THE TINGLER

“William Castle’s best picture. When the Tingler gets loose in the movie theater on screen you will scream for your life as buzzers go off under your real life seat. I am who I am today because of this movie.”
(John Waters)

William Castle, director-god and marketing genius of the B-movie, venerated as an icon by John Waters and Joe Dante, directed Vincent Price for the second and, sadly, last time: as the pathologist Dr. Warren Chapin he discovers that human fear has a creaturely origin, namely the “Tingler”, which attaches itself to the spine and makes it explode, if it is just stimulated long enough. The only way to counter the monster within us is with loud, forceful screaming. Dr. Chapin discovers a particularly impressive specimen in the corpse of a deaf woman, and it is not long before the “Tingler” escapes and starts spreading fear and terror. “The Tingler” is the ultimate William Castle experience: a legendary performance by Vincent Price, the imaginative directing, and a healthy dose of weirdness – also including the first LSD trip ever seen in the cinema! – guarantee skipping hearts and a warm feeling in the gut as in “They don’t make them like that anymore!” The brilliant climax of this gold standard of all B-movies, however, is undoubtedly the live components made possible via PERCEPTO!, because as the trailer promises: “The Tingler will break loose in the theatre while you are in the audience!”