THE TINGLER (1959) ¢ ¢ ¢ 1/2
D: William Castle
Vincent Price, Judith Evelyn, Darryl Hickman,
Patricia Cutts, Philip Coolidge, Pamela Lincoln
Vincent Price plays a scientist whose research has him delving into the nature of fear. It seems that at a certain moment of absolute terror, something called "the tingler" attacks the spinal column, and the only way to avoid certain, horrible death is to scream. This might be schlockmeister William Castle's most inspired creation, and certainly one of his greatest gimmicks, released in a process called "Percepto", whereby little vibrating buzzers were placed under the theater seats and timed to go off at certain points in the film, an effect enhanced by having most of the climactic scary stuff take place in a movie theater. The movie's still good for a late-night laugh, but the shattering impact of watching it in "Percepto" in 1959 can only be imagined.
