The Tingler

 

 

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William Castle was the king of gimmick horror, juicing up his sometimes-great-sometimes-really-hokey horror flicks with everything flying skeletons to two-tone glasses.

For "The Tingler," it was a buzzer in the seat called Percepto, which would be a shock to anyone watching the movie. The movie itself was a rather uneven but original idea, with Vincent Price playing a borderline doctor who discovers the very roots of human fear. It's entertaining, but has some big flaws.

Dr. Warren Chapin (Price) is performing autopsies at a local prison, where each dead man died in the electric chair -- and something crushed their spines. To further his research, he frightens his nasty wife and X-rays her, and finds something that appears when afraid, and vanishes when the victim screams. He tries taking acid to frighten himself, but the experiment fails.

Then the deaf-mute wife of an acquaintance is frightened to death by some ghastly visions, and Chapin extracts an enormous, centipede-like worm from her spine -- the "Tingler." After Chapin's wife almost kills him with it, he decides that some borders should never be crossed. But before he can return the Tingler to its dead host, it escapes.

All B-movie goodness, complete with a rubber worm and deliciously vitriolic dialogue. While the idea of a spinal parasite fed by fear is a really hokey idea, Castle plays it so straight that the audience doesn't really have an opening for scoffing. Like a good fantasy story, it creates its own reality.

Castle was at his best when he was doing nasty dialogue, and he's in good form here ("There's a word for you." "There's several for you!"). He builds up a sense of rising tension throughout the straightforward plot, which is only broken when the movie ends. And despite tubs of blood and giant worms, Castle also shows his talent for the understatedly creepy when Chapin takes acid.

In fact, "The Tingler" would be a great B-movie if it weren't for two very hokey scenes. One is of a black screen, with Price's voice exhorting, "The Tingler is in the theatre! Scream for your lives!" Very awkward. The other is the final scene, which makes absolutely no sense, and has nothing to do with what comes before it. I guess Castle just needed a shock ending.

It must have been nice for Price to play a non-villain for once -- his Chapin is obsessed and a little twisted, but he isn't insane or nasty, and by the last act he's realized that science isn't the end-all. Patricia Cutts and Philip Coolidge give good performances too, as David's toxic wife and as a sweaty theatre manager who isn't as timid as he seems to be.

"The Tingler" is a fairly entertaining cult horror movie, with good acting and a big rubber worm. If only it weren't for those two scenes.

Wonderful example of the best of early "spooky films". DVD reproduction was great-appreciated the extra features with background on film. Service and product above expectations. Grap the popcorn and get ready to "scream"!

The DVD version of _The Tingler_ is the way to go for horror buffs. It includes priceless footage of the legendary William Castle promoting the film, as well as interesting comments by co-star Darryl Hickman. Hickman seems somewhat apologetic for his role in the film. I was thinking, "Are you kidding? This turned out to be one of the biggest cult classics of all time."
Also hilarious is the drive-in scream sequence, which dealt with the problem of the tingler being loose in a drive-in rather than a theater.
Great film, Castle's campy best. Vincent Price is memorable--he goes on the first LSD trip ever on film--in 1959! Judith Evelyn is remarkable as Ollie's deaf-mute wife. The famous bathroom sequence is as good as it gets.
Sharpen up your suspension of disbelief and enjoy!

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5.0 out of 5 stars This movies is a scream...in more ways than one.
I admit it! I am a sucker for old Black and White horror films. They are quite tame by today's buckets of bloody special effect big budgets ones, but they hold a fun all their... Read more

Published on Oct 30 2003 by Deborah MacGillivray

5.0 out of 5 stars CASTLE AND PRICE AT THEIR BEST....
Two horror masters are at work here. William Castle presenting one of his most outlandish and original films and Vincent Price at his least hammy best as a doctor who discovers... Read more

Published on Nov 15 2002 by Mark Norvell

5.0 out of 5 stars A Scream May Save Your Life
I honestly don't know if this movie was supposed to be horror, or comedy. I'd say a little bit of both? I really liked this movie. Vincent Price is again excellent! Read more

Published on Sep 24 2002 by wanderingheart4ever

5.0 out of 5 stars "SCREAM!....SCREAM FOR YOUR LIVES!"
Another "gimmick" film from producer/director William Castle. He made this movie great fun to watch in the theatre in 1959; a process called "Percepto" caused certain seats in... Read more

Published on Aug 4 2002

4.0 out of 5 stars Campy Castle Classic Literally Sends Chills Up Your Spine...
...done in Midnight Moovy/William Castle black and white, this is a flick that truly has some crrrrreeeeepy moments as well as
moments that are just plain funny--like when... Read more

Published on May 7 2002 by yygsgsdrassil

4.0 out of 5 stars Scream For Your Lives!
William Castle was reknowned for his gimmicky films. For THE TINGLER he had "Percepto," and it was a lulu: randomly selected seats in the theatre were wired with a small motor,... Read more

Published on Mar 27 2002 by Gary F. Taylor

3.0 out of 5 stars Percepto Litigationo
One could only imagine the flock of lawyers standing out in front of a theater showing this film. If there were shocks in the theater ... Read more

Published on Jan 2 2002 by charles pope

5.0 out of 5 stars We all lifted our feet!
I saw this the first time when it came out. It is scary and has a great surprise ending.

Published on Nov 24 2001

4.0 out of 5 stars William Castle is at it again - this time with "Percepto!"
I enjoy hearing about the gimmicks William Castle used in his horror films. For "The Tingler" every few seats in the theater were rigged to vibrate at certain times so... Read more

Published on Nov 24 2001 by T.J.

1.0 out of 5 stars Have you all gone mad?
Why isn't william castle ranked alongside ed wood in the annals of cinematic nonsense? After all at least some of woods films are amusing, this rubbish is totally mind numbingly... Read more

Published on Sep 9 2001

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