William Castle/ USA/ 1959 / 82 min
The late, great Vincent Price stars in William Castle’s 1959 B-movie, The Tingler. Showing as a celebration of the centenary of Price’s birth, this film is over the top from the very start, but it’s still a rich and fun homage to the power of horror cinema and the enigmatic screen presence of Price.
When forensic pathologist Dr Warren Chapin (Vincent Price) discovers that fear causes the spines of condemned prisoners to shatter, he suspects that the only possible explanation is the presence of an unknown creature dubbed ‘The Tingler’ that feeds on fear, and can only be stopped by screaming. But when he’s faced with Martha (Judith Evelyn) a deaf and mute woman, who cannot scream, he realises he could be right.
Over fifty years have passed since The Tinger was unleashed into cinematic history, and while it has undoubtedly aged, making some sequences more hammy than horrific, this film was quite revolutionary during its time, thanks to Castle’s use of ‘Percepto’ or buzzers hidden under the seats of the audience, that would be set off whenever a scream was heard. But while the film is famous for its use of trickery, it’s credited as the first film to depict an acid trip. Behind the gimmicks, however, The Tingler manages to encompass a number of well-known fears, such as the fear of blood and possession. This theme, coupled with a growing sense that we are not alone in our bodies, is a subject that has often reappeared in cinema, from Alien, to the body horror films of David Cronenburg, this idea of sharing a body with something inhuman is something that is truly terrifying. Although unintentionally hilarious in parts, this is a prime example of 1950s moviemaking that serves as a reminder of the golden age of Hollywood horror.