Scare Tactic: The Life & Films of William Castle [Paperback]

John Law (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 28, 2000

In Scare Tactic, John W. Law artfully resurrects the intriguing life and outrageously splendid work of legendary horror film director, William Castle. Clearly written and thoroughly researched, Scare Tactic is the only book of its kind, delivering a complete biography of Castle - surveying not only the multiple influences on Castles career but also the importance of the man himself. Laws fascination with Castle is contagious, but he cuts through the ballyhoo and showmanship to deliver the facts in an articulate and insightful manner. Anyone interested in the history of cinema, the horror movie genre, cult films, or the cinema of exploitation would do well to read Laws study, since - in the tradition of P.T. Barnum - Castle is one of the most important showmen the American cinema has ever known.

Product Details

• Paperback: 264 pages
• Publisher: iUniverse (April 28, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0595095445
• ISBN-13: 978-0595095445
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,038,317 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Sloppiness and Lack of Insight Make for a Disappointing Read, July 21, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Scare Tactic: The Life & Films of William Castle (Paperback)

I picked up "Scare Tactic" after finishing William Castle's very engaging memoirs, "Step Right Up! I'm Gonna Scare the Pants off America." There is very little original material in John Law's book... most of it is just a rehash of Castle's memoirs, in which Law re-tells Castle's anecdotes, sometimes refuting them. (Mostly on minor details like dates.) Law offers a few terse observations and insights of the man's life, but not really until the very last 10 pages of the book. The most glaring and offensive thing about this book is how poorly it is edited: simple mistakes (like spelling "Ursula" "Ursual" or "their" instead of "there") dot almost every single page, making this book seem even more amateurish. I suggest picking up Castle's memoirs instead... they're much more entertaining and better written.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A very badly-written book about an interesting man, May 1, 2002

By 

Ronald Duchamp (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Scare Tactic: The Life & Films of William Castle (Paperback)

"Scare Tactic" cannot help but be somewhat interesting simply because the life and work of its subject William Castle were so unique and inspiring.

But the book itself is ineptly written and executed. Spelling and grammatical errors abound (the kind of mistakes that word processors miss, such as the use of "their" in place of "there"). Run-on sentences and repetition render even the simplest information confusing and incoherent. And the author's own attempts to analyze Mr. Castle's life and work amount to grade-school-quality assessments (yes, we all agree that many of Castle's films were scary).

In short, "Scare Tactic" is nearly unreadable. Books such as this one demonstrate why traditional book editors and publishers need never feel threatened by the growing self-publication movement ("Scare Tactic" was self-published by its author through iUniverse.com).

If a reader is truly curious about Mr. Castle's life and work, they are encouraged to seek out a copy of his autobiography "I'm Gonna Scare the Pants Off America" which is currently out of print but which they may be able to find at their local library.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Campy Castle Tribute, July 30, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Scare Tactic: The Life & Films of William Castle (Paperback)

The author's obvious love of Castle's horror work comes through. While the book doesnt offer great detail of Castle's other works, his horror classics are well detailed. There is some overlap with Castle's own autobiography, but there's some great touches with some of the lousy film reviews the director got which Castle himself rarely admitted to and some item Castle never discussed in his own book, like the fact that Joan Crawford was not the original star of Strait-Jacket. The book also has some rare photos and is a great option since Castle's own autobiography hasnt been in print for years. In fact, this is actually the only biography ever done on Castle.