trailer tuesday

here at vitagraph, american we have a healthy reverence for the art of the trailer. previews of coming attractions are as much a part of the movie-going experience as the film itself. this recurring feature is intended to celebrate the best/most interesting of those little gems that entice us to come back next week.

our inaugural entry is for william castle's mr. sardonicus (1961). for those of you unfamiliar with castle, when it came to b-movie gimmickry he had no equal. for screenings of macabre (1958) he offered $1000 life insurance policies from lloyd's of london in case you died of fright during the movie. the tingler (1959) was filmed in "percepto" which meant that the creature in the film, which can only be destroyed by screaming, could "hear" the audience. it didn't hurt that select seats in the theater were rigged with large joy buzzers. the "punishment poll" in today's trailer was bunk. no alternative ending has ever been unearthed. that didn't make it any less fun, though. i'm pretty sure no audience ever voted for mercy anyway.

if you're interested, the william castle film collection is a great place to start. you'll have to rig your own joy buzzers.