The Tingler

Fave movie-quote - "Scream! Scream for your lives!... The Tingler is loose in the theater!" After all the great stuff I've heard over the years about The Tingler and, apparently, it being William Castle's triumph of B-Movie horror, I have to admit that I was left feeling completely cheated and totally let down this time by "The Master of Gimmicks". With what seemed like an endless soap opera of tiresome bickering between Dr. Chapin and his slutty wife, Isabel, it took this film a good 1/2 hour before its story even started to come alive. And, even at that point, it wasn't for another 20 minutes before things really started to cook. And then, it was another 10 minutes before the "Tingler" actually made its much-anticipated screen-appearance. With there now being only 20 minutes left in the story, it wasn't until the very last 10 minutes that the "Tingler" (in its feeble manner) finally breaks loose and terrorizes the screaming patrons in the rickety, old movie theater. Besides the fact that the Tingler's appearance (which was similar to that of an over-sized centipede) was strictly a laughing matter, it was also quite obvious to see that it was just a piece of rubber. I got my biggest chuckles as this creature hobbled around on the floor in the theater, while seeming to keep its movements in time with the rinky-tinky piano music that was being played to accompany the feature film, which was a silly, melodramatic silent picture. It didn't help matters much that I think actor Vincent Price, who played the lead character, really sucked. His lisping effeminacy made him completely unconvincing as a man who had landed himself such a hot & wealthy wife as Isabel. I think that The Tingler's story had a lot of potential, but, in the long run, it didn't even come anywhere near to living up to its possibilities or its reputation. Yep. "The King of Gimmicks", William Castle, really bombed with this one.

"The Tingler" is one of the best of the gimmicky horror thrillers churned out by William Castle for Columbia in the late 50s and early 60s. Vincent Price lends considerable class to the proceedings as a coroner convinced that there is a creature that grows in the spine (the Tingler of the title) when humans are unable to release their fear through screaming. Price, 51 at the time, is a good guy for a change, saddled with an evil two-timing wife who attempts to kill him with the tingler he surgically removes from the corpse of a deaf mute. The dead woman's husband, an odd little man named Ollie, provides the most fun with his terror filled facial contortions at the film's climax, but there's a giggle or two to be had when Price, under the influence of narcotics, believes the walls are closing in on him. "The walls! The walls!" he cries before collapsing across the desk in his lab. I collapsed before he did--with laughter. "This man," I thought to myself, "is 51-years-old, and THIS is his career. In addition to providing an unintentional guffaw or two, "The Tingler" works up some genuine chills, making it one of Castle's best B shockers.

This is the sort of nonsense that gave horror movies a bad name in the 1950's. The very concept is ludicrous. We are supposed to believe that when individuals feel terror, a creature like a giant centipede spontaneously appears in the spinal column and grows in concert with the depth of their fear. This is what apparently makes our spines tingle. When fear abates; the thing vanishes in a broadly similar way. Which means that I must never have been afraid, as I've never felt my spine tingle. Though the hair on my head has sometimes prickled-up, suggesting that I've got a 'prickler' instead, and that's hiding under my scalp. Even as a kid I couldn't take the idea seriously. Heaven knows what adults thought of it. Though the movie's comparative obscurity today gives a clue. Vincent Price is as solid as ever, handing down one of his innumerable campy class acts. Of the 4 stars I award the movie, 3 go to him. As to the rest of it - well, it's 1959, it's British, and it's a low-low-budget. 'Nuff said. Strictly for Price fans and the movie equivalent of train-spotters.

There is a real pleasure in watching old Vincent Price movies. There is little in the way of special effects, so you have to rely on the skills of the actor. he is and was magnificent. The premise is just too ridiculous to comprehend - we have a tingler in our spine that reacts to fear. Screaming will neutralize it. It's a neat gimmick, and director William Castle took advantage of post war audiences to capitalize on it. The "creature" looked like a runner centipede that was two feet long. It was so unreal that it was funny, but it made for a great movie, and a spine-tingling ending. You can never go wrong with an old Price movie. Plus you probably get to see the first LSD trip on film.

This isn't a particularly deep film, but what can you expect from William Castle--the king of schlock and showmanship in films!? Vincent Price stars as a scientist who is investigating how fear kills its victims. He discovers that there is a creature that lives inside us that wraps around our spine and kills us if we allow ourselves to be afraid...and he actually manages to capture one! Well, given that there is a live "tingler" about, you can guess where William Castle goes--the creature gets loose and supposedly is running amok in the theater and will kill anyone who gives in to their fear! Well, despite this cheesy gimmick, this is a very good horror film well worth watching. While many will no doubt think the film is too cheesy to enjoy, I think that it is a perfect example of a high quality cheesy 1950s horror film--just tons of fun despite it being a pretty silly film. An excellent tribute to this style film is the cute film Matinée--give it a look. By the way, if you want to see the best Castle film, see STRAIGHT- JACKET--a far from subtle film you've just got to see!

Yes, I was one of the "lucky" ones who had the chair move in the movie theater...I also remember things brushing against my feet. I was petrified....I was only seven years old at the time!!! I had gone to the movies with my older sister...she did NOT have one the THE chairs. I became so frightened that I asked to go sit with my oldest sister, who had come to the movies with her friends. I had to be extremely scared to go sit with her, because she was thirteen and did NOT want her kid sister coming to join her. I remained in the theater until the end of the movie and YES, I "saw" the Tingler escape!!!! This obviously had an impression on me....I got a call tonight from my son letting me know it was on TCM...he had recalled hearing me talk about this great movie!!! Although I was scared to death, I did enjoy this movie...as I am now.... watching it and re-living my childhood!!!

At the start of the Tingler, William Castle walks out and lets the audience know about being scared and screaming - and that this will be a case where it's more than just suggested, it's all but required for the audience (then shots of screaming teens pop up on the screen). Seeing as how I was watching the film by myself on a rainy day, it might be rather insane to just scream on my own, especially when it came time to actually see the Tingler creature itself. But the movie is a splendid concoction of scientific ballyhoo. If you are just getting into these kinds of "mad scientist does this" 1950s/60s movie, this is a good place to get acquainted. And what better way than with Vincent Price? Price is such a good actor that he makes this doctor's hunt for capturing fear in human beings- and finding the weird organism that does it- into a quest, one that he even tries to propel from himself. The idea of the Tingler is something interesting more than the usual fare, anyway, because it's psychosomatic: instead of it being experiments creating a man or woman into a monster or beast or animal, it's a manifestation of something that's already there. In this case the tingler monster is like some weird centipede-lobster thing (compared to some of Corman's productions like 'Crab Monsters' it doesn't look or move to shabbily either), and it's extracted by Price from a deaf woman who can't scream and so all the tension built up by a fear drug causes the tingler to grow and not shrink down. There's a lot of fun stuff here, and some solid scenes as well. Early on we see that Castle is at least competent in his craftsmanship if nothing too special, but the writing helps keep things moving in a professional manner; not much time is wasted, and the acting around Price is decent enough (my favorite would be his wife, whom he uses as his first test subject). But the "shocks" come with trippy scenes where Price thinks he sees skeletons come to life, and then with the deaf woman's visions in the bathroom, with tinted-red blood against black and white (why this is done aside from the gimmick I can't say, but it looks cool anyway), and then that ridiculous, self-conscious hoot in the silent movie theater where the wicked fear-beast (who can only be quelled by screams, by the way) slithers around the theater and all the way up to the projectionist, leaving his mark on the screen! It would be advantageous, of course, to see this in a theater where Castle's gimmicks could be done. Maybe a step bellow (or above) smell-o-vision, but it doesn't detract from the fun within the material itself. It's goofy and silly, and by the end all you learn is never to get too scared that you won't scream. Oh, and you have a meddling creature on your back that is activated whenever you're frightened. Boo.

...because the person in the seat next to you will probably be screaming too! You've got to love this campy cult classic from William Castle. Vincent Price is great as always, but the supporting characters are really good also, which can sometimes be hard to find in this kind of movie. The opening 'screaming' sequence can be a little annoying, but it's all in keeping with the fun you have watching this classic. Be ready to laugh! 8 out of 10

I was home from work suffering miserably from the flu when I stumbled across this movie on cable TV mid-afternoon. Nevertheless, It was the bright spot of my day. Vincent Price plays a coroner who is intrigued by the effects of fear on the human body. He makes a discovery that when people are frightened, a parasitic creature will invade their spinal column and destroy it. The only way to disable the parasite is to scream as a way to emote your fear and not keep it bottled up in side. Vincent Price non-chalantly names this parasitic creature " I guess I'll call it the tingler" to his lab partner upon examination of an x-ray of a frightened person. But how to obtain an actual "tingler" specimen ??? Ah my friends, that is when the schlocky late 1950's B movie horror fun begins ! Actually, i should not say that. I gained a lot of respect for this little horror movie while watching it. The plot line I thought was ingenious enough to make children or dim-witted adults to probably believe it. As mentioned from the other reviewers of the movie, and i must concur, there are some very interesting scenes in the film. 1)A pre psychedelic era depiction of an individual (Vincent Price) injecting himself with LSD in order to experience fright (i'm too intelligent to be scared by anything else he proclaims), 2) The star of the film, " The Tingler" itself. Disgusting yet depicted hokey enough for you to want to have one as a pet 3) The attempt to scare the deaf mute woman. The bathtub scene is undoubtedly so creepy you wont want to turn away or maybe you might ! Another thing I appreciated about this movie is a small detail I really enjoyed that nobody else seemed to comment on. I really liked it when the tingler is loose and people are starting to panic and film then incorporates a pounding heartbeat along with a repetitive same note organ score. I think that added a nice touch. Im not going to go into all the film's gimmicks here since I was not even a thought when the movie played in the theaters (vibrating seats, people "fainting" in the audience, theater going dark and Vincent Price telling ticket holders " The Tingler is loose in this theater, scream, scream for your lives" However, I wish I was around to experience that theater going experience. It must have been a lot of fun. I can see why this film is considered a classic. As i told you up front I was sick with the flu while watching it and it kept me awake and intrigued the whole hour and a half it was on. To me, that is the true test of whether a film is watchable or not. A footnote for some of the older folks reading this who live in the NYC area like I do...I recall WPIX Channel 11 showing reruns of this sleeper horror classic on Chiller Theater on Saturday nights when i was a kid. Why I did not watch it back then, I don't know. Must have been afraid of it. Im glad I finally did get the chance to watch it now though.

"The Tingler" (1959 - 82 minutes - B&W), is a classic of horror and science fiction produced and directed by the remarkable master William Castle, who was known for setting tricks in the cinema rooms in fifties and sixties in order to interact the audience with the film. (In "The Tigler", Castle placed an equipment, the "Percepto", inside the cinema armchairs so that, when the audience shouts during the movie, they felt a shock). In this masterpiece, Vincent Price is Dr. Warren Chapin, an obstinate doctor of legal medicine who discovers that fear causes the "tingler effect" with the growth of a parasitic creature near the vertebral column. Chapin could isolate and remove the creature of a deaf and dumb woman (the actress Judith Evelyn) but the "thing" escapes and runs away to a full cinema. A way to defeat the creature is to shout loud. According to John Waters, of the "Film Comment", the film shows the first citation of LSD of the cinema. The writer Robb White had heard about the lisergic acid from Aldous Huxley, he went to the UCLA to try the drug in himself (before it became illegal) and then he introduced the drug in the story.