Weird … Macabre! A Plan of Torture! (October, 1964)

 

 

Random Drive-In Mash-Up :: 1,000 Thrills! 1,000 Violent Shocks! (April, 1972)

 

 

 

 

Random Drive-In Mash-Up :: June, 1959

 

 

Leave the Chilren at Home … And if YOU are Squeamish, Stay Home With Them! (October, 1968)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Being completely Poe-addled at the time, after, basically, randomly thumbing through the famed author’s collected works, American International Pictures added the somewhat nonsensical title for Michael Reeves’ The Witchfinder General. Whatever title you see it under, the film is as creepy and hair-raising as the artwork would imply and is definitely worth checking out. And, to be frank, with no trace of the usual ham, I think the portrayal of the dastardly inquisitor, Matthew Hopkins, is one of the most arresting performances of Vincent Price’s storied career. As was also AIP’s modus operandi back then, The Conqueror Worm was sent out as a double-bill. And keeping up with the nonsensical approach, it was released with the Fabian-fueled stock car epic, The Wild Racers.
 
The Conqueror Worm (1968) Tigon :: American International Pictures / EP: Samuel Z. Arkoff, Tony Tenser / P: Louis M. Heyward, Arnold Miller, Philip Waddilove / D: Michael Reeves / W: Tom Baker, Michael Reeves / C: John Coquillon / E: Howard Lanning / M: Paul Ferris / S: Vincent Price, Hilary Heath, Ian Ogilvy, Rupert Davies
 
The Wild Racers (1968) Filmakers Productions :: American International Pictures / P: Roger Corman, Joel Rapp / AP: Tamara Asseyev, Pierre Cottrell / D: Daniel Haller / W: Max House / C: Néstor Almendros / E: Verna Fields / M: Mike Curb, Pierre Vassiliu / S: Fabian, Mimsy Farmer, Alan Haufrect, Judy Cornwell, Dick Miller

The William Castle Blogathon :: When the Screen Screams You’ll Scream Too — If You Value Your Life! (September, 1960)

 

 

 

 
Not since the four repeaters for King Kong vs. Godzilla have I been more disappointed in an unearthed ad campaign than what I found for The Tingler, perhaps William Castle’s most gonzoidal film of all time, relegated to second feature status to an also-ran Yul Brynner romantic comedy. However, unlike Emergo, looks like the Grand Theater took the plunge on Percepto and wired up a few seats.
 

 

And that, my friends, is awesome covered in awesome sauce.

 

 
This post is part of Goregirl’s Dungeon and The Last Drive-In’s The William Castle Blogathan, a week long tribute to the King of Schlock. Follow the linkage, Boils & Ghouls. It’s gonna be a great week. And stick around, as we’ll be showcasing Castle’s film career from its fairly normal beginnings through it psychotronic glory days. Stay tuned!

Once More, With Feeling! (1960) Stanley Donen Films :: Columbia Pictures / P: Stanley Donen / D: Stanley Donen / W: Harry Kurnitz / C: Georges Périnal / E: Jack Harris / S: Yul Brynner, Kay Kendall, Geoffrey Toone, Maxwell Shaw, Shirley Anne Field

The Tingler (1959) William Castle Productions :: Columbia Pictures / P: William Castle / D: William Castle / W: Robb White / C: Wilfred M. Cline / E: Chester W. Schaeffer / M: Von Dexter / S: Vincent Price, Judith Evelyn, Darryl Hickman, Patricia Cutts, Pamela Lincoln, Philip Coolidge

The 13 Greatest Shocks of All Time! See It with Someone with Warm Hands! (April, 1959)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
When Bill Schloss got into showbiz, he decided a name change was in order to give the old nom-de-plume a little more punch to get noticed; and thus, William Castle was born. And after cutting his teeth on a ton of B-features in the 1940s and ’50s, the director was intrigued by the huge success of Henri-Georges Clouzot’s imported thriller, Diabolique — especially it’s twist ending, and the promotional efforts that not only teased the frightful climax but at the same stroke worked very hard to keep that final shock / reveal a secret. But most important of all, Castle was keenly interested in the massive lines forming around the block wherever it played! With that as an inspiration the director decided to try his hand at producing his own fright flick and an industry legend was born — ready, willing and able to cash in on the bally-ho and the bullshit in a string of gimmick-driven pictures for over a decade, including this fantastic feature from the spring of 1959, House on Haunted Hill; an awesome Vincent Price-fueled spook-show teamed up with a standard police procedural, where a couple of hard-nosed cops try to track down a firebug before he strikes again. And with this latest feature, Castle also unleashed a new process called Emergo:

Video courtesy of brutallodotcom.

 
Seems an inflatable skeleton was trolled out over the audience during the film’s climax, but, alas, I fear the Capitol Theater might have opted out of using it since there is no mention of Emergo in the ads, meaning their patrons had to settle for just watching it with someone with warm hands — whatever the heck that means?!
 

 
With or without the gimmicks, the King of Schlock — or the Poor Man’s Hitchcock, call him what you will — the one thing you can say about any of Castle’s films was they were seldom — if ever — boring, and always a wonky good time.

 

Other Points of Interest:

Poster campaign for House on Haunted Hill at the Archive.

House on Haunted Hill (1959) William Castle Productions :: Allied Artists / P: William Castle / AP: Robb White / D: William Castle / W: Robb White / C: Carl E. Guthrie / E: Roy Livingston / M: Von Dexter / S: Vincent Price, Carol Ohmart, Richard Long, Alan Marshal, Carolyn Craig, Elisha Cook Jr.

Arson for Hire (1959) Broidy Pictures Corporation :: Allied Artists / P: William F. Broidy / AP: Erwin Yessin / D: Thor Brook / W: Tom Hubbard / C: William Margulies / E: Herbert R. Hoffman / S: Steve Brodie, Lyn Thomas, Tom Hubbard, Wendy Wilde

Drive-In Mash-Up :: Calling All Gravediggers: Dig Up a Ghoulfriend and Shovel Off for a Horrific Heart-Stopping Show! (July, 1965)

 

 

 

 

 

For the Love of Film Noir :: Too Dangerous to Touch! (October, 1947)

 

 

 

 

This post is part of my rehash and continuation of the For the Love of Film Noir Blogathon originally held back in February of 2011. Thus and so, we will be heading down the rain-soaked streets and neon-drenched back alleys of Noirville again for the entire month of March. And along with all the old material migrating over from the old site, we’ll also be scattering around a lot of new stuff as well. Also of note, we’ll be posting them in chronological order to show how the genre evolved and progressed from the 1940′s through the late ’50s. And as an added bonus, I’ll be posting some vintage adverts to stuff I’ve always associated with the genre — cigarettes, booze and fashionable ladies.

The Web (1947) Universal International Pictures :: Universal Pictures / P: Jerry Bresler / D: Michael Gordon / W: William Bowers, Bertram Millhauser, Harry Kurnitz / C: Irving Glassberg / E: Russell F. Schoengarth / M: Hans J. Salter / S: Ella Raines, Edmond O’Brien, Vincent Price, William Bendix, Maria Palmer, Fritz Leiber

The Vigilantes Return (1947) Universal Pictures / P: Howard Welsch / D: Ray Taylor / W: Roy Chanslor / C: Virgil Miller / E: Paul Landres / M: Frank Skinner / S: Jon Hall, Margaret Lindsay, Andy Devine, Paula Drew, Jack Lambert

For the Love of Film Noir :: Madness — or Murder? (November, 1946)

 

 

 

 

Other Points of Interest:

Film review of Shock at the Brewery.

 

This post is part of my rehash and continuation of the For the Love of Film Noir Blogathon originally held back in February of 2011. Thus and so, we will be heading down the rain-soaked streets and neon-drenched back alleys of Noirville again for the entire month of March. And along with all the old material migrating over from the old site, we’ll also be scattering around a lot of new stuff as well. Also of note, we’ll be posting them in chronological order to show how the genre evolved and progressed from the 1940′s through the late ’50s. And as an added bonus, I’ll be posting some vintage adverts to stuff I’ve always associated with the genre — cigarettes, booze and fashionable ladies.

Shock (1946) Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation / P: Aubrey Schenck / D: Alfred Werker / W: Eugene Ling, Albert DeMond, Martin Berkeley / C: Joseph MacDonald, Glen MacWilliams / E: Harmon Jones / M: Harmon Jones / S: Vincent Price, Lynn Bari, Frank Latimore, Anabel Shaw, Stephen Dunne

For the Love of Film Noir :: Men Were Ready to Die for Her Smile, to Kill for Her Kiss! (February, 1945)

 

 

 

 

 

 
Love that first ad. If you just give it a quick glance, you probably missed the shotgun and the hand holding the stock and the finger on the trigger!
 

Other Points of Interest:

Film review of Laura at the Brewery.

Poster campaign for Laura at the Archive.

 

This post is part of my rehash and continuation of the For the Love of Film Noir Blogathon originally held back in February of 2011. Thus and so, we will be heading down the rain-soaked streets and neon-drenched back alleys of Noirville again for the entire month of March. And along with all the old material migrating over from the old site, we’ll also be scattering around a lot of new stuff as well. Also of note, we’ll be posting them in chronological order to show how the genre evolved and progressed from the 1940′s through the late ’50s. And as an added bonus, I’ll be posting some vintage adverts to stuff I’ve always associated with the genre — cigarettes, booze and fashionable ladies.

Laura (1944) Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation / P: Otto Preminger / D: Otto Preminger / W: Jay Dratler, Samuel Hoffenstein, Elizabeth Reinhardt, Vera Caspary (novel) / C: Joseph LaShelle / E: Louis R. Loeffler / M: David Raksin / S: Gene Tierney, Dana Andrews, Clifton Webb, Vincent Price, Judith Anderson, Dorothy Adams