Joe Castro (filmmaker)

Castro was born May 17, 1970 to Christine Castro.^[1][2] He grew up in Helotes, Texas^[3] and graduated from John Marshall High School in 1988.^[4][5][6] Castro later moved to Los Angeles, California and married film producer and collaborator Steven Escobar.^[5]

Castro started making masks and other molds using latex when he was 12.^[7] His influences in special effects started after he got his first copy of Fangoria magazine^[8] and watching the films Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster and An American Werewolf in London. He started making films on his family's property and at Hill Country.^[2][9]

When he was 15,^[1] Castro won Forrest J Ackerman's national mask making contest^[6] with Monsterland Magazine.^[9][3][10] It allowed him a five day trip to Hollywood to learn techniques for gore makeup alongside filmmakers Joe Dante and John Carl Buechler.^[11][9][3] When he was 17, he was featured in the television show PM Magazine for a werewolf transformation effect^[3] and did the special effects for a seasonal March of Dimes charity driven haunted house.^[12][13][14] In 1988, he designed an 11 room haunted motel to raise money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association.^[15][16][17]

In 2010, Castro was in pre-production for a film he was to direct The Summer of Massacre. It went on to hold the Guinness World Record for the highest body count in a slasher film.^[5][18]