The CineFiles

Oh William Castle, your genius as a film promoter is truly unparalleled and I fear we will never see your like again. From installing military surplus airplane wing de-icer motors under seats to jiggle the audiences of  The Tingler to taking out $1,000 life insurance policies on audiences who came to see Macabre and stationing nurses in the lobby to make sure the patrons weren’t on the edge of heart attacks, Castle was the absolute king of the wacky gimmick. Audiences of more refined horror also have him to thank for producing Rosemary’s Baby and lovers of midnight movies can credit Castle for inspiring “Pope of Trash” John Waters to become a filmmaker himself.

A remake of Thirteen Ghosts was released in 2001, minus the groovy ghost viewer cards but with a higher production values (though it was widely panned by critics for the dull writing and cheesy plot.)