100 Years of Horror: Gory Gimmicks

100 Years of Horror: Gory Gimmicks (1996)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

One of the more entertaining entries in the series takes us on a rundown of the various gimmicks people would use to get folks into the theater. This started early in cinema when prints were hand colored and then the process went to Technicolor films movies like DOCTOR X. This gimmick would later change when movies were made in color but then we'd get another attempt to get kids into theaters with 3-D. People like William Castle would come along and films like MARK OF THE DEVIl would arrive giving out barf bags. Even in 1996 they had gimmicks like "unrated" editions that were really just a few seconds thrown back into the movie because the studios knew this was a way to make you pay twice to see a film.

I really enjoyed the rundown here even though I already knew everything I was seeing. I think the joy out of this episode is just seeing the various ways that Hollywood and producers would make you get into a movie. An entire documentary could be (and has been) made on William Castle and his various gimmicks. Vincent Price talks about his work with Castle as well as HOUSE OF WAX. Joe Dante and John Carpenter talk about various things that got them into the theater and Roger Corman talks about how he was given $200,000 to make two black and white cheapies but talked AIP into making one color picture (HOUSE OF USHER) instead.