Christian Laspada
In the 1950s, the rise of consumerism and television threatened movie theaters and filmmaking. To keep people in seats, movie studios need to develop innovations that would enhance viewer’s experience. However, at the time these innovations were expensive and only reserved for large film studios like MGM. Independent filmmakers had to figure out their own way to get people to watch their movies in a cinema. Thus began the rise of movie gimmicks, and the entry of William Castle.
What are movie gimmicks?
Movie gimmicks are a creative way to promote and enhance the viewing experience of a film. They were popular in the 1950s-60s in an attempt for independent directors to increase their box office sales. Many gimmicks have been used, from Smell-O-Vision in the 1960 film Scent of Mystery to a “witchcraft deflector” badge for the 1964 movie Witchcraft. Modern movie gimmicks are less campy, such as films with little dialogue like the 2018 hit A Quiet Place. Movie gimmicks are often seen as negative and unpopular with audiences and cinema owners. However, when done correctly, they did their job of increasing box office sales. And no one did movie gimmicks quite as well as the director William Castle.
Who was William Castle?
William Castle, born William Schloss Jr, was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor best known for his movie gimmicks. His love for showmanship started at 13 when he saw Bela Lugosi in Dracula and at 15, he dropped out of school to work as an assistant stage manager for the play. His talent caught the attention of Columbia Pictures where he quickly learned the trade of filmmaking, having been in almost every role behind the camera. He eventually began directing and producing his own low-budget independent thriller films.
Castle’s films were not great. The real art of Castle’s movies was not the content of the films themselves, but the gimmicks he used for audience and cinema participation. He became famous for his gimmicks, even being called the “King of the Gimmicks” by John Waters. His gimmicks were a creative way to promote his films and create a memorable experience for his audience. Most importantly, Castle’s gimmicks sold movie tickets.
Macabre (1958)
One of Castle’s first gimmick movies was his 1958 horror suspense film, Macabre. The film follows a small-town doctor attempting to save his six-year-old daughter who has been buried alive with only a couple hours of air left. The film itself is a decent whodunnit-type mystery filled with suspense and stunning graveyard scenes. However, the real magic of the movie was Castle’s gimmick to promote the movie.
Mortgaging his house to make the movie, Castle needed to ensure his movie would be a hit. His promotional gimmick included providing audience members a certificate life insurance policy to insure them for $1,000 in case they died of fright watching the film. In addition, real nurses were stationed in the cinema lobbies and hearses were parked outside the theaters. The life insurance policy was useless considering nothing in the movie was scary enough to die of fright. Nonetheless, the gimmick worked, and with a $90,000 budget, Macabre made $3 million in box office sales.
House on Haunted Hill (1959)
Following the success of Macabre, Castle made one of his greatest films: House on Haunted Hill (1959). Starring Vincent Price, the film is a classic haunted house story. Price plays a million who invites five people to his haunted mansion with a simple proposal: survive the night and receive $10,000. The houseguests are soon trapped in the house and face an assortment of spooks and shocks. The film is creepy and campy, defining the haunted house genre for years to come. But a movie is not a Castle movie without a promotional gimmick.
The gimmick for House on Haunted Hill was the introduction of “Emergo”, the use of carnival haunted house props to generate fear and terror. Castle hoisted a skeleton with red glowing eyes that would fly over audiences during key movie scenes. This remarkable 3-D effect terrified audiences and became a target practice for kids, earning the movie $2.5 million at the box office.
The Tingler (1959)
One of Castle’s most famous gimmicks came from his 1959 horror movie The Tingler. A rather corny movie, the story chronicles a scientist who discovers the “tingler”, a parasite that feeds on human fear. The parasite in question is rather unimpressive: a forearm-sized centipede-like creature that can be destroyed only by screaming. In fact, the creature only shows up in the movie a couple of times since Castle only made one model of the creature. The film isn’t very scary unless you’re scared of bugs or lost your voice. But the experience of watching the movie in cinemas made The Tingler an absolute sensation.
The Tingler introduced Castle’s most well-known gimmick: “Percepto!”. During the movie, Vincent Price warns audiences that the tingler has escaped into the movie theater and they must scream for their lives to destroy it. To add to the suspense, Castle had vibrating motors installed in certain seats of each theater that would give the illusion of shocking guests. He also had paid actors who would begin screaming to encourage audiences. Guests recalled running out of the theater in terror and the gimmick went down in history. The film received mixed reviews but has become a campy cult classic that, to this day, creates buzz and rumors of Castle’s wicked gimmicks.
13 Ghosts (1960)
The 1960 supernatural horror movie 13 Ghosts continued Castle’s innovative promotional gimmicks. In the film, a poverty-stricken family inherits an old mansion haunted by 12 ghosts, intent on killing them. The movie was filmed in “Illusion-O” with each guest receiving a handheld ghost viewer/remover. Audience members were able to choose whether to view the ghosts (by looking through the red cellophane of their glasses) or remove the ghosts (by looking through the blue cellophane). This was one of Castle’s most innovative gimmicks, as he didn’t rely on corny stunts and actors to engage audiences. It proved that Castle was more than just a showman, he was a creative filmmaker who understood how to create buzz around his films.
Homicidal (1961)
Over the years, Castle’s gimmicks got less elaborate, as seen in his 1961 film Homicidal which follows a murderous blonde bombshell in California. The gimmick of the movie was a “Coward’s Corner”, a yellow cardboard booth that opened during the film’s climax. During the movie’s “Fright Break”, audiences were given 45 seconds to leave the theater if they were too scared to watch the rest of the movie. Before leaving, patrons had to be humiliated as they would receive a fake blood pressure test from a fake nurse in Coward’s Corner. Patrons were also prescribed an “I am a coward” card which they would exchange for their money back. The gimmick, although fun, led to some viewers watching the movie a second time for free as they would leave during the break.
Mr. Sardonicus (1961)
One of Castle’s favorite creations was his 1961 film Mr. Sardonicus. The movie tells the story of a London doctor who attempts to treat Baron Sardonicus, a man whose face is horribly disfigured when robbing his father’s grave to take a winning lottery ticket. The movie included audience participation as they could vote on Mr. Sardonicus’ fate in a “punishment poll”. Audiences would decide whether Sardonicus would be cured or die with the appropriate ending playing after the votes were counted. This gimmick worked because Castle assumed no audience would choose the mercy vote and always played the version where Sardonicus died.
Castle’s gimmicks slowly faded away over time as these elaborate campaigns became too costly. Campy horror cult classic was revolutionized by Castle, and his gimmicks did exactly what they needed to: sell tickets. Castle was able to conjure up creative ways to promote his movie and create a viewing experience memorable for his audiences. Although some may call Castle a showman or con, his gimmicks have gone down in history and prove his creative ingenuity.