I have watched over fifteen horror films within the last two weeks. My teeth are soar and undoubtedly covered with cavities from the handfuls of candy corn I've been shoveling in my mouth. And the road I survive is lined with carved jack-o-lanterns and piles of dead leaves, which gives it a strikingly eerie resemblance to the fictional small town of Haddonfield, IL. These three observations can only just mean something

Horror movie; Halloween is right round the corner. Yes, that magical holiday that somehow seems to get more and more awesome annually despite growing out of trick r' treating almost 2 full decades ago. And even though I really like dressing and decorating for a Halloween bash and am very partial to candy, my personal favorite element of this seasonal celebration is undoubtedly all about the cinema.

Annually, I make an effort to see as much horror films as I possibly can throughout the month of October leading up to All Hallows Eve. And with the number of movies that I have observed (trust me, it's a lot), I might have a rather tricky time trying to find ones that I haven't seen yet. What once needed me pacing up and down the horror section of my local video store for an hour picking random movies I've never heard of that sound interesting, has now been replaced with me spending that same hour browsing on Netflix. This season, I went pretty far back on the timeline and have a break from every one of the torture-porn garbage that's been getting released these past handful of years. Don't get me wrong, as tempting as it was to see Saw 17: The Bride of Jigsaw's Cousin, I instead decided to see the task of an old horror legend.

That legend being none other then the "King of the Gimmick" himself. The Godfather of the B -Movie; Mr. William Castle. Thanks to the recent release of the William Castle Film Collection, the 5-disc DVD set that includes eight of the director's finest contributions to the world of cinema, everyone now has got the privilege of rediscovering one of the first film directors that understood that being scared and having fun go hand-in-hand when watching a fright film.

With over fifty movies on his resume, it's a pity William Castle's name doesn't come up as frequently as Hitchcock's or Argento's when discussions arise on the icons of the horror genre. Don't get me wrong, his movies were never celluloid perfection or anything like that. But certain classics like Straigh-Jacket, Mr. Sardonicus and numerous others possessed a campy flare that most horror buffs can't help but pleasantly enjoy.

Having a background in theatre production, William Castle (then referred to as William Schloss before changing his last name to the German translation of the word; castle) moved to Hollywood at the age of 23. After using his irresistible charm to become acquainted with the great Orson Welles, he was able to get are an associate for the infamous director. He was even the very first person to take fascination with the property that could soon become The Lady From Shanghai, certainly one of Welles' finest movies. Watching filmmakers like Welles doing his thing day after day gave Castle an overwhelming desire to be always a director himself.

Patiently awaiting his chance, Castle's received his education in filmmaking on the studio a lot of Columbia Pictures where he'd dabble in all sorts of behind the scenes work before eventually being hired on as an agreement director. In those days, directors under a business contract would churn out a movie every 12 to 15 days. Obviously, Castle got his chance and was required to start whipping out cookie-cutter films on a monthly basis. The films never garnered any attention except for all the negative reviews the critics would throw at them, which didn't cast Castle in a lot of an optimistic light. It wasn't until he ventured out by himself and decided that he wanted to target on making scary movies that his presence in the film industry could be felt.