Most film critics would look at William Castle and see a cheap, low-budget schlockmeister, though Castle probably wouldn’t mind that title! But what some fail to see is that Castle did exactly what he set out to do, and that to make the movie-going experience to be fun. While Hitchcock set up things to build the hype of his movies, like not being allowed to go into see Psycho (1960) once the film had started, Castle went beyond that. If you want your audience to scream during your movie… then just tell them to! And nobody did this better than William Castle.

Thankfully for me, and a lot of other Chicago area movie fans, not only do we have the Music Box Theatre, but we have it run by a bunch of similar minded fans. Recently, they paid tribute to Castle by not only screening 5 of his films but going above and beyond the ballyhoo to give audiences a true “Castle experience”. There were punishment polls, ghost viewers, tinglers running amok, flying skeletons, and even an axe-wielding Joan Crawford! While heading into the city, especially in the evening rush hour can be a wee bit nerve-wracking, taking me on average about a 2-hour commute, I did it three nights in a row. I mean, how could I pass up the opportunity? The funny thing was that no matter how stressful or frustrating the drive was, once I walked into the Music Box, all of that was forgotten. Like I had moved into some sort of sanctuary, with a wave of content and peacefulness surrounding me, telling me that everything was once again, right in the world. Even if it was only for 90-minutes.

On Friday, Aug. 21^st, we caught the late show of Strait-Jacket (1964), which I am starting to realize hitting a midnight show on a weekday is getting harder to do at my age! But speaking of getting older, the joke for this Castle film has always been that Joan Crawford is the gimmick. And it’s not really a joke. Crawford, once a huge star in Hollywood, was way past those days and was taking whatever work she could get. And Castle knew it would be the perfect “gimmick” to have her staring as an axe-murdering maniac. The theater did have a Joan Crawford drag impersonator, which was pretty fun. But honestly, the movie is pretty good as well, co-starring George Kennedy, Diane Baker, and even Lee Majors for a bit. Worth seeing.

On Monday the 24^th, I battled my way through traffic to see 13 Ghosts (1960), equipped with my official Music Box Ghost Viewer, which was a little card with some blue and red film, almost like the old 3-D glasses. The gimmick for this one is that if you are too scared to see the ghosts, look through the blue part and you won’t see them. But if you’re not afraid, look through the red part to see them in all their ghostly glory! It even tells you on the screen when to use them.

Now, I’ve seen this film countless times over the years, but never on the big screen. It’s kind of hard to explain, but seeing it in the theater, with a pretty full crowd, most of which had never seen the film before, and getting in the mood of the whole experience, holding up the glasses when you were told, really made me feel like a 12-year-old kid. There were “ghosts” wandering around the theater at times, making the whole experience so damn special, and so much fun.

The next night, I once again spent 2 hours in the car, but this time was to see The Tingler (1959), starring the incredible Vincent Price. The gimmick here was “Percepto”, where in the original release, Castle had the theaters rig some of the seats with a sort of buzzer that would be activated during a certain part of the film. There were rumors the Music Box was recreating it, but I unfortunately didn’t have one of spots. But what we did get was a giant Tingler not only flying across the crowd at one point, and then we had another, even bigger one, crowd surfing up the audience!

This is where you see the sheer genius of Castle. He made a horror picture where he wanted his audience to scream. So, he set part of the story inside a movie theater, where the title terror was set loose, causing audience members in the film to start to scream! When it attacks the projectionist and breaks the film, Price’s voice comes on telling people the Tingler is loose in the theater and the only way to save your life is to SCREAM! Which means everyone watching the film starts to scream! A woman across the aisle from me stands up and screams and then collapses to the floor. Of course, two members of the staff come a running with an old-fashioned stretcher and carry her off! William Castle would have been so proud to see something he created 67 years ago, not only still working today, but seeing so many people having fun. A truly unforgettable movie-going experience.

Then on Wednesday, Aug. 26^th, I head back into the city for the last time for a screening of Mr. Sardonicus (1961), which happens to be my favorite of Castle’s films. Now there is a gimmick here, but really film is played pretty straight-forward, giving us a very gothic tale of a man who becomes a sadistic Baron because of a shock that made his face turn into a horrible grimace. And because of it, he makes others pay, both mentally and physically. Guy Rolfe plays the title character and even though his face is covered most of the time, he is incredible in this role. But the real highlight is his assistant, Krull, played by Oscar Homolka. When he says, “When my master says, ‘Krull, do this thing,’ I do the thing, whatever it may be,” it is enough to chill you to the bone, especially when you realize what the ‘thing’ might be.

The gimmick here is that there is a “Punishment Poll”, where Castle comes on near the end of the film and lets the audience decide the fate of Sardonicus. If they want to show him mercy, you hold up the card with the Thumbs Up. But if you don’t want to show him mercy and want him to pay for the way he’s been, then you hold up the Thumbs Down. Castle then “counts” the cards in the audience and then tells the projectionist to play that particular ending. The real gimmick is that Castle never filmed two different endings because he knew what the audiences were going to want to see. And it is one hell of an ending. Let’s say he really gets what’s coming to him.

The next night was a screening of House on Haunted Hill (1959) in EMERGO! But I had been to the Music Box three of years ago where they had screened it before, giving the audience the whole “Castle Experience”, where I wrote about that experience HERE. And after driving into the city three nights in a row, I really needed a break!

For this whole experience, obviously a huge thanks must go to the Music Box Theatre and their incredible staff that goes above and beyond to make each person coming through the door a highly memorable experience. But major kudos has to go to Matt Carr for making this whole 5-film festival possible, as well as creating a truly unique “William Castle Experience” that I know I will be remembering for the rest of my life. He did this for all the right reasons. Not only his love for Castle and what he created, but more importantly to do the same thing Castle did and make going to the movies such a wonderful thing.

So, thank you (AGAIN) to the Music Box Theatre, Will Morris, Matt Carr, and everyone else that made these screening so much damn fun!