![]() ![]() It was funny and crass, but also edgy and a worthwhile satire of past military films. If kids were the target for Dennis the Menace, teens were the ones who ate up this Damon Wayans comedy about a crazed military officer. It was a kid’s film: They loved it - that’s all that mattered. The ones who wrote the reviews in your local newspaper may not have enjoyed it, but it wasn’t for them. Written by John Hughes, this comic adaptation was critically panned, but its $117 million worldwide gross on a $35 million budget would make it Castle’s biggest directorial success. In 1993, he got to work with the legendary Walter Matthau in Dennis the Menace. Through disappointment, Castle’s career continued. His energetic style and focus on not only the story but knowing how simply the look and feel of a film will pull in the audience kept Tap from becoming an imitation of movies that had come before. ![]() Led by a predominantly Black cast, Castle also wrote this film about a tap-dancing ex-convict. In 1989 came his fourth film, the dance drama Tap, starring Gregory Hines and Sammy Davis, Jr. He took the themes seriously without being patronizing. What could have come across as cringe-worthy sap in the wrong hands was handled deftly by Castle. The Boy Who Could Fly, a fantastical film about a girl and an autistic boy both going through the death of parents, has a deep message about grief and how we cope with loss. ![]() ![]() A fun flick that went on to become a cult favorite, Castle was praised for the passion and energy he put into the film.Ĭastle would move on to more dramatic fare with his follow-ups. Born out of the Star Wars boom, it’s regarded as the best of the imitators while still being respected for its own ideas. The Last Starfighter tells the tale of a teenage video game expert (played by Halloween 2’s Lance Guest) who gets recruited to become a starfighter and fight for an alien planet in an interstellar war. His first feature film, 1982’s Tag: The Assassination Game, was a dud, but it got him behind the camera and gave him a chance to work with Linda Hamilton in her big-screen debut. Throughout the 1980s, Castle would take his talents to directing. The movie was a big success, perfect B-movie action escapism that would go on to influence films to come such as The Purge franchise. Written as a response to America’s distrust in its government after Watergate, the futuristic film sees Kurt Russell as a prisoner who is given twenty-fours to rescue the President of the United States (who just so happened to be played by Michael’s nemesis, Donald Pleasence). Three years after Halloween’s success, Carpenter and Castle would work together in writing Escape from New York. RELATED: 'Halloween Ends': Nick Castle, the Original Actor Behind The Shape, Will Make a Cameo Nick Castle’s career went in a much different direction, leaving an imprint on pop culture as big as Michael Myers, even if you didn’t know he was the man behind it. Unlike other actors of the day who played horror villains, he didn't fade away after his fifteen minutes of fame, nor did he repeatedly come back to the role as Robert Englund and Kane Hodder did with Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees, respectively. ![]()
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