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Creepy Classics Spotlight Movie Last Weekend - THE TINGLER (1959) Every week, readers here are selecting a movie to view...then we all try to watch it together utilizing our DVD/video library. This past Saturday night, many of us watched THE TINGLER (1959). This was suggested by by Les Zuckerman, Cherry Hill, NJ. Details about movie nights to come are HERE. Please include your name and location after your comments, so we can see how we're all joining together from diffeent locals around the globe! Let's all Synch-Up Saturday nights at 7:30PM, or catch it sometime over the weekend!
Well, thos one didn't dissapoint. Forget the holes in the script that you could herd brontosauruses through. It delivered. Lots of scary, crazy shocks, over the top dramatics...a thrill a minute. Willian Castle, the director, was Mr. Gimmick, and boy did he do his job. Even without the "Percepto" that was used during its original theatre release, where they strapped bizzing motors on the bottom of some seats. It still was a riot that had this 8-10 year old-boy glued, cross-legged to my parents shag carpet. The scene with the deaf/mute wife being horrorifucally scared was the scene that stayed with me for many a nightmare afterwards. When the windows go up-and-down by themselves, the hairy hand with the hatchet, and - of course - the bloody bathroom with her death certificate on the inside of the medicine cabinet door.
Unplugged and loving it. My daughter, Paisley, watched it too and is now a William Castle fan. She loves 13 GHOSTS, THE OLD DARK HOUSE (1963), HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL, and now THE TINGLER. She wanted me to invite Castle to the Monster Bash convention. I had to break it to her that he had passed away. Boy, I think he would have had a ball at Monster Bash and people would have loved him. -Ron Adams, Ligonier, PA.
Hey Bash Synchers,
Great screaming heads, this would be wild in a crowded movie theater. I wonder where this stands in the list of movies featuring sign language? Don´t remember seeing very many. Anyone out there know if it is real?
I hope everyone enjoyed seeing my movie selection. William Castle is worthy of Horror Hall of Fame status. While some might call his marketing techniques - "gimmicks'" , I think he had a great feel for making your theater experience a memorable one. When I saw The Tingler in the theater in the 60's and probably around 10 years old or so, I was hooked by the lights out and screaming at the end. For awhile after that in theaters I had to sit with my legs crossed on the seat for fear of who knows what. This showing tonight in my own house brought back those memories. -Les Zuckerman, Cherry Hill, NJ
It had been a while since I watched this and found it to be a great William Castle horror film. Gimmicky and fun. Vincent Price is priceless (no pun intended) and the rest of the cast goes along just fine. Such a cool monster, I wish I had one!! Never a boring moment with this one and the quality of the picture from Sony is absolutely top notch. Great recommendation. - Kevin Coon, Twin Falls, ID
Above: Italian poster for THE TINGLER. "The Monster of Blood," I think. Hi Ron,
From Mike's memories!
That was my introduction to "The Tingler" and it became a staple in my list of favorite horror films. I can analyze movies until I'm blue in the face, but for me it all comes down to the impression it leaves on me. The Tingler has plot holes you could fly the space shuttle through, but I don't care. It's a fun film from beginning to end. Price is his usual enjoyable self. The music from good old Von Dexter is very macabre and menacing. The plot and subplots are fun too. And then there's the Tingler. It's hideous through and through. It's born from fear and grows on our spine. That's a pretty original concept. It's such a horrible monster that it's meant to die within us and never be released on the world. This movie has so much going for it, it's no wonder that so many people are so fond of it. Vincent's acid trip ( and that great scream he lets out with at the end of it), the frightening sequence of events that scares the poor mute woman to death, the release of the Tingler into the theater, all great stuff! Sometimes I wish I would have been able to see The Tingler when it was released in 59. Honestly though, if I ended up in one of those electrified seats I'm not sure I would have survived the screening. There are some movies that were meant for Saturday nights.....the Tingler is certainly one of them, great choice! Let's meet again next week for more fun.
-Michael Adams, Carteret, NJ
Hi Ron, Cheers! -John Harris. Birmingham
Hi Ron, great Saturday night choice, but did you know that the B movie that I saw with 'the tingler' back in '59 was 'the bat'....now that was a double feature!
I missed “The Tingler” when it originally played in the theatres. Between the commercial on TV and my older brother scaring me
The scene when Price takes the LSD is one of the great over the top scenes ever filmed. Still for all the silliness of the plot, William Castle’s goal was to scare the crap out of you. He succeeds. The nightmare scenes in which Ollie scares his wife to death are really frightening. The Tingler itself is silly looking and you can see the wire pulling it along but Castle uses it to great effect.
My wife was sitting by working on her laptop. She paused a few time to watch the movie. When I told her that “The Tingler” terrified me as a kid, she laughed until she saw the scene when the Tingler crawled up the couch and wrapped itself around Price’s neck. She commented that the entire actually frightened her. This is a huge compliment from some one who really doesn’t watch horror films. The famous scene where the Tingler escapes in to the movie theatre is a true classic. It’s both scary and extremely funny. I can see the kids in the theatre screaming their heads off. Sitting in one of the wired seats would have been a true movie experience. The DVD I was watching was from the William Castle boxed set. The print was impeccable until it came to the nightmare sequence. Apparently that sequence came from another, inferior print. “The Tingler” is one William Castle’s best. It remains an entertaining and scary film. Bruce Tinkel, Edison, NJ
Ok gang, the first time i saw this movie, I must've been 9 or 10 and it still gives me the creeps!
Ron,
Dear Les (Great Selection, Sir!), Ron, Kirk, Bruce, Michael, Steven and all other Fellow Creepy Simulcast Readers and Writers out there in the horror/sci-fi universe, I watched director William Castle`s "The Tingler" (1959) THREE TIMES during the last week!--and I have always found this film immensly enjoyable and entertaining (IN A CAMPY WAY!)-- excluding the intense, gripping and morbid bathroom scene where the deaf-mute wife (Martha Higgins) played by the late Judith Evelyn is LITERALLY scared to death by her greedy, scheming and cowardly husband, Ollie. (played by Philip Coolidge) Watching this nightmarish scene unfold when I first watched this movie back in the late 1970`s scared the living daylights out of me as a young kid (IT DEFINITELY GAVE ME "THE TINGLES"!!!!) and years later, now that I am an appreciative film buff, I can see the resemblances between this scene and the classic bathroom scene in director Henri-Georges Clouzot`s "Diabolique" (1955)! Anyway Folks, getting back to talking about the movie.....I love the icy banter displayed between Dr. William Chapin (Vincent Price) and his shrewd, calculating, selfish, amoral and two-timing wife, Isabel {potrayed wonderfully by the late Patricia Cutts} THESE LINES ARE ABSOLUTELY MEMORABLE! Watching this film multiple times gives you the chance as a fan to really focus on the scriptwriting- and you learn to appreciate what the late Robb White really did with not much to work with (at least from the beginning!.....) Robb White worked with William Castle several more times during his career (The two men had formed a successful team) but found Castle to be very difficult to deal with as an individual and eventually they separated and Robb moved on to other enterprises.....The other Cast members do a nice job here as well...Darryl Hickman {"Leave Her To Heaven" "The Many Loves Of Dobie Gillis"} who plays the good doctor`s faithful assistant, David Morris, manages to hold his own in the key scenes he shares with "The Master Of Menace" himself!--And Pamela Lincoln does a nice job playing the omnipresent usual "nice girl" role. As for Vincent Price himself---Wow!- What more needs to be said? - This oddity is one of the most unusual horror flicks of the 1950`s- AND one of the most UNDERRATED of Vincent Price`s films! (at least in my opinion) Vincent Price DEFINITELY is the star of the show here! (He got along great with William Castle) and manages to shift back and forth from low-key serious underplaying (the scenes between himself and Pamela Lincoln) to mid-range seriousness (between himself and Judith Evelyn and Philip Coolidge) to OVER-THE-TOP hysterics! (THE CLASSIC LABORATORY SCENE WHEN HE TAKES THE DRUG HIMSELF AND LOSES HIS MENTAL BEARINGS-ONLY TO SCREAM AND PASS OUT)-- when taking into account his different acting styles used in this schlocky, but very successful "B-film"! Much Kudos to Mr. Price on selling this bill of goods to the general film audience (from an acting standpoint) back in 1959!! Other aspects of this production are done professionally as well- with the unique music being a standout. (It is eerily reminiscent of composer Bernard Herrman`s score for Alfred Hitchcock`s "Vertigo" {1958)
As for William Castle himself- there is no question that he was a great "showman" in every sense of the word and is VERY much missed by all of his fans out there! William passed away from a heart attack on May 31st, 1977. He was only 63 years old. We all lost him too soon. The last film he was involved with was 1975`s sci-fi thriller "BUG" starring Bradford Dillman but the best film that he is associated with (from a critical viewpoint) is probably the 1968 psychological horror film "ROSEMARY`S BABY" directed by Roman Polanski and starring Mia Farrow. So looking at "The Tingler" with an open mind, my rating of this crafty little gem starring my 2nd favorite horror actor of all-time, is 3.25/5 stars! ---And with that, it`s a wrap for this week, fellow film fiends- So until next week, when we watch, review and then discuss Bela, Frieda, Nina and Matt in the terminally underrated "The Return Of The Vampire" (1943)-- I bid all of you a truly good night`s sleep! (knowing that "The Tingler" is dead!- OR IS IT???????!!!!!!!!!----- Dan Brenneis- Strongsville, Ohio- Monster Bash Staff Member and Lifetime Film Fan Extroadinairre.
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I saw this one first back in the late sixties, or early seventies on New York's Channel 11. It was "Chiller Theatre" with the six-fingered hand claymation open. It was circled in red felt-tip (felt tip pens were new to me at the time) in our TV Guide. A ritual I practiced every Thursday when Mom brought the TV Guide home. I found all the horror movies and circled them. 
¨Your just playing the field and vice versa...¨ Did anyone believe Vincent would be mild mannered for the whole movie? 
Now to scare the tingler out of the deaf lady...awfully cruel in the name of science. I can imagine the audience screaming now! 
The opening scene montage of screaming faces is like something you might see and hear in an amusement park haunted house.
Shooting your wife just so you can get an x-ray of the Tingler – now that’s a screwy plan!
Flashback to a Saturday evening back in the mid 70's. It was about 7:00 and I had just come home from somewhere (can't remember where...not important anyway). I switched on the tv to channel 9 WOR in NJ/NY. There was a man sleeping on a couch. Wait, not just any man, it was Vincent Price. I knew him well. Not only was he Egghead on Batman, but the star of lots of scary films (as I used to call them). What I noticed next remains with me to this day. Something was crawling toward him. It was big. It was creepy. It made no noise as it easily shambled up the couch and onto my hero. I didn't know what it was, but one thing was for certain. I did not like it! In fact, I hated it!!!! The site of this thing filled me with such unease that I started to scan my TV room making sure there was nothing like it crawling toward me!. I was about 10 at the time and was very impressionable. I was filled with horror as it began to choke Vincent. There was this awful sound, like a distorted heartbeat playing. It only added to the dread. I kept thinking "is he gonna die?" What a relief when only a few seconds later it dropped to the floor and Vincent was OK! 
When I finally saw it years later, I was convinced that I would not have slept for a month if I had seen it when I was 8 years old. 
The scenes of it attacking people are very effectively done.
1. Willam Castle used an early version of sensurround for this film called Percepto. 
10. The tingler: It looks like a dog's chew toy. God bless Vincent Price for selling it and trying to make it look scary. 
In his 1976 autobiography "Step Right Up!- I`m Gonna Scare The Pants Off America" William Castle talks about how this classic French suspense/horror film affected him both on a personal and professional level and how it influenced him as a filmmaker! Fans of all of his films as well as all general classic horror fans out there should check out this book- You won`t be disappointed! 
