Review of Spine Tingler! The William Castle Story (2007) by Tim S — 28 Nov 2014

Castleâ??s films are all about ideas over execution, showmanship over style. He tends to be slack in his direction, better with startled shrieks than slow building tension, but he can layer in the gruesome details and spring a shock cut with the best them.

Itâ??s a portrait in contradiction, a man who finds success in gimmicks but so wants to be taken seriously. Itâ??s too affectionate a portrait to really dig into Castleâ??s weaknesses as a director but it does acknowledge his ambition and his frustrated desire to be taken seriously with the identity he created for himself.