The Tingler (1959)

An obsessed pathologist discovers and captures a parasitic creature that grows when fear grips its host.

Director:

William Castle

Writer:

Robb White

Stars:

Vincent Price, Judith Evelyn, Darryl Hickman

1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited 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

Storyline

Dr. Warren Chapin is a pathologist who regularly conducts autopsies on executed prisoners at the State prison. He has a theory that fear is the result of a creature that inhabits all of us. His theory is that the creature is suppressed by our ability to scream when fear strikes us. He gets a chance to test his theories when he meets Ollie and Martha Higgins, who own and operate a second-run movie theater. Martha is deaf and mute and if she is unable to scream, extreme fear should make the creature, which Chapin has called the Tingler, come to life and grow. Using LSD to induce nightmares, he begins his experiment.

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Plot Keywords:

fear | deaf mute | infidelity | spinal column | theatre audience | 

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Taglines:

When the screen screams you'll scream too...if you value your life!

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Genres:

Horror

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English American Sign Language

Release Date:

29 July 1959 (USA)

Also Known As:

El aguijón de la muerte

Filming Locations:

Columbia/Warner Bros. Ranch - 411 North Hollywood Way, Burbank, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$250,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation,William Castle Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

82 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording) Stereo (partial)

Color:

Color (one scene) Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

William Castle toyed with other ideas to frighten audience members, in addition to 'percepto'; among them: rolling bean bags to brush against the legs of audience members, speakers mounted at different areas that would give a 'screech' when the tingler appeared, and possibly even using 'shills' to operate some type of mechanical device to tickle the legs of the audience members; but the only viable way of doing it was by attaching buzzers in select seats to coincide with the appearance of the tingler- 'percepto'.

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Goofs

When Ollie opens up the safe to take out the money and put it in his suitcase, it is clearly not real currency.

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Quotes

Dr. Warren Chapin: Ladies and gentlemen, please do not panic! But SCREAM! Scream for your lives!

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Connections

Featured in Fear in the Dark (1991)

User Reviews

Spine tingling terror. Just scream.

Directed and hyped by William Castle. Proof he is a master. Vincent Price is a pathologist that discovers that, when in a state of extreme fear, an organism grows along a person's spine enlarging up to the neck. The only thing that will stop the growth is the sound of screaming.

Along with Price are Darryl Hickman and Pamela Lincoln. This is a real gimmicky film, but still effective. Well acted by Price, one of his very best. Still creepy after all these years.