William Castle is the carnival show plate of the horror cinema. As soon as a journeyman manager with the B-Movie cellar of Columbia Pictures, became he thus with his duties, which he independently and anew itself as a drive in Hitchcock with a PT frustrated Barnum senses of tomfoolery and self-hype. It was fed cagey Make-over that it carefully with goofy gimmicks (his first one was an insurance policy of Lloyds of London backed ticket for all buyers against the "death by fright assure", in 1958 during his film Macabre to say needlessly one tries to collect) and the personal appearance of the support and introduction of his films like Hitchcock acted on television. And in certain manner caught him in this identity: the director as a shopkeeper, successfully, but not taken seriously as a filmmaker. William Castle Film Collection (Sony) collects eight anew remastered films, three of them make her debut DVD in a box set offers a cross section of his most entertaining films, his most creative gimmicks and his happy efforts.
Under the latter two tongue in cheek productions are actors Tom Poston: Zotz! (1962), to a droll imagination about a magic coin, and from The Old Dark House (1963) as a comic rave the eccentric to kill each other to renew off for an inheritance. Both make her DVD-first publication here, just as 13 scrared girls (1963), a light spy thriller with Nancy Drew Heldin in the form of the daughter of a diplomat (Kathy Dunn) with an exclusive private school which becomes European Sweet Sixteen Mata Hari. It is no horror film (in spite of the titles, an allusion on his former 13 minds) and not really a thriller. The girls are able to do in the first scene fear, but at the end of the film, they are easy with a big time goofing with the Chinese murderers. This are the films, the castle completists have waited, however, are compared lower title of his gimmicky to classics like The Tingler (1959), Castle's the third sign in this sense and his second and last film to Vincent Price. "Ladies and gentlemen, please no panic", warns price of the audience. "But Scream - shout around your life!" Because the being of the title a cheap elastic model, this looks like a lobster with a centipede crossed, is such a support is necessary. Theatergoers became in a reaction with a device, theatres to seats choose the castle of names "percepto", an unusual name for a small, motorised vibrator under placed and to the projection screen state Goosed wired. Home video an audience remain, around the effects introduce.
If William Castle fancy a B-Movie Hitchcock, Homicidal (1961) is his Psycho, up to the explanation the psychologist at the end. This underhand small jewel is an eager Torsion on his inspiration, started with the a little bit strange first act which pays off in a shock film of murder, and then always strangers by the film, above all thanks to a few really disconcerting signs: cooing killer Emily, everybody the worst nightmare of a nursing person, and the awkward Warren, always tense and stiffly, as if rolled up and to the jump ready. Armed always with a gimmick, the castle of the "Fright of break" for this provides one, a clock of countdown "for nobody permit, the theatre, that is too frightened, at the end of the picture leave" (in the castle own happy Voice-over), in order leave, around the theatre. I think, we are able to do with pleasure the break switch grievedly.
Mr. Sardonicu (1961) is a castle version of a Universally horror part gothic horror, part Jekyll and Hyde, and a part Eyes Without A with his own sadistic inclination and trade mark gimmick ends (this is the brilliant "punishment Poll "). The acting one is less interesting here, and the castle Place too brightly illuminated, around the fusty, creepy atmosphere of a creepy Central European mansion got, but the make-up is inspired and Oskar Homolka steals the show as a long suffering, in of whipped cream presentation servant Krull. Straight-Jacket to (1964) stars Joan Crawford (freshly from What really happened with baby Jane) in form and dementen diva 13 Ghosts (1960), a mixture of playful haunting and supernatural horror (the disc, unfortunately, not the function "illusion - O "process or the "Ghost Viewer" glasses of the preceding DVD publication).
Castle films are everybody about the ideas about the implementation, Showmanship about style. He inclines to it, become loose in his direction, tension better got a fright with shouting than slow buildings, but he is able to do layer in the terrible details and in the spring a shock cut with them best of all. Five Disc sets also contain the followers for every film (an essential part of the castle Experience), the Featurettes and Bonus-Goodies archiving the previous DVDs and their documentation 2007 Spine Tingler! William Castle Story, an excellent study of the manager and overview about his career. It is a portrait in contradiction, a man who finds success in gimmicks, but thus wants to be taken seriously. It's too affectionate portrait really weaknesses in castle as a director dig, but it is confirmed his ambition and his frustrated wish, seriously with the identity which are taken he for themselves.
The William Castle Film Collection
