The Tingler (1959)

(On Cable TV, October 2020) With producer-director William Castle, the gimmick was the thing, and what’s most remembered from The Tingler isn’t as much the silly story as the tales of theatre seats rigged with small devices that would vibrate at carefully selected moments in the film, echoing the on-screen theme of sensing fear and screaming to drive the monster away. The gimmick is carefully set up in the film’s first two minutes, as Castle introduces himself on-screen and delivers a portentous monologue that sets the tone and the topic of the film. After that, it’s up to Vincent Price to take up the slack with his soothing voice, playing a mad scientist who identifies a parasite living near human spinal cords that kills from fear… unless the victims can scream themselves hoarse. The plotting is ludicrous (and that’s without even mentioning the then-legal use of LSD by Price’s character as an experiment to scare himself silly), but there is an undeniable body horror moment at the idea of having a fear-fuelled parasite inside our bodies, and by the time the film makes its way to an actual movie theatre, the fun of Castle’s gimmick is back in full force. There are a few jolts along the way too: Other than the disgust of seeing a rather good parasite puppet move around the set, there’s also a scene with bright red blood flowing in the middle of a black-and-white film. Price is terrific as usual, and the added social satire of having married couples plotting to kill each other adds a bit of thematic content to the blunt high-concept. The result may not be sophisticated, but if you’re already attuned to Castle’s brand of gimmicky horror (start with House on Haunted Hill and 13 Ghosts), The Tingler is good fun with a bit of an added kick to it.