Review #892: 'The Tingler' (1959)

Eager pathologist Dr. Warren Chapin (Vincent Price) studies the strange effects experiencing terror has on the human body. Operating on a convict recently executed in the electric chair, he notices that the dead man's spine has been almost completely severed in two. A silent movie theatre owner, Ollie Higgins (Philip Coolidge), befriends Chapin and introduces the doctor to his deaf-mute wife Martha (Judith Evelyn), who passes out from fright at the sight of Chapin drawing blood after cutting his finger. Chapin believes that the tingling in our spine when we are frightened is the work of the 'Tingler' a microscopic creature that grows rapidly when its host is scared, only to be neutralised by letting out a powerful scream.

Director William Castle, best known for B-movie gems such as House on Haunted Hill (1959) and The Old Dark House (1963), was a man who knew how to sell a ticket. Introducing the film and warning of the horrors to come, we are then treated to various heads screaming in terror at the screen. It's schlocky and camp - two factors that have endeared Castle to a dedicated cult following - but it immediately draws you into its giddy clutches. The premise itself is utterly ludicrous and little more than an excuse for Castle to use his new gimmick Percepto! - where audience members would receive small vibrations through their seat whenever the tingler - a rather cheap-looking rubber giant velvet worm - appeared on screen.

It's a time capsule of an era when the cinema was a communal experience rather than somewhere to have your ears damaged by the sound of fighting robots. At the climax, the tingler is on the loose inside a cinema showing silent movie Tol'able David (1924) while Chapin frantically searches for it. The screen goes black while Price's voice warns us not to panic and to scream as loud as we can. Of course, the full effect is lost when watching the movie through your laptop, but you can picture the excitement that must have been buzzing throughout the theatre back in 1959, whether it be with genuine terror or in stitches at the playful goofiness of it all. Although it is far from his best film, Castle knows how to put on a show and The Tingler is a fine example of his campy appeal. As a bonus, it also has Vincent Price on LSD in cinema's first acid trip.


Directed by: William Castle
Starring: Vincent Price, Darryl Hickman, Philip Coolidge, Judith Evelyn
Country: USA

Rating: ***

Tom Gillespie