Director: William Castle
Cast: Vincent Price, Judith Evelyn, Darryl Hickman, Patricia Cutts
Screenplay: Robb White
82 mins. Not Rated.

The Tingler opens much like James Whale’s iconic masterpiece Frankenstein, with a lone figure in front of the curtain, this time director William Castle (House on Haunted Hill), warning you of the horrors we are all about to experience in the theater together. There are two major differences between this monologue and Whale’s classic: the first being that the horror this time is really sitting beneath our very seats in the form of Percepto. The second? This certainly isn’t Frankenstein, but it has its charms nonetheless.

Obsessive and unhappy pathologist Dr. Warren Chapin (Vincent Price, Edward Scissorhands) spends his days performing autopsies on the dead prisoners of the state prison, searching for evidence of a parasitic creatures that lives in all humans. Chapin believes that this creature, which he dubs The Tingler, is the cause of all human fear, and the only thing that can stop is screaming at the top of one’s lungs. He needs a live patient to further test his theory, and he delighted to discover a nearby theater owner and his wife, who is deaf, mute, and a perfect test subject.

The Tingler ultimately exists because of Castle’s consistent attempts to make small movies with low budgets that can be cranked out easily and quickly. Sure, that’s a pessimistic way to look at the filmmaker, but it isn’t wrong either. The Tingler could be make inexpensively and quick, and the reason The Tingler persists in the culture is due to Castle’s endlessly creative mind. In fact, if he were alive today, Castle would be one of the leading voices pushing for protecting the theatrical experience. Imagine Castle and Tom Cruise filming thanking viewers for coming to the theater! Hell, that alone could have revived cinemas following COVID.

What is Percepto, you ask? Well, William Castle was an interesting filmmaker but a hell of a salesman, and he often introduced various gimmicks into his works. For example, last year we covered Mr. Sardonicus, a movie of his that featured the ability to “vote” for how the film should end. Castle came onscreen to introduce the vote near the end of the run time and then presented “the winning ending” for all to see. With The Tingler, though, Castle went one step further. Percepto buzzers were placed under random seats at each participating movie theater so that, when necessary to get the audience screaming, a button would be pressed that would give a little jolt to the seat. Castle also added fake actors in some seats to get the screams rolling and also a few had nurses and gurneys and “fainting theater patrons” to be carried out. It was a whole production almost more complex than the movie-making process itself. Rumor has it that these buzzers were accidentally or, depending on who you ask, purposefully used during a screening of The Nun’s Story, a religious drama with Audrey Hepburn. In fact, Castle wrote in his own memoir that he must’ve shocked 20 million butts across all the screenings of The Tingler, a record likely not to be broken any time soon.

The screenplay, from Robb White (Homicidal), began as a kernel of an idea from his time in the British Virgin Islands, where he faced off against a frightening centipede, and that can certainly be seen in the finished product. As a fellow centipede-hater myself, I can attest to the stone-cold fact that the idea of a giant one living in my body would unnerve me more than enough to leap in my chair regardless of buzzer placement.

Without the aid of Percepto, though, The Tingler isn’t a very strong outing. Outside of Vincent Price, who certainly understood the expectations of the role and played very well within Castle’s sandbox, there isn’t much in terms of performance. White’s script is a little weak in terms of actual plotting. Much of the film is technically well-crafted but a little meandering in large stretches while we wait for the titular creature to make its next appearance.

All that aside, The Tingler has some charms to it. For starters, the film features the first movie sequence where a character takes LSD, historically speaking. While White’s screenplay isn’t terrific, he has some fun satirical jabs at domestic life in the 50s, particularly when dealing with Chapin and his unfaithful wife, played by Patricia Cutts (North by Northwest). There’s also a sequence in the feature, where a sink begins pouring red blood in full color, that is absolutely terrific in this black-and-white film. Production had to film the scene in color, with the set designed to appear black-and-white so that the red blood can really pour. In post-production, they had to physically splice the “color” shots into the film, creating an effect that is eerie and awe-inducing in equal measure.

As I stated earlier, The Tingler isn’t a great movie, but I had quite an enjoyable experience watching it in historical context all the same. I really wish there was a way to recreate the gimmick at home for future viewing because The Tingler has all the staples of a year Halloween cult classic, flaws and all.

3/5
-Kyle A. Goethe

For my review of William Castle’s Mr. Sardonicus, click here.