Starring - Vincent Price (Last Man on Earth, Edward Scissorhands), Judith Evelyn (Thriller, Rear Window), and Darryl Hickman (Baywatch, The Nanny)
Release Date - 1959
Genre - Horror
Tagline - "Terror is just over your shoulder"
Format - Bluray (Personal Collection) (Screener)
Rating (out of 5):
I often said that I wanted to live through the golden age of drive-in cinema with all the grindhouse and exploitation double features that would play. However, if I could really pick a time in cinema history to visit I would have to go with the years that William Castle was unleashing his gimmicks to packed theaters. Going to one of his movies was an experience and I'm sure it was one that many didn't forget. Hell, I love his gimmicks even now. The Tingler is by far one of his most popular gimmicks and one that Vincent Price fans eat up. I've always enjoyed this one and when I saw that Umbrella Entertainment was releasing it with another Price film I knew I had to revisit it. I reached out to them and they were kind enough to send a copy my way. Thanks guys!
the film follows Dr. Chapin who is studying the effects of fear on the human body and his obsession with this has lead to the discovery of a creature called the tingler. When you scream it paralyzes the creature allowing it to drop free of your body, however, if you do not scream or unable to scream it is able to feast on your fear.
The Tingler is one of the more popular Vincent Price films but, honestly, it's not one of my favorite. There is several more of his films that I would prefer over this one. With that being said, this is probably my favorite gimmick of Castle's where he would have theater employees scare movie goers by sneaking up behind them with the tingler. The acting in this one is great. Price has never let me down in a film and this one is probably his most out there performance. Watching him scream and hallucinate is a highlight of the film and completely out of character from his other work. The supporting cast is fun as well with some unintentionally funny moments coming out of their serious approach to such a silly story. I really enjoy the cast in this one and the characters they delivered. The story for this one is obviously written around the gimmick that Castle had created. It works from a marketing stand point and as a late night creature feature it has some fun moments. I really enjoyed the silly side of this film and when you look at it from the gimmick stand point you can't help but smile thinking about all the people in a theater finding themselves being spooked by employees. It's clever all around and the movie is so enjoyable. Finally, the film has blood but nothing too crazy. However, it does have some creature feature fun with the tingler crawling around an old theater terrorizing the audience. I loved the look and it has that 1950's b-movie charm. Overall, The Tingler is such a fun film. It's a silly story but the cast and idea behind it makes for such a good time. Fans of classic horror or Vincent Price should really check this one out.
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