by Jesse Miller, MoreHorror.com

Y'know, I kind of love William Castle, the director of The Tingler. There was a man that crafted unique cinema experiences through the use of gimmicks throughout his horror films, making them all the more interactive and fun.

Much like Frankenstein's opening words of friendly warning, it is Castle who introduces The Tingler in the film's prologue, warning the audience of a physical sensation they may experience in the film and the counteraction to subdue it.

The gimmick here was Percepto! - A gimmick where Castle attached electrical buzzers to the random seats in cinemas to be set off by the projectionist in a scene where The Tingler is set loose inside a cinema in the film. To add to the effect, Castle planted fake screamers and fainters in the audience to be wheeled away by fake nurses, only to return to the next screening and faint all over again. Ah, what a job.

Vincent Price, in another excellent performance, plays Dr. Warren Chapin; a pathologist that discovers the strange sensation in the spine in states of fear is due to a dormant, parasitic creature - which he dubs the tingler.

The Tingler lives at the base of every human being's spine and when you're fearful, it wakes and feeds on you - if you scream, you weaken it and put it back to sleep. With this discovery, Chapin undergoes experiments in mind-numbing fear to study the parasite further. It is a goofy premise but one that surprisingly manages to make the skin crawl.

There's a dark, little sub plot here involving the relationship Chaplin and his scheming, cheating murderous wife which feels a tad out of place in such a creature feature - but it's entertaining melodrama, with a performance you love to hate, even with a few surprises of it's own.

Speaking of surprises, the film pulls another trick out from its sleeve in a genuinely frightening sequence where a deaf-mute woman witnesses some nightmarish stuff. That it even becomes frightening is somewhat of a shock in such a tame, cheesy horror film such as this but the true surprise in that sequence comes from the bright red blood spilling out in what appears to be a black and white film.
You see, this was the only scene to use color film.

The set of the bathroom was painted white, black and grey, with grey make up applied to blend the actress in. Clever stuff.

The Tingler is a brisk and wholly enjoyable experience, from the now melodramatic struggles with the rubbery TINGLER to the charming "physical sensation" sequence where you scream for your life. They sure don't make 'em like they used to and I recommend this for the curious film buff and horror film fan.