Le Désosseur de cadavres

William Castle's 'The Tingler' is one of the most extraordinary horror movies ever made. Low budget, silly script, bad dialogue, uneven acting, gimmicky to the extreme (with or without "percepto"), but it STILL manages to amaze. It's a kind of trojan horse, being a cheesy b-grade thriller with a hidden core of surrealism almost worthy of Bunuel or Cocteau.

Memorable performances from horror legend Vincent Price as the scientist obsessed with explaining the strange phenomenon he labels "the tingler", and Judith Evelyn (who had a bit part in Hitchcock's 'Rear Window') as a bizarre deaf mute who owns a silent movie theatre, elevate this above most of Castle's overrated output. The classic acid trip scene (I think the first ever), the memorable short colour sequence, and the William Burroughs-like monster make this something really special. Not to be missed!

"Ollie" was my favorite person in this movie. What a strange dude! He was full of surprises, including reactions to things, comments he makes and, of course, deeds he commits.

Yeah, Vincent Price proves again what a fine actor we was, and is the star of the film, but I really enjoyed Philip Coolidge's (Ollie) performance. As for Price, watching this other day made me scratch my head and wonder how such a good actor could play in so many cheesy films?

Whatever, those two along with Patricia Cutts (the tramp wife), Judith Evelyn (Ollie's deaf-mute wife), Darryl Hickman and Pamela Lincoln all did a pretty nice job, although Price's acting talents stand out among the cast.

It also would have fun to see this in the theater 50 years ago when they rigged the seats to tingle during certain scenes! That really happened! Director William Castle really tried everything to get the audience. He even stopped the film and asked the audience to scream! It must have been hilarious. You have to give it to the man for his effort to promote his "horror" films.

The movie begins slowly so one has to have patience with this story. Once it kicks in though, it's very good with some shocking scenes (including a color scene or two) and some interesting twists. However, to be fair, there are a lot of holes in this story and really, really corny things......but that's part of the fun. It's like Ed Wood films - so bad, you have to laugh.

The DVD looks good. This is a nice transfer, which is important with all the lights and shadows. You can see some alternate scenes, too, which are interesting.

William Castle was a great filmmaker. Many people would disagree because no one Castle film stands out as being great. Yet Castle was a great innovator that made going to the movies more than just a way to spend time to an experience. His gimmicks, although not usable today, are not what his movies are about. His films are about stories, pretty good ones at that. The Tingler is no exception. It is a tale of horror and science. It concerns itself with a doctor trying to prove that each of us has a tingler within us that gets bigger when we are in a state of fear and is repelled by our screaming. Although the scientific merit of this story seems somewhat implausible, Castle makes it seem very credible through his story-telling techniques. Some scenes in the movie are just wonderful. Vincent Price is excellent as the doctor questing for answers and then faced with a moral dilemma as to what should be done with his newly found knowledge. If you like science fiction, Vincent Price, or just a good old-fashioned horror yarn....The Tingler is for you!

Here is a true story that classifies as "Tingler Trivia." At a major studio-named Cinema palace in San Mateo, California, I saw an original exhibition of "The Tingler" back in 1959 with the theatre-Manager's nephew, a high school chum. His uncle related the distribution set-up for the film: army surplus vibration motors were electrically wired under every third seat in the first seven rows of this large theatre in the "orchestra" level, at considerable expense. At key points in the film the motors were clicked on, providing a "tingling" sensation to a viewer's rear end, at which point several plain-clothed ushers would scream out horribly! The implied intention was to cause a stampede in the auditorium, front to rear, toward the main lobby candy counters beyond the thrust-open theatre doors. While we were listening to the story, behind the Manager's back a curious-looking workman, looking very worried and clutching a small hat, was gesturing for the manager to turn around, which we mentioned. "Who's that?" we asked. "Oh, he's the retired electrician I found" was the reply. "Excuse me for a moment, boys." When the Manager returned, he seemed quite bemused, explaining "This idiot I hired to do the work just informed me, minutes before the film rolls, that he forgot to ground his connections. It seems the patrons in those seven rows are due for a REAL shock." Needless to say, my friend and I sat in row 11 and yes, seeing the film that way, in a packed theatre, was a real hoot! About 100 people, jolted and non, stormed the lobby at the given moments, several screaming or wondering out loud in pandemonium. When the film went "black screen" for a moment and the jolts shocked the audience, the scene was not to be believed and has, to this very day, never been forgotten. It was almost as humorous as a showing of "House on Haunted Hill" in the same theatre earlier in the year, but that is a story for another day.

There is a real pleasure in watching old Vincent Price movies. There is little in the way of special effects, so you have to rely on the skills of the actor. he is and was magnificent.

The premise is just too ridiculous to comprehend - we have a tingler in our spine that reacts to fear. Screaming will neutralize it. It's a neat gimmick, and director William Castle took advantage of post war audiences to capitalize on it.

The "creature" looked like a runner centipede that was two feet long. It was so unreal that it was funny, but it made for a great movie, and a spine-tingling ending.

You can never go wrong with an old Price movie.

Plus you probably get to see the first LSD trip on film.