Scream Factory adds another classic title to their catalogue! The Tingler may not be as effective from the comfort of your own home, but is still a great watch to appreciate the gimmick!
“Vincent Price stars as an obsessed doctor who discovers that fear manifests itself as a parasitic creature, which grows on the spinal cords of terrified people. If they scream, the Tingler can be destroyed. If they don’t, it will sever the spinal column and kill them. He successfully isolates and removes the Tingler from a deaf mute (Judith Evelyn) who has been scared to death by her devious husband. Once captured, the Tingler escapes and runs amok in a crowded movie theater. Terror is loose, but can it be stopped?
The Tingler is legendary horror director William Castle’s magnum opus. After the success of House On Haunted Hill, Castle devised a new gimmick called “Percepto.” Participating theaters would wire seats so that random moviegoers would get a tangible electric shock during climactic moments in the film. Another novelty used to maximum effect is the short color sequence depicting blood pouring from a faucet and filling a bathtub. Castle went on to direct more cult classics like Homicidal and 13 Ghosts and later produced the mainstream hit Rosemary’s Baby.”
They definitely don’t make movies like this anymore. The Tingler was one of many of William Castle’s films that attempted to draw the audience closer to his films by having some kind of gimmick in the theatre. In the House On Haunted Hill, a skeleton with glowing eyes flew over the audience’s heads on a wire during the climax of the film, Homicidal had a fright break in which patrons could get their money back if they were too scared and thus deemed a coward, in The Tingler, buzzers were installed in the movie seats and during a portion of the film where the Tingler supposedly gets loose in the theatre, the lights shut off, the buzzers activate, and Vincent Price tells the movie patrons to scream for their lives to subdue the Tingler. Castle wanted his films to be interactive and these gimmicks insured that the audience would be involved and help elevate the horror aspect of his films.
The unfortunate part of all of this is that not everyone could participate in it. These gimmicks were only installed in a select few theatres, and of course after all this time we don’t have the same luxury sitting at home with buzzers in our seats. Although this didn’t hinder my enjoyment of the film, I do think that this has become such a camp classic only because of this gimmick. The film is made directly for that effect, because come on, a parasite that every human has that tingles your spine when you’re scared? The film works for the effect. It’s a good effect, very original, but looking at the overall film with that gimmick taken away and there’s nothing really special about it, apart from the sequence where the black and white film changes to make the sink and bathtub red with blood.
Vincent Price as always is the main reason to watch this. He has such a presence, especially in the horror genre, that even watching this weird puppet with clear, visible wires attack his arm is great to see. He sells every scream, every dramatic effect, and makes this film so much more enjoyable. For me, that was enough to put this film over the top. As a standalone film, The Tingler doesn’t offer much in terms of story, but appreciating it for what William Castle was doing in creating interactive films makes this a must see for any horror fan.
Video
The Tingler is presented in 1080p High Definition Widescreen 1.85:1. Given the age of the film, the transfer looks surprisingly good, with few defects of note. Being black and white and from the 1950’s, there isn’t too much to say about this transfer. Grain is kept at a manageable level. The sequence where the bathtub and sink contain red blood does look much worse than the rest of the film, but I imagine has something to do with the effect that can’t be cleaned up any more.
Audio
The audio is presented in DTS-HD Master Audio Mono. No issues here; sounds fine as far as mono tracks go. The greatest thing about this film is the steady beating heart whenever the Tingler is present on screen. It’s very effective at creating a bit of suspense, though maybe not as much in today’s standards.
Special Features
Scream Factory has put together a nice list of extras, including some new stuff just for this release. For fans of the film wanting to know more about the gimmicks and William Castle, these are very interesting to listen to.
These include:
- NEWAudio Commentary By Author/Historian Steve Haberman
- NEWI Survived The Tingler – An Interview With Pamela Lincoln
- NEWUnleashing “Percepto” – An Interview With Publicist Barry Lorie
- Scream For Your Lives! William Castle And “The Tingler”– Vintage Featurette
- William Castle’s Drive-In “Scream!” Audio
- Original “Scream” Scene
- The Original 1959 Theatre Lobby Recording
- Theatrical Trailer
- Still Gallery
Although these gimmicks didn’t take hold, it was an interesting time for cinema and the experimentation that took place during this time. The Tingler may not be as effective as if you were in one of the select theatres in 1959, but is still an interesting watch to celebrate Castle’s pioneering of entertainment.