Director: William Castle
Writer: Robb White
Producer: William Castle
Cast: Vincent Price, Philip Coolidge, Judith Evelyn, Patricia Cutts, Daryl Hickman, Pamela Lincoln, William Castle (as himself), (and the following uncredited actors) Bob Gunderson, Dal McKennon, Gail Bonney, Pat Colby, Amy Fields, Leon Alton, George DeNormand, Clarence Straight, Richard Barthelmess (in silent movie footage), Ernest Torrence (in silent movie footage)
The effects of intense fear on the human body fascinate pathologist Dr. Warren Chapin (Vincent Price). During some autopsies, Chapin has found shattered vertebrae that he thinks are the result of an organism that is dormant inside the human spine until intense fear stimulates its growth. Chapin dubs this theoretical creature “the tingler” in reference to the tingling sensation one feels in their spine when frightened. A series of Chapin’s experiments try to detect this strange parasite. Once he is presented with just the right kind of corpse, Chapin is able to extract the living and dangerous proof of his theories.
The Flashback Fanatic movie review
This story also has an offbeat vibe due to its small cast of three very different couples: the odd, middle-aged couple of Oliver Higgins (Philip Coolidge) and his germ phobic, deaf mute wife Martha (Judith Evelyn) who own the movie house showing silent films; the contentious couple of Dr. Warren Chapin and his sexy, wealthy, cheating wife Isabel (Patricia Cutts); and the happy, young couple of Dr. Chapin’s lab assistant Dave Morris (Darryl Hickman) and Isabel’s younger sister Lucy Stevens (Pamela Lincoln). All of the other characters in the film are bit parts, and most of them have no dialogue.
The more I watch this film the more I appreciate Vincent Price’s performance. As mercurial as some of his behavior seems in this story, it is always justified by the situations and his objective. This adds of bit of audience uncertainty as we are unsure of whether to categorize his Dr. Chapin as a “good guy” or a “bad guy" for a good portion of the film. Price is portraying a character with a wacky theory he is trying to prove that has him treading dangerously close to mad scientist territory. We wonder just how far his ethics go. He comes across as the nicest guy around, yet he can toss off wicked and well-deserved quips at his unfaithful wife. Their scenes are my favorites in the film. At one point Price is wielding a pistol with a baleful glare that would do Dr. Phibes proud.
The Tingler boasts not only an innovation in the monster department, but is also the major motion picture debut of LSD. Price’s performance is undeservedly often only remembered for his freak out scene under the drug’s influence. His Dr. Chapin character shoots himself up to induce the fear reaction he needs to feel to help him understand the ultimate terror needed to rouse the tingler.
The story by Robb White is one contrivance after another to keep us guessing just where the hell it is all going. The film provides a series of set pieces and gimmicks that cumulatively result in an atmosphere of irrational terror that both the tingler and the horror crowd thrive on.
Director-producer William Castle was in the midst of his series of horror films that included an added element of gimmicky showmanship in the movie houses where they were shown. The gimmick he used for The Tingler was called Percepto. It was accomplished by having buzzers attached to random seats in the theater. At the most frightening moments in the film, the buzzers would be activated to vibrate the seats beneath viewers giving them an added “tingle.” No doubt, this would produce some of the loudest screams in the audience. One has to wonder if the Percepto gimmick was first conceived and then the film story concocted to fit with it.
The Tingler pulls out all the stops to throttle its audience with break-the-fourth-wall gimmicks. The film itself features some addresses directly to the audience. William Castle himself opens the film with an introduction that sets up the later Percepto gimmick. He states that The Tingler will innovate by making more sensitive members in the audience experience the physical reactions that the film’s characters do. Those “sensitive” people had the misfortune to park their asses in Percepto-prepped seats. No doubt during the planned Percepto assault, the film’s story involves the tingler getting loose in a movie theater. At that point in the film, the screen goes black and Vincent Price is heard telling the movie house audiences in both the movie world and the real world to scream for their lives, as screaming is the tingler’s kryptonite.
Perhaps the best stunt in the film is during its scariest sequence. There is an isolated bit of color appearing during this black-and-white film that makes everyone take notice.
With its dysfunctional relationships, oddball characters, panic attacks, plot twists, an outrageous monster, and broken boundaries between its medium and its audience, The Tingler ends appropriately with an unsettling, open-ended climax. In his crass enthusiasm to thrill and chill, William Castle leaves us with an exercise in hysterical and irrational fear.
This is one of my favorite films of all eternity! And also, one of my fondest memories of going to the movies with my family when I was a kid. We saw this in an indoor theater, and to the end of her life my mother swore she was sitting in one of the Percepto-wired seats. This is highly unlikely, as we were in a small Midwestern location where they probably didn't use the gimmick. But it was great fun. I saw this in a theater decades later, and when the command to "Scream for your Lives!!" was given, the audience enthusiastically joined in. I love everything about the film. I think Judith Evelyn takes top acting honors, although Vincent Price is terrific all the way through. This is also a good chance to see talented child actor Daryl Hickman all grown up, handsome, and displaying good possibilities for a career as a leading man. Another great write-up!
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like a terrific childhood memory. Perhaps your mother was actually one of those "sensitive" people that did not need William Castle's gizmo attached to her theater seat to experience the tingle of fear. Yes, Judith Evelyn is very good in her silent performance. She is also a "silent" performer in her sad role of Miss Lonelyhearts in that great Hitchcock classic REAR WINDOW (1954).
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