IMDb RATING
6.6/10
9.5K
YOUR RATING
An obsessed pathologist discovers and captures a parasitic creature that grows when fear grips its host.An obsessed pathologist discovers and captures a parasitic creature that grows when fear grips its host.An obsessed pathologist discovers and captures a parasitic creature that grows when fear grips its host.
- Awards
- 1 nomination
Leon Alton
- Member of Silent Movie Audience
- (uncredited)
Gertrude Astor
- Member of Silent Movie Audience
- (uncredited)
Richard Barthelmess
- David Kinemon
- (archive footage)
- (uncredited)
Gail Bonney
- Member of Silent Movie Audience
- (uncredited)
William Castle
- Prologue Himself - Host
- (uncredited)
Pat Colby
- Member of Silent Movie Audience
- (uncredited)
George DeNormand
- Member of Silent Movie Audience
- (uncredited)
Amy Fields
- Member of Silent Movie Audience
- (uncredited)
Bob Gunderson
- Ryerson - Screaming Convict
- (uncredited)
Dal McKennon
- Projectionist
- (uncredited)
Clarence Straight
- Member of Silent Movie Audience
- (uncredited)
Ernest Torrence
- Luke Hatburn, in clip from Tol'able David
- (archive footage)
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaPamela Lincoln and Darryl Hickman, who play the young suitors, actually got married on November 28th after the Tingler release on July 29th 1959. They had two children, and divorced on December 8th, 1982.
- GoofsIn almost every scene in which the Tingler appears, the wires maneuvering it are visible.
- Quotes
Isabel Stevens Chapin: There's a word for you.
Dr. Warren Chapin: There are several for you.
- Alternate versionsOriginally had a short sequence filmed partially in color. It was the scene when the deaf-mute Mrs. Higgins (Judith Evelyn), terrified by unknown forces, runs into a bathroom to hide and sees blood coming from the faucets of her sink and her bathtub filled with blood. Everything else in the scene is black and white except for the blood, which appears in garish red color - a typical William Castle gimmick. The USA home video release and the Turner Classic Movies print shown on Oct. 31, 2008 include the restored partial-color sequence. The short sequence is grainy and appears to have been inserted from an old deteriorated copy, or possibly a 16 mm print, as the rest of the movie's quality is crisp and sharp. Or possibly the image quality jump is due to an optical process or however the color was achieved, adding a generation of grain.
- ConnectionsEdited into FrightMare Theater: The Tingler (2016)
Featured review
"Ladies and gentlemen, please do not panic. But SCREAM! Scream for your lives!"
William Castle, with the greatest respect, was a poor man's Alfred Hitchcock. He was not concerned with making art, but rather with keeping his audience as entertained as possible, and everything he does with his films is working towards this end. Every plot development, every artistic decision is very deliberately planned and executed with no amount of subtlety, it must be said to provide maximum thrills, laughs and screams from his patrons. Even among B-movie directors, Castle found a unique way of distinguishing himself, through the use of unnecessary theatre gimmicks, and his form of showmanship {clearly seen in his introduction to the picture, and his theatrical trailers, in which he can barely contain his jubilation at what the audience is about to experience} was unsurpassed even by the Master of Suspense himself. His enthusiasm is absolutely infectious. In fact, for the entire 80 minutes, you can almost see Castle's grinning face superimposed over the screen. He's absolutely loving it, and I'll be damned if I didn't love it, as well.
Considering the director's association with low-budget schlock, I had expected a film with unquestionably shoddy production values. Instead, 'The Tingler (1959)' is impeccably shot by Wilfred M. Cline and generally well-written (Dr. Chapin referencing both his wife and a stray cat: "Have you two met? In the same alley, perhaps?"). Horror icon Vincent Price is the film's charismatic star, but excellent supporting performances are given by Judith Evelyn as a deaf and dumb cinema owner, Philip Coolidge as her anxious husband, and Patricia Cutts sexy and acerbic as Dr. Chapin's unfaithful wife. The story does occasionally descend into silliness, but Price nonetheless manages to deliver even the campiest of lines with unmatched class. The Tingler itself looks glaringly artificial, a rubber contraption that is pulled along the floor with wires, but its initial entrance is still something to behold. I leaned forward, my mouth agape in revulsion and disbelief, as the slimy, pulsating creature seen only in silhouette was extracted from its host's body, and deposited, wriggling gruesomely, into a pet cage.
Unlike countless awful 1950s sci-fi/horror films, 'The Tingler' isn't merely in the business of (ostensibly) scaring its audience; it aims to entertain them to elicit screams, laughs and everything in between. Castle takes you aside with a mischievous wink, lets you in on the joke, and invites you to enjoy the film's effect on the lesser masses. Whether or not his film actually caused any cinema hysterics or fatal heart attacks is difficult to deduce {one of Castle's other tricks was to plant shills in the audience, who would scream on cue}, but there's no doubt that his picture genuinely involved the audience. Every single unsubtle technique utilised by the film most memorably, the black-and-white suddenly punctuated by blood red, a little trick he learnt from Hitchcock's 'Spellbound (1945)' is a nod to the participation of its viewers. This makes the film abstract, surreal, almost interactive; when Vincent Price implores the cinema audience to scream, we know he's talking to us, and when the Tingler's stark silhouette creeps slimily across our movie screen well, don't forget to scream.
Considering the director's association with low-budget schlock, I had expected a film with unquestionably shoddy production values. Instead, 'The Tingler (1959)' is impeccably shot by Wilfred M. Cline and generally well-written (Dr. Chapin referencing both his wife and a stray cat: "Have you two met? In the same alley, perhaps?"). Horror icon Vincent Price is the film's charismatic star, but excellent supporting performances are given by Judith Evelyn as a deaf and dumb cinema owner, Philip Coolidge as her anxious husband, and Patricia Cutts sexy and acerbic as Dr. Chapin's unfaithful wife. The story does occasionally descend into silliness, but Price nonetheless manages to deliver even the campiest of lines with unmatched class. The Tingler itself looks glaringly artificial, a rubber contraption that is pulled along the floor with wires, but its initial entrance is still something to behold. I leaned forward, my mouth agape in revulsion and disbelief, as the slimy, pulsating creature seen only in silhouette was extracted from its host's body, and deposited, wriggling gruesomely, into a pet cage.
Unlike countless awful 1950s sci-fi/horror films, 'The Tingler' isn't merely in the business of (ostensibly) scaring its audience; it aims to entertain them to elicit screams, laughs and everything in between. Castle takes you aside with a mischievous wink, lets you in on the joke, and invites you to enjoy the film's effect on the lesser masses. Whether or not his film actually caused any cinema hysterics or fatal heart attacks is difficult to deduce {one of Castle's other tricks was to plant shills in the audience, who would scream on cue}, but there's no doubt that his picture genuinely involved the audience. Every single unsubtle technique utilised by the film most memorably, the black-and-white suddenly punctuated by blood red, a little trick he learnt from Hitchcock's 'Spellbound (1945)' is a nod to the participation of its viewers. This makes the film abstract, surreal, almost interactive; when Vincent Price implores the cinema audience to scream, we know he's talking to us, and when the Tingler's stark silhouette creeps slimily across our movie screen well, don't forget to scream.
helpful•131
- ackstasis
- Sep 19, 2008
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- The Chiller
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $400,000 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 22 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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