The Tingler

7/29/19591h 22m

Theatrical Release (US)

~ Ghastly Beyond Belief! ~

Overview:

A pathologist experiments with a deaf-mute woman who is unable to scream to prove that humans die of fright due to an organism he names The Tingler that lives within each person on the spinal cord and is suppressed only when people scream when scared.

Director:

William Castle

Status:

Released

Language:

English

Buget:

$250,000.00

Revenue:

$0.00

Key words:

adultery
deaf-mute
lsd
autopsy
cheat on husband
black and white
creature
pathologist
human experiment
fright
adulterous wife
spinal column
psychotronic film
movie theater
frightened woman
gimmick
weird tale
weird science
spine breaker

Cast

Vincent Price

~ as ~

Dr. Warren Chapin

Philip Coolidge

~ as ~

Oliver 'Ollie' Higgins

Judith Evelyn

~ as ~

Mrs. Martha Ryerson Higgins

Darryl Hickman

~ as ~

David Morris

Pamela Lincoln

~ as ~

Lucy Stevens

Patricia Cutts

~ as ~

Isabel Stevens Chapin

William Castle

~ as ~

Prologue Host (uncredited)

Bob Gunderson

~ as ~

Ryerson - Screaming Convict (uncredited)

Dal McKennon

~ as ~

Projectionist (uncredited)

Leon Alton

~ as ~

Member of Silent Movie Audience (uncredited)

View full cast & crew

Reviews (1)

dennyjt
Written 3 year(s) ago
6
William Castle was a master showman and this was his grandest triumph. He loved a gimmick, in this case Percepto, a device fitted beneath theater seats to enhance the climactic scenes by giving the patrons a short, sharp shock! Vincent Price, at his most maniacally deluded, is a pathologist who says he has discovered fear produces an actual physical creature that only be overcome by the release of a scream. He hopes to get his hands on someone who has died of fright to test his theory and this proves simpler than one might think, thanks to the company he keeps. It is a mad, nightmare of a horror that hurtles through scenes of capital punishment, a bad LSD trip (first time on film), an unfaithful wife, a silent movie theater (showing Tol'Able David, a true classic), younf love and a cheap looking monster. Even though the story is patently absurd, this is a fun-filled thrill ride, even without the threat of an electric jolt!