rosemary’s Baby (1968) his most successful film. For those unaware of…


Music Store Massacre (2013) – By Baron Craze

Music Store Massacre, takes on the most original opening to an independent film, in quite some time, with the infamous Reverend Smith (Frank Bliss) mutilating himself, by extreme means, and executing his sister, a police officer before uttering his last words “Death to thou who hates”, before Detective Young who arrives to discover the gruesome…


The Tingler (1959) – By Baron Craze

Following his great success with both Macabre (1958) and House on Haunted Hill (1959), William Castle quickly followed it up with The Tingler also released in the same year, he increased his budget to $250,000 and achieved the notoriety of becoming the first director to incorporate an LSD trip into his flick, he effectively achieved…


House on Haunted Hill (1959) – By Baron Craze

Many horror fans will likely recall the original House on Haunted Hill (1959) film, as good flick from William Castle, who lead the industry for both his independent productions and known as ‘The King Of The Gimmicks’ and another one also from The Tingler (1959). He ran the gambit of stunts for movies, from life insurance…