The Tingler

MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

As famous for the gimmick with which the film was shown as for its genuinely spine-tingling story, The Tingler follows a pathologist (Vincent Price) as he searches for the cause of a series of deaths and discovers that the victims have a large insect-like creature growing on their spinal chords. The creature attacks when the people are frightened and is only killed when the host emits a blood-curdling primal scream. This is coupled with a subplot to scare the deaf-mute owner of a silent movie house to death. Along the way, a couple of characters are injected with LSD and begin hallucinating like mad. When one of the nasty monsters "escaped" into a movie theater, the film's gimmick would begin. In order to further frighten audiences, director William Castle had certain theater seats rigged with small Army surplus devices that would deliver a mild electric shock to the spine in hopes of inducing terrified screams. Castle also planted audience members who would scream and faint. The house lights would go up, the film would stop and ushers would carry the unconscious person out of the theater. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

DVD FEATURES:

• Region: 1
• Number of Discs: 1
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 (Theatre Wide Screen)
• Audio: PCM Mono, 5.1
• Screen: Black and White, Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV
• Subtitle: Korean, English, Spanish, Thai
• Features:
  • Digitally Mastered Audio & Anamorphic Video
  • Production Notes
  • Interactive Menus
  • Languages: English (Mono), Spanish (Mono)
  • Subtitles: English, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Korean, Thai
  • Scream For Your Lives! Featurette
  • William Castle's Drive-In "Scream" Scene
  • Original "Scream" Scene
  • Theatrical Trailers
  • Talent Files
  • Scene Selections

AWARDS

• Full Frame Documentary Film Festival

•     Film Presented - 2008

• Telluride Film Festival

•     Film Presented - 1987

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Director:

  William Castle

• Producer:

  William Castle

• Screenwriter:

  Robb White, Robb Shite

• Cinematographer:

  Wilfrid M. Cline

• Composer (Music Score):

  Von Dexter

• Editor:

  Chester Schaeffer

• Art Director:

  Phillip Bennett

REVIEW:

• So much has been made of The Tingler's gimmick -- theatre seats outfitted with tiny electro-shock devices -- that most people don't know that it's actually a pretty good horror movie. It's no classic like The Exorcist, but it's enjoyable, even at its cheesiest, and delivers more than its fair share of tense moments along the way. Without the interactive electro-shock gimmick, and experienced in one's living room rather than in a theatre, the climax simply doesn't work, but the basic, admittedly silly premise is interesting enough to make most viewers overlook this flaw. There's also some atmospheric lighting and camerawork that make an asset of the film's budgetary constraints, and an outrageous insertion of color into one sequence that's so ridiculous that one can't help but enjoy it. The script has its saggy expository moments, but these are relatively few, and the excitement of most of the set pieces makes the wait worthwhile. Most of all, Tingler has Vincent Price, more restrained than in many of his films, but clearly in control of the film. It's easy to make fun of Price -- and well justified -- but he had an undeniably unique presence, and it's the rare Price thriller that isn't buoyed by his participation. Tingler is a cheap, lowbrow horror flick, but it's professionally made and quite watchable. ~ Craig Butler, Rovi