The Tingler (1959)

Director:

William Castle

Writer:

Robb White (written by)

Release Date:

29 July 1959 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

In Screamarama

Plot:

After much hard work, a pathologist discovers and captures a creature that lives in every vertebrate and grows when fear grips its host...

Plot Keywords:

Fear | Scream | Autopsy | Creature | Movie Theater

Cast

Vincent Price	...	Dr. Warren Chapin
Judith Evelyn	...	Mrs. Martha Ryerson Higgins
Darryl Hickman	...	David Morris
Patricia Cutts	...	Isabel Stevens Chapin
Pamela Lincoln	...	Lucy Stevens
Philip Coolidge	...	Oliver 'Ollie' Higgins

Runtime:

82 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | American Sign Language

Color:

Color (one scene) | Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording) | Stereo (partial)

Certification:

Argentina:13 | USA:Approved | Finland:(Banned) (1961) | UK:15

Company:

William Castle Productions

Trivia:

Used a couple of theater gimmicks. Whenever blood-curdling screams occurred in the movie, hidden buzzers vibrated the seats. (This feature was called "Percepto.") Shills planted in the audience let out their own screams.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Price does autopsy on Ollie's wife he tucks up his sleeves and wears gloves. The shot after shows his sleeves are down again, and then up again in a different way in the next shot.

Quotes:

Lucy Stevens: Unless what, Dave?
David Morris: Suppose a person couldn't possibly scream?
Lucy Stevens: Well everybody can scream.
David Morris: A deaf mute can't scream.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Fear in the Dark (1991) (TV)

Price Is Right, But I Liked 'Ollie' Best!

"Ollie" was my favorite person in this movie. What a strange dude! He was full of surprises, including reactions to things, comments he makes and, of course, deeds he commits.

Yeah, Vincent Price proves again what a fine actor we was, and is the star of the film, but I really enjoyed Philip Coolidge's (Ollie) performance. As for Price, watching this other day made me scratch my head and wonder how such a good actor could play in so many cheesy films?

Whatever, those two along with Patricia Cutts (the tramp wife), Judith Evelyn (Ollie's deaf-mute wife), Darryl Hickman and Pamela Lincoln all did a pretty nice job, although Price's acting talents stand out among the cast.

It also would have fun to see this in the theater 50 years ago when they rigged the seats to tingle during certain scenes! That really happened! Director William Castle really tried everything to get the audience. He even stopped the film and asked the audience to scream! It must have been hilarious. You have to give it to the man for his effort to promote his "horror" films.

The movie begins slowly so one has to have patience with this story. Once it kicks in though, it's very good with some shocking scenes (including a color scene or two) and some interesting twists. However, to be fair, there are a lot of holes in this story and really, really corny things......but that's part of the fun. It's like Ed Wood films - so bad, you have to laugh.

The DVD looks good. This is a nice transfer, which is important with all the lights and shadows. You can see some alternate scenes, too, which are interesting.