The Tingler (1959)

I was born and grew up in South Bend, Indiana. I lived first next to the State Theater (still there being preserved) and was the standard Saturday afternoon for all the kids to see usually 2 westerns, maybe 2-3 serials of a science fiction 10-15 part and occasional, a new film concept to compete to the "new rival" television. My best memory was seeing the Tingler. Well, many seats were "wired" to vibrate when "The Tingler" entered "The real theater" seen "in the film" which "was a movie theater" coming through the projection room windows, which in the film went black as "if came out" into the "real world" from the "reel world" so to say. I sat through it twice, so in the second screening was a space where I sat, then an empty chair and then a "black girl" sat at the isle. In those days many kid groups went to this theater and each had "their section" to sit and cheer, etc. So, waiting for the "Tingler" to start "it's tour", in sound and seat locations. I waited for the seat to vibrate under the girl. YES, that "special" moment. WELL, she jumped up out of her seat almost airborne. It was, indeed "A scream" and my best "kid" memory for those special early 50's Saturday movie days, long vanished.I got a 25 cent allowance. It was 14 cents for the film and 10 cents for popcorn. I penny got little. BUT, the manager knew me and often I got in free.That did "a quarter get you" in 1958????? A half dozen freshly baked donuts, warm out of the bakery at the Ten Cent Store across the street. If lucky had the frosting on them and made when you came in. Can no be any fresher. Fondest of many memories. Hope you have many today, with the films now released in many ways. From small screen to 3D IMAX. And FILM "has a different look" that the new DVD projection. And key is those center seats, right in the middle. And with the sometimes NOW 6 channel stereo, and even better as people move across a screen or talk "behind" you. Enjoy.

Well it started with a good premise and with Vincent Price in the lead role, this had the makings of a real horror classic but sadly it degenerated into a dopey picture in the second half. That creepy-crawlie that looked like a cross between an over-sized caterpillar and a lobster was just the cheesiest concept; I wouldn't be surprised if the film makers stuffed a kid's slinky inside to get it to move around the way it did.But you know what really blew my mind? Dr. Warren Chapin boned up on the science of fear causing tremendous tension in the body by reading a tract titled "Fright Effects Induced by Lysergic Acid LSD25"! What?!?! Vincent Price experimenting with LSD!!!! And then, in order to experience first hand what the power of the tingler would be all about, he actually injected himself to induce the kind of paranoia and fear that would result from it! However the writing for the rest of the story seemed to be all over the place. Testing out his hypothesis regarding what would happen if a mute couldn't scream from fear, Chapin similarly injects Martha Higgins (Judith Evelyn) with the LSD causing hallucinations and a rigidity in her back that produces the aforementioned tingler creature. But what's with husband Ollie (Philip Coolidge) going Nightmare on Elm Street on her? Same thing with Chapin's wife Isabel (Patricia Cutts) - one minute he's shooting her with blanks to scare the bejeezus out of her and later on she's all cool about it.But hey, neat special effect with the bathtub full of red blood in a black and white movie, as all the while I kept an eye on that skeleton Chapin kept in his lab. If I had to bet, I'd say it was the same one used in another Vincent Price flick made the same year - "House on Haunted Hill".

Director William Castle and star Vincent Price reunite in this memorable thriller. Price plays Dr. Warren Chapin, a pathologist who performs autopsies at the prison following executions. He has formulated a theory that a creature(called a Tingler) exists within each of us, feeding off the fear generated in times of stress, and can only be relieved by screaming. He shares this idea with Oliver Higgens(played by Philip Coolidge) who was attending an execution. His wife is a deaf-mute, unable to scream, which makes her a most convenient subject for a cruel experiment...They also manage a movie theater, and when a Tingler gets loose, film-goers can only escape by screaming! Fun thriller may have a preposterous plot, but is most clever in execution, with a good cast and fitting end.

I very much enjoy old-fashioned Horror films; even the REALLY old, OLD Classics such as 'THE MUMMY' (1932) 'THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN' (1935) and even 'THE OLD DARK HOUSE' (1932) were great! And many of the Horror films of the 1940's such as 'THE WOLFMAN', etc. and the later Corman / Price Poe films are quite good, not to mention the excellent HAMMER films. But... honestly, the direction, writing, and ESPECIALLY acting in this one was quite honestly almost painful to watch. The acting was so bad that it quite literally took me out of the film. ALL 3 of the women in the film are such TERRIBLE actresses that I am surprised that any of them got hired at all. And the one playing the deaf wife was just about one of THE most truly AWFUL actresses that I have ever seen. So overplayed and overdone. I honestly think that the movie could have been pretty good if they had just written it better. Price has always leaned heavily toward the hammy side, but the dialog that he was given in this film was truly pushing the limits.Old Horror films are great; and this one SORT OF has an interesting premise (and of course, as usual, some great Castle gimmick) but unless you really like VERY corny Horror films, maybe just for the 'charm' of the time period or perhaps the nostalgic value, this one, sadly, does NOT seem to hold up very well at all.