Monster Scholar

Carrie (1976) Sissy Spacek The Rage: Carrie 2 (1999) Emily Bergl Carrie (TV 2002) Angela Bettis

So I’m dusting off the cobwebs on this blog to bring you a book review of Jason Zinoman’s book Shock Value out now, and if you’re reading this why haven’t you bought it? I received a copy from the publisher a few weeks back and could not contain my excitement which was thoroughly justified by this very satisfying and entertaining read. In 1968 William Castle, the master of suspense who made a living electrifying audiences with gimmicky horror films like The Tingler , bought the film rights to Rosemary’s Baby , the disturbing tale of a young woman who discovers she is having Satan’s child. Castle was keen on directing a film adaptation. He had years of experience, but the success of his B-movie horror features leaned heavily on publicity stunts, like taking out an insurance policy for any audience member who died of fright, instead of content. The studio recognized that Castle’s brand of horror was not what Rosemary’s Baby needed and asked Roman Polanski to direct, keeping Castle