Is It Worth the Watch?

In the 1950s producers of less-expensive, lower budget horror films (yes, I mean the below B-grade cheapies) used ingenious gimmicks to sell tickets. Probably the most famous was 1959’s The Tingler. No, it’s not about a sex toy, but a monster the human body creates when scared that then feeds off fear, making the spine tingle. The only way to destroy the creature before it kills you is to scream.

Director/producer William Castle uses the themes of silence and screaming to the utmost advantage, and it elevates what should be a simple little horror programmer into something far more insightful. Vincent Price plays another mad scientist, this time who discovers the Tingler and will do anything to defeat it (almost).

In the original theatrical release a gimmick Castle called Percepto! was used in major markets. Electrical buzzers, attached to the underside of some theatre seats, were activated when the Tingler leaves the screen to attack the audience. You don’t get that effect while watching at home, obviously. But you do still see the film “stopped” as Price’s voice urges you to “Scream! Scream for your lives! The tingler is loose in this theater!” In addition, although the movie was filmed in black and white, anytime blood is shown, it’s in vivid crimson red. 

Vincent Price is excellent as always and this is one of the films that cemented his reputation as an icon of the genre. It’s a surprisingly boisterous, spooky time.

Is It Worth The Watch? This one is fun, campy, kinda creepy, and outrageously gimmicky. And if you get frightened while watching it, just remember to scream.

1959

82 minutes

Starring – Vincent Price, Judith Evelyn, Patricia Curtis, Darryl Hickman, Pamela Lincoln, Phillip Coolidge

Director – William Castle

Screenplay – Robb White