This documentary seems like a real work of love, as the folks interviewed for the film seem to have a genuine affection for William Castle and his films. If you don't know who Castle is, he was a combination filmmaker and showman--sort of a P.T. Barnum of the 1950s and 60s. Unlike most directors and producers, Castle liked making schlocky films and delighted in creating a wide variety of theater gimmicks to promote them. A few of the crazy marketing strategies he created for his films were life insurance policies to cover you in case you died of fright watching one of his movies, 'emergo'--a skeleton suspended from a wire that flew over the audience, 'percepto' which shocked unsuspecting viewers during scary scenes and much more. To me, however, the film was made better because everyone seemed to admire the guy so much and he was, above all, a good family man. Well worth seeing and just plain fun...just like his films.By the way, if you like this film and Castle's films, try watching "Matinee", a wonderful homage to Castle and his style of showmanship.

Affectionate tribute to the popular director of such low budget but financially successful films such as "House On Haunted Hill", "The Tingler" & "13 Ghosts" presents his life from unknown director on forgotten westerns and the like, to his big break on "Macabre", where he came up with the "Fright Break" gimmick to involve the audience in the picture itself, and made a fortune doing so. Eventually getting a contract with Columbia pictures, he churned out various pictures from the late 50's through the 60's, until times changed, and his brand of horror film was considered outdated. Can be seen on the William Castle 8-film DVD set from Sony, as an extra feature.

A very well received and insightful Documentary. This warm and glowing tribute to the legendary B-Movie Director/Producer is wonderful and heartfelt. There are many well known and peripheral Filmmakers and Fans on screen touting the talent and the quintessential showmanship of this Professional.The Film is a must see for Fans of the Director, Horror Movies, young Auteurs, and anyone with a curiosity about the industry and the behind the scenes "manufacturing" of Art as Product or Product as Art or whatever it was that he perpetuated in his long career.There are unexpected and unknown stories told here from family members and Friends and the whole thing seems welcome and comprehensive. As far as the Movies by themselves minus the signature gimmicks that drew audiences by the Millions, in retrospect, some of them, you decide which ones, are extremely entertaining and yes, shocking.There is one thing that must be said. If you are just beginning to seek out these Films, it is recommended that you see them first before viewing this Documentary. You will appreciate the Man and even the Movies much more. There are some spoiling scenes shown that give away much of His underrated work.

Spine Tingler! The William Castle Story (2007) *** 1/2 (out of 4)Extremely well made documentary takes a look at producer/director William Castle and features interviews with not only his daughter but also the likes of John Landis, Joe Dante, Roger Corman, Leonard Maltin, Budd Boetticher, Bob Burns, David Del Valle, John Waters and Fred Olen Ray. The documentary covers Castle's early life growing up, meeting Bela Lugosi and eventually being invited to Hollywood where he'd soon start directing countless "B" movies for Columbia. The film then follows his gimmick movies like HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL and THE TINGLER as well as his dream project, ROSEMARY'S BABY, which would eventually be given to another filmmaker. Fans of Castle are really going to eat this thing up because there's so many great interviews and comments that one can't help but get the feeling of what it must have been like watching some of these movies in the theater when they were first released. Hearing about all the gimmicks from people who were actually there was a lot of fun and you can just tell that these people still love and have fond memories of these few moments in the theater. The documentary is pretty much fun throughout and never tries to be overly serious but instead just deals with the type of fun person Castle was. We do get to hear about his two dream projects, which ended up getting stolen by Orson Welles and given away to Polanski. It was also fun hearing how Castle pretty much gave full control to Joan Crawford who certainly used it to her advantage. The later years of Castle's life are talked about as well as the one last film he wanted to make but never got the chance. The film runs a short 82-minutes and overlooks countless films but that shouldn't keep anyone away as in the end it's just as much fun as watching one of Castle's own productions.