Spine Tingler! The William Castle Story

2007

1h 22m

Documentary

Biography

List

100%

6 Reviews

Tomatometer

89%

500+ Ratings

Audience Score

Director Jeffrey Schwarz delves into the life and career of William Castle, a producer of horror films who had a natural talent for creating attention-grabbing -- and seat-filling -- gimmicks to promote his various projects in his 1950s heyday. Some particular gimmicks of note include a flying skeleton and life insurance policies. Conducting interviews with the likes of John Waters, John Landis and more, Schwarz gains insights from not only other filmmakers, but from Castle's fans as well.

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Matt R

SPINE TINGLER! THE WILLIAM CASTLE STORY (2007) is a fun and engaging look at Mr. Castle from his early days of breaking into the entertainment industry through his push to be considered a serious filmmaker. Spine Tingler also gives you a look at his personality and drive. William Castle was a unique American showman who deserves more credit.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/31/24

Full Review

Audience Member

Spine Tingler: The William Castle Story tries hard to really get under the surface of the man with the gimmicks who had much higher asperations as a producer and a filmmaker. I found the pacing of the documentary to be the chief problem with it, as it feels like it's simply rushing through all of the information without really reflecting on it. I also found Castle's daughter to be somewhat annoying most of the time, so that didn't help me either. But, the information about Castle, his work, and the work he did with others, is certainly informative and interesting to hear about. There are nice number of interviewees on display as well. It's not a perfect documentary, but it at least sheds some light on a good man.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/26/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Castleâ??s films are all about ideas over execution, showmanship over style. He tends to be slack in his direction, better with startled shrieks than slow building tension, but he can layer in the gruesome details and spring a shock cut with the best them. Itâ??s a portrait in contradiction, a man who finds success in gimmicks but so wants to be taken seriously. Itâ??s too affectionate a portrait to really dig into Castleâ??s weaknesses as a director but it does acknowledge his ambition and his frustrated desire to be taken seriously with the identity he created for himself.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/06/23

Full Review

Audience Member

tells you pretty much all you'd need to know with lots of famous talking heads decrying their love for Castle.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/12/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Vauluable, and engaging, look into the education of a masterful direxting talent whose innovative and fearless film work pioneered of the "Horror-exploitation" genre,immortalized by, "The Tingler", "Macabre", and "Homicidal"; Also credited with helping to establish Vincent Price as the genre's icon. A clear case is made for Castle's prominent influence on the subculture and countercultural film movement. Time well spent.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/25/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Entertaining documentary about "gimmick" filmmaker William Castle. I wasn't familiar with his early life and career prior to the corny horror films that made him famous, so that part of the film was quite interesting. Most of the film recounts his horror films like "The Tingler", "Straight-Jacket" and "Rosemary's Baby" and features interviews with family, collaborators and contemporary filmmakers like John Waters, Stuart Gordon, Fred Olen Rey, Joe Dante and John Landis.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/31/23

Full Review

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Jeffrey Schwarz

Director

Forrest J. Ackerman

Self

John Badham

Self

Diane Baker

Self

Sidney D. Balkin

Self

Robert Bloch

Self

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Richard Propes

TheIndependentCritic.com

The film is an entertaining, educational, and even inspirational look at the kind of filmmaker that rarely exists anymore.

Rated: 3.0/4.0

Sep 24, 2020

Full Review

Felix Vasquez Jr.

Cinema Crazed

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

Oct 3, 2010

Full Review

Sean Axmaker

Seanax.com

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

Oct 19, 2009

Full Review

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

Apr 24, 2008

Full Review

Film Threat

Rated: 4.5/5

Feb 5, 2008

Full Review

Scott Weinberg

FEARnet

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

Rated: 4/5

Feb 4, 2008

Full Review

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Synopsis

Director Jeffrey Schwarz delves into the life and career of William Castle, a producer of horror films who had a natural talent for creating attention-grabbing -- and seat-filling -- gimmicks to promote his various projects in his 1950s heyday. Some particular gimmicks of note include a flying skeleton and life insurance policies. Conducting interviews with the likes of John Waters, John Landis and more, Schwarz gains insights from not only other filmmakers, but from Castle's fans as well.

Director: Jeffrey Schwarz
Production Co: Automat Pictures
Genre: Documentary, Biography
Original Language: English
Runtime: 1h 22m

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