94-101 William Castle at Columbia Volumes 1 and 2

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MichaelB
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94-101 William Castle at Columbia Volumes 1 and 2

#1 Post by MichaelB » Thu Aug 02, 2018 4:56 am

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WILLIAM CASTLE AT COLUMBIA, VOLUME ONE

THE TINGLER (1959)
13 GHOSTS (1960)
HOMICIDAL (1961)
MR SARDONICUS (1961)

Release date: 22 October 2018
Limited Blu-ray Edition (UK Blu-ray premieres)

Renowned for his imaginative and eccentric marketing ploys, William Castle became synonymous with delivering lurid horror films backed-up by his trademark publicity gimmicks (‘Illusion-O’, ‘Percepto’, the ‘Punishment Poll’, ‘Fright Breaks’, etc.). WILLIAM CASTLE AT COLUMBIA, VOLUME ONE features four classic fright films from the outrageous showman’s illustrious career with Columbia Pictures and presented on Blu-ray for the very first time in the UK. Containing a wealth of new and archival extras – including Jeffrey Schwartz’s acclaimed feature-length documentary Spine Tingler! The William Castle Story, newly filmed introductions and appreciations, exclusive new audio commentaries, interviews with actor Pamela Lincoln and publicists Barry Lorie and Richard Kahn, archival featurettes, and much more – this stunning Limited Edition Blu-ray Box Set is strictly limited to 6,000 copies.

INDICATOR LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY BOX SET SPECIAL FEATURES:
• High Definition remasters of all four films
• Original mono audio
• Two presentations of 13 Ghosts: the original ‘Illusion-O’ presentation and the alternative black-and-white version
• The Tingler audio commentary by film historian Jonathan Rigby and Kevin Lyons, editor of The Encyclopedia of Fantastic Film and Television
• Homicidal audio commentary by author and film historian Lee Gambin
• Mr Sardonicus audio commentary with Daughters of Darkness’ Samm Deighan and Kat Ellinger
• Spine-Tingler! The William Castle Story (2007, 82 mins): Jeffrey Schwartz’s acclaimed documentary on Castle, featuring interviews with John Landis, Joe Dante, Roger Corman, Stuart Gordon, Leonard Maltin, Budd Boetticher, Bob Burns, David Del Valle, Fred Olen Ray and John Waters among others
• Larger Than Life: The Making of 'Spine-Tingler' (2007)
• Kim Newman on 'The Tingler' (2018): an appreciation by the critic and author of Nightmare Movies
• Scream for Your Lives!: William Castle and 'The Tingler'
• I Survived ‘The Tingler’ (2007): an interview with actor Pamela Lincoln
• Unleashing Percepto (2007): an interview with publicist Barry Lorie
• Stephen Laws Introduces ‘13 Ghosts’ (2018): an appreciations by the acclaimed horror author
• The Magic of 'Illusion-O': William Castle and '13 Ghosts'
• Psychette: William Castle and 'Homicidal'
• Stephen Laws Introduces 'Homicidal' (2018)
• The Punishment Poll (2007): an interview with publicist Richard Kahn
• Taking the Punishment Poll: William Castle and 'Mr Sardonicus'
• Ballyhoo!: Bob Thomas recalls the time he interviewed William Castle
• Original theatrical trailers
• Trailer commentaries with Sam Hamm, Stuart Gordon and Joe Dante
• Promotional and on-set photography, poster art and archive materials
• Limited Edition box set exclusive booklets with new essays by Kat Ellinger, Dan Whitehead, Rebecca Nicole Williams and Jo Botting, archival interview materials, contemporary reviews, and film credits
• UK premieres on Blu-ray
• Limited Edition box set of 6,000 numbered copies
• ...AND MORE!
• All extras subject to change
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WILLIAM CASTLE AT COLUMBIA, VOLUME TWO

ZOTZ! (1962)
13 FRIGHTENED GIRLS (1963)
THE OLD DARK HOUSE (1963)
STRAIT-JACKET (1964)

Release date: 10 December 2018
Limited Blu-ray Edition (UK Blu-ray premieres)

Renowned for his imaginative and eccentric marketing ploys, William Castle became synonymous with delivering lurid horror films backed-up by his trademark publicity gimmicks (‘Illusion-O’; ‘Percepto’; the ‘Punishment Poll’; ‘Fright Breaks’, etc.). WILLIAM CASTLE AT COLUMBIA VOLUME TWO features four more weird and wonderful films from the outrageous showman’s illustrious career with Columbia Pictures, all presented on Blu-ray for the very first time in the UK. Containing a wealth of new and archival extras this stunning Limited Edition Blu-ray Box Set from Indicator is strictly limited to 6,000 units.

INDICATOR LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY BOX SET SPECIAL FEATURES:
• High Definition remasters of all four films
• Original mono audio
• Alternative presentations of The Old Dark House – the black and white 1963 US theatrical presentation (87 mins); the cut-down A-certificate 1966 UK presentation (77 mins); and the complete uncut colour presentation (87 mins)
• Zotz! audio commentary by Diabolique Magazine’s editor-in-chief Kat Ellinger
• 13 Frightened Girls audio commentary by Daughters of Darkness’ Samm Deighan
• The Old Dark House audio commentary by celebrated horror and fantasy authors Kim Newman and Stephen Jones
• Strait-Jacket audio commentary film historians Lee Gambin and Emma Westwood
• Stephen Laws Introduces ‘Zotz!’ (2018): an appreciation by the acclaimed horror author
• Kim Newman on Ray Russell (2018): an appreciation of novelist and writer of Zotz! by the critic and author of Nightmare Movies
• 13 Frightened Girls: William Castle’s original 'The Candy Web' opening / closing 'Danger Card' messages
• 13 Frightened Girls: four alternativee opening sequences created for international release versions
• Jonathan Rigby on ‘The Old Dark House’ and ‘Strait-Jacket’ (2018): new appreciations by the author of American Gothic: Six Decades of Classic Horror Cinema
• ‘The Old Dark House’ in Eastmancolor (2018): Paul Frith, Senior Research Associate, School of Art, Media and American Studies at UEA discusses the film's cinematography
• Joan Had Me Fired! (2018): an interview with actor Anne Helm
• On the Road with Joan Crawford (2018): an interview with publicist Richard Kahn
• Battle-Axe: The Making of 'Strait-Jacket' (2007, 15 mins)
• Joan Crawford Wardrobe Tests (1964, 4 mins)
• Joan Crawford - Axe Test (1964, 1 min)
• How to Plan a Movie Murder (1964, 5 mins): star Joan Crawford, director William Castle and author Robert Bloch discuss making Strait-Jacket in this vintage piece
• Super 8 version of Strait-Jacket
• Isolated music & effects track on all four films
• Original theatrical trailers
• Strait-Jacket trailer commentary with David DeCoteau
• 13 Frightened Girls original UK trailer introduction
• Alternative 13 Frightened Girls 'The Candy Web' trailer
• Promotional and on-set photography, poster art and archive materials
• New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
• Limited Edition box set exclusive booklets for each film with new essays by Joe Jordan, Racheal Nisbet, James Oliver and John Oliver, archival interview materials, contemporary reviews and film credits
• World and UK premieres on Blu-ray
• Limited Edition box set of 6,000 numbered units
• All extras subject to change

#PHILTD098
BBFC cert: 12
REGION FREE (except STRAIT-JACKET, which is REGION B)
EAN: 5037899071830

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Finch
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Re: 94-97 William Castle at Columbia Volume 1

#2 Post by Finch » Thu Aug 02, 2018 5:17 am

My only exposure to Castle was House on Haunted Hill which I liked a lot. How do these stack up?

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Dr Amicus
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Re: 94-97 William Castle at Columbia Volume 1

#3 Post by Dr Amicus » Thu Aug 02, 2018 5:28 am

I've seen both The Tingler and Homicidal and they are tremendous fun, especially the former. They're the kind of film that always used to turn up on Channel 4 at midnight on a Friday night...

For much of my teenage horror viewing, I'd been influenced by Starburst in it's early 80's heyday - they had a particularly entertaining article about Castle and I kept an eye out for TV screenings!

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Finch
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Re: 94-97 William Castle at Columbia Volume 1

#4 Post by Finch » Thu Aug 02, 2018 5:34 am

Thank you for the feedback, I might get it then. Vincent Price has been one of my favourite actors ever since I first saw him in the Corman Poe fims as a kid.

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domino harvey
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Re: 94-97 William Castle at Columbia Volume 1

#5 Post by domino harvey » Thu Aug 02, 2018 9:21 am

I've only seen Mr Sardonicus, which I didn't like much, but the ending gimmick is amusing: Castle invites the audience to vote for whether the antagonist should receive mercy or punishment. Of course, I think Castle knew full well that no audience was going to want anything but vengeance at the end, so presumably there was only ever one ending filmed, but it's a funny idea

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Re: 94-97 William Castle at Columbia Volume 1

#6 Post by swo17 » Thu Aug 02, 2018 11:35 am

So what can we expect from future volumes? It looks like the majority of his films through 1964 were with Sony/Columbia (nearly 40 of them).

Also, any chance of the MORE! including the ghost viewer for 13 Ghosts? Uh, a vibrator for The Tingler? Or a cash refund for Homicidal?

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Re: 94-97 William Castle at Columbia Volume 1

#7 Post by domino harvey » Thu Aug 02, 2018 11:41 am

I like how a member on the Blu-ray forum is loudly expecting Indicator to include four Ghost Viewers in the box. Somehow I suspect if Indicator does include one, it will just be a single copy to be shared among the home viewers

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Re: 94-97 William Castle at Columbia Volume 1

#8 Post by Feego » Thu Aug 02, 2018 12:33 pm

I assume it's a safe bet that the four additional films from Sony's 2009 DVD collection (13 Frightened Girls, Strait-Jacket, The Old Dark House, and Zotz!) will make it to a future volume. I haven't seen Mr. Sardonicus, but the others are fun, light entertainment for a rainy day. They're cheap and goofy in the best possible way. Honestly, part of the appeal of watching something like The Tingler is to see how fake the title creature looks and how seriously Vincent Price takes it. The lead performance in Homicidal by Jean Arliss is not technically good, but it's ballsy and outrageous enough to burn itself into your memory. All of these movies are so gleefully derivative (Tingler borrows heavily from Diabolique, down to a big shock moment in a bathtub). These aren't masterpieces, but they're good fun to watch with a group, ideal for a family Halloween party, and invite active participation.

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Re: 94-97 William Castle at Columbia Volume 1

#9 Post by MichaelB » Thu Aug 02, 2018 12:51 pm

domino harvey wrote:
Thu Aug 02, 2018 11:41 am
I like how a member on the Blu-ray forum is loudly expecting Indicator to include four Ghost Viewers in the box. Somehow I suspect if Indicator does include one, it will just be a single copy to be shared among the home viewers
Someone else has just melodramatically announced that
This is the first time I've actually been disappointed by an announcement, from any label.
Apparently this is over Indicator's lamentable failure to announce a single-disc release of The Mad Magician - but since they've never announced or even hinted that they were working on such a thing, you might as well be similarly disappointed by their failure to announce... well, pretty much anything that isn't already in the catalogue.

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Re: 94-97 William Castle at Columbia Volume 1

#10 Post by swo17 » Thu Aug 02, 2018 12:56 pm

How has he not been disappointed by every other non-announcement of Mad Magician?

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domino harvey
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Re: 94-97 William Castle at Columbia Volume 1

#11 Post by domino harvey » Thu Aug 02, 2018 1:38 pm

swo17 wrote:
Thu Aug 02, 2018 11:35 am
So what can we expect from future volumes? It looks like the majority of his films through 1964 were with Sony/Columbia (nearly 40 of them).
I would imagine Vol 2 will be the other four titles from Sony's big Castle box: 13 Frightened Girls, Strait-Jacket, the Old Dark House (1963), and Zotz!

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Re: 94-97 William Castle at Columbia Volume 1

#12 Post by colinr0380 » Thu Aug 02, 2018 1:43 pm

Dr Amicus wrote:
Thu Aug 02, 2018 5:28 am
I've seen both The Tingler and Homicidal and they are tremendous fun, especially the former. They're the kind of film that always used to turn up on Channel 4 at midnight on a Friday night...
I remember in late 1996 Channel 4 did their last to date horror film marathon season by doing all nighters of horror films every Friday (from around midnight to 6 a.m.), and the first themed triple bill they programmed was The Tinger, Strait-Jacket and Homicidal! (Others in the series included: The Boston Strangler, Screaming Mimi and Doctor X; The Fearless Vampire Killers, The Return of the Vampire and The Mark of the Vampire; and The Lair of the White Worm, Ebirah Horror of the Deep and The Reptile, etc)

Homicidal is great, with a surprisingly shocking and intense opening murder sequence, although the 'twist' is not really much of a twist as it is blindingly obvious from the opening minutes! Although its main gimmick is not quite as audacious as some of Castle's others, the Fright Break seems to have been quite influential, especially on The Beast Must Die's Werewolf Break and arguably Seul Contre Tous' "Vouz avez 30 secondes pour abandonner la projection de ce film" 'break'!
Last edited by colinr0380 on Thu Aug 02, 2018 2:05 pm, edited 4 times in total.

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domino harvey
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Re: 94-97 William Castle at Columbia Volume 1

#13 Post by domino harvey » Thu Aug 02, 2018 1:45 pm

Still proud that I guessed correctly during the Werewolf Break of the Beast Must Die-- but the key word there is "guessed," because it wasn't Encyclopedia Brown where the clues were there for you to find, it was just choosing from among a bunch of different red herrings. Still, a win's a win

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Re: 94-97 William Castle at Columbia Volume 1

#14 Post by colinr0380 » Thu Aug 02, 2018 1:56 pm

Potential spoiler for Homicidal and 1994's Color of NightShow
I often wonder if Jane March in Color of Night was a sort of knowing response to Homicidal! Or maybe it is just that the twist still does not really work over thirty years later, especially when your character(s) have distinctively recognisable teeth!

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Re: 94-97 William Castle at Columbia Volume 1

#15 Post by TheRanchHand » Mon Aug 06, 2018 5:09 am

swo17 wrote:
Thu Aug 02, 2018 12:56 pm
How has he not been disappointed by every other non-announcement of Mad Magician?
Well said! This day and age of expectations and entitlement have people getting let down, even angry, when they don't get their wants and needs met. I always say, if you haven't watched every single one of your blu-rays in your collection you don't have a complaint anyway.

I am stoked about these releases (and Demon). I'm a 60s kid but these 50s monster, horror and sci fi films are staples of my youth. These box sets get better and better....

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Re: 94-97 William Castle at Columbia Volume 1

#16 Post by Rayon Vert » Mon Aug 06, 2018 4:44 pm

Three of these films get respectable ratings on IMDB, but I didn't much care for House on Haunted Hill, so how do these films compare specifically to that one?

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knives
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Re: 94-97 William Castle at Columbia Volume 1

#17 Post by knives » Mon Aug 06, 2018 4:54 pm

Personally I like them a lot more, but it also needs to be said they are of a similar personality and that checking out a few more of his films first might be necessary.

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Re: 94-97 William Castle at Columbia Volume 1

#18 Post by whaleallright » Mon Aug 06, 2018 8:04 pm

I'm only disappointed that this doesn't come with one of the vibrating chairs used for some screenings of The Tingler.

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tenia
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Re: 94-97 William Castle at Columbia Volume 1

#19 Post by tenia » Tue Aug 07, 2018 5:32 am

TheRanchHand wrote:
Mon Aug 06, 2018 5:09 am
I always say, if you haven't watched every single one of your blu-rays in your collection you don't have a complaint anyway.
I have yet to watch my recent purchases of The Replacement Killers and Maximum Risk, but I still have a right to be more or less excited by some line-ups being announced, haven't it ? The issue has more to do with how this is voiced, in the discussed case how some can instantly go theatrical and hyperbolic rather than just saying "oh, there isn't The Mad Magician, that's unfortunate because it's my favourite Castle movie. Hopefully, it will be released soon." and that's it.

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Re: 94-97 William Castle at Columbia Volume 1

#20 Post by Boosmahn » Fri Aug 17, 2018 4:49 pm

At the expense of sounding completely idiotic, I have a question about the upcoming Castle release: is it practical for the "Tingler" effect to replicated by cranking the bass? Other gimmicks (the unrecorded "punishment poll" for Mr. Sardonicus, etc.) are unlikely to be reproduced, but could it be possible to cause subtle vibrations in the viewer's chair if their home theater system had a significant enough bass?

(Please don't give me the Richard Cranium award. This is merely theoretical.)

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Re: 94-97 William Castle at Columbia Volume 1

#21 Post by David M. » Fri Aug 17, 2018 7:22 pm

At the expense of sounding completely idiotic, I have a question about the upcoming Castle release: is it practical for the "Tingler" effect to replicated by cranking the bass? Other gimmicks (the unrecorded "punishment poll" for Mr. Sardonicus, etc.) are unlikely to be reproduced, but could it be possible to cause subtle vibrations in the viewer's chair if their home theater system had a significant enough bass?
Maybe if you hook up one of these:
https://store-tfi6gyt88c.mybigcommerce. ... -products/

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domino harvey
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Re: 94-97 William Castle at Columbia Volume 1

#22 Post by domino harvey » Fri Aug 17, 2018 7:29 pm

Just don't do it if you share a wall with me

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Re: 94-97 William Castle at Columbia Volume 1

#23 Post by Feego » Fri Aug 17, 2018 7:57 pm

Swo's suggestion above is probably more accurate to what lucky audience members actually felt on original release:
swo17 wrote:
Thu Aug 02, 2018 11:35 am
Uh, a vibrator for The Tingler?

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Re: 94-97 William Castle at Columbia Volume 1

#24 Post by willoneill » Fri Aug 17, 2018 8:00 pm

I was thinking about this as well, and I thought of a solution that I don’t have the wherewithal to actually develop. Blu-ray technology is such that with an internet-connected blu-ray player, you could design a feature where the disc, though the player, sends a signal to an app on your cellphone, telling it to vibrate at the right moments. Just pop your cellphone behind/under you or your seat, and voila, the Tingler for Millennials!*

*patent pending

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Re: 94-97 William Castle at Columbia Volume 1

#25 Post by jsteffe » Fri Aug 17, 2018 9:41 pm

willoneill wrote:
Fri Aug 17, 2018 8:00 pm
I was thinking about this as well, and I thought of a solution that I don’t have the wherewithal to actually develop. Blu-ray technology is such that with an internet-connected blu-ray player, you could design a feature where the disc, though the player, sends a signal to an app on your cellphone, telling it to vibrate at the right moments. Just pop your cellphone behind/under you or your seat, and voila, the Tingler for Millennials!*

*patent pending
Totally doable: https://www.lovense.com/

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