William Castle

[TransporterMalfunction 1]

 

I have to say that I rather like William Castle films, especially House on Haunted Hill, and have found them to be very effective in shocks. Yes these films are b-movies but they are well done and utilise the low budget to good effect. The fact that a lot of his films had Vincent Price in as well is a big plus.

 

So what is your opinion of William Castle, is he a budget Hitchcock or Ed Wood's twin brother?

 

Here is a list of some of his most famous films:

 

[xenexian 2]

I am so surprised that no one has commented on this yet. I practically grew up on this guy's films. I loved being scared as a kid, I mean being drawn to the types of movies and books that would send a shiver down your spine. I think I"ve seen just about every Vincent Price movie that he put out and it was during the sixties in my hometown, that the locally owned movie theaters would run kids matinees on the weekend when they would run his movies. "House on Haunted Hill", really spooked me as a kid, especially when that skeleton emerged from the vat of acid in the basement. I think he was really a more successful, Ed Wood twin than a low budget Hitchcock. I don't believe Castle ever really believed that he could compete against the big studios of his time and had to really rely on sensationalism and showmanship for his movies to make money. Although he did help Vincent Price prolong his career and make him an icon of things scary and dark. He created a sort of following of devoted fans who really just wanted to be entertained without alot of bluster or, like me, wanted to be scared enough to have to sleep with the lights on and the closet door closed for a few days. My computer isn't allowing me to see the other examples that you have here but I seem to remember such films as, "The Tingler", "The Raven", the original "13 Ghosts" and all the Edgar Allen Poe adaptions as having his hand in producing or directing, although I could be wrong about the Poe movies. For me, he has given me some great memories of my pre-teen years with my neighborhood friends of going to the movies so we could be scared. He has his place but never really playing in the big leagues of movie making. But I'm sure he still laughed all the way to the bank.