The Tingler

Released Jul 29, 1959

1h 22m

Horror

List

78%

18 Reviews

Tomatometer

67%

5,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Dr. Warren Chapin (Vincent Price) has made a surprising discovery -- the spine-chilling sensation that people get when scared is due to a parasite that he dubs the "tingler." Chapin concludes that in extreme circumstances, prolonged fear can cause the creature to damage a person's spine and even cause death if the victim can't scream, a theory that Oliver Higgins (Philip Coolidge) uses to deadly effect on his wife (Judith Evelyn). Soon the tingler that killed the woman is on the loose.

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Joel H

I'd read about The Tingler as a child and heard about the buzzing-seat gimmick they used in theaters, so I was excited to finally watch it. Is it scary? No, not really. Is it amusing? Absolutely. I found myself chuckling multiple times about how campy this horror movie is. The plot is ludicrous, but that's what makes it engaging. Vincent Price is quite entertaining, as always, and does not disappoint in his role as the villainous Dr. Warren Chapin. And even though the creature was laughable, there were a couple impressive visual effects. I wish I could have seen this one with Percepto! in theaters.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

11/05/23

Full Review

Joey O

Interesting idea for a story but bad scriptwriting, bad story telling, bad acting and, bad gimmicks that can’t be reproduced all drag this film down. It is a product of its time in attempt to turn the theater into a roller coaster ride but feels like your stuck in the only non working bumper car and your waiting for the time to be up so you can stop getting hit. There is no justifiable reason to seek this movie out unless you’re a film student writing a paper on gimmicks used in theater, or have a relative who was in it. It is a bad film, probably made for some amusing dates when it came out but that time has come and gone and so has my time wasted watching this movie. My eardrums want a refund.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

07/24/23

Full Review

Jens B

Even Vincent Price can't save this.. The Tingler is quite adorable.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

05/28/23

Full Review

Audience Member

"The Tingler" is no classic despite it's reputation. This 1959 horror film does not have much horror in it. It is not a terrible movie, it's just dull and has a seemingly incomplete script. I was planning to give the movie only a two star rating, but upped the rating with an additional half star because of the terrific (as usual) performance by the late Vincent Price as Dr. Warren Chapin. The problems I have with "The Tingler" are similar to those of producer and director the late William Castle's previous (and better, but that is not saying much) film "The House on Haunted Hill". The script feels incomplete. The film's final scene is a perfect example of that. More specifically, the scene where it is revealed that theater owner Oliver "Ollie" Higgins (Played by the late Phillip Coolidge.) murdered his deaf and mute wife Martha (Played by the late Judith Evelyn.) First of all, it's amazing that Dr. Chapin was able to put The Tingler back in to Martha's dead body with such little effort and not a drop of blood spilled. Second, Dr. Chapin says he is going to report Ollie to the Police. Ollie draws a gun and threatens the Doctor, but then he just lets Dr. Chapin leave! He does not fire a shot. What? I also think William Castle's "Percepto" gimmick was rather stupid. The movie should be able to stand on its own and not reply on dumb gimmicks and people planted in the audience to play along with the movie. In the end "The Tingler" is not a very good movie, but it is worth seeing at least once for another great performance by one of the greatest horror actors of all time.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

01/22/23

Full Review

eric s

I scratched another off the forever-long "watchlist" with 1959's The Tingler starring Vincent Price. This movie would have been awesome to have caught in the theater back in the day. It was directed by William Castle who had a knack for gimmick films. For example, he also made the 1959's House on the Haunted Hill. During screenings, a prop skeleton would fly across the auditorium at particularly-timed events in the movie. The Tingler had its own gimmick as well. But first the plot. In The Tingler, Vincent Price plays a pathologist who discovers that we all have a parasite in us, or a Tingler, that grows along our spine in severe states of fear. The idea being that when you're frightened and feel that tingling sensation in your back, you're being attacked by The Tingler. The only way to combat The Tingler is to scream. So the gimmick at the time was that theaters would have seats rigged to buzz and vibrate at specific times in order to trick audiences into thinking they have The Tingler. Add to that some planted audience members and particular scene in the movie where a Tingler gets loose in a theater; well, you're then having a frightfully good time at the movies. Sadly, we don't get to experience these kinds of gimmicks much anymore but at least we can still get a sense of what it would have been like. The movie itself is a fine time. It's got plenty of that old B-movie cheese which is either going to be your jam or it isn't. Personally, I find it extremely charming. Not to mention this movie has Vincent Price as I said. I don't care what movie he's in, he owns the scene every time. If you're up for some 50s shlock, check it out. It's streaming on Tubi, which if you haven't already checked out, do so because it has a massive library of revolving horror and other genre films and it's completely free (with ads).

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Another team-up of Vincent Prince and director William Castle. This one is hokey at times, but ultimately pretty darn devious. Price is excellent.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/27/23

Full Review

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William Castle

Director

Vincent Price

Dr. Warren Chapin

Judith Evelyn

Martha Higgins

Darryl Hickman

David Morris

Patricia Cutts

Isabel Stevens Chapin

Pamela Lincoln

Lucy Stevens

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Nell Minow

Movie Mom

Rated: 3/5

Nov 24, 2002

Full Review

Eddie Harrison

film-authority.com

…with a frank view of drugs, plus some meta-narrative twists, The Tinger is a great way to waste 80 minutes…

Rated: 3/5

Dec 22, 2022

Full Review

Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

Perhaps William Castle's most outrageous film, The Tingler also stands as one of his best.

Rated: 3/4

Jun 7, 2021

Full Review

Sean Mulvihill

FanboyNation.com

There's never been anything like The Tingler before or since.

Rated: 5/5

Oct 29, 2018

Full Review

Mike McGranaghan

Aisle Seat

Well-made, and anyone with an appreciation for the fright flicks of yesteryear will certainly recognize it as a work of significant note.

Rated: 3/4

Aug 21, 2018

Full Review

Jeffrey M. Anderson

Combustible Celluloid

Could well be William Castle's masterpiece.

Oct 23, 2009

Full Review

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Synopsis

Dr. Warren Chapin (Vincent Price) has made a surprising discovery -- the spine-chilling sensation that people get when scared is due to a parasite that he dubs the "tingler." Chapin concludes that in extreme circumstances, prolonged fear can cause the creature to damage a person's spine and even cause death if the victim can't scream, a theory that Oliver Higgins (Philip Coolidge) uses to deadly effect on his wife (Judith Evelyn). Soon the tingler that killed the woman is on the loose.

Director: William Castle
Screenwriter: Robb White
Distributor: Columbia Tristar, Columbia Pictures
Production Co: Columbia Pictures Corporation
Genre: Horror
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jul 29, 1959, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 1, 2013
Runtime: 1h 22m
Sound Mix: Mono
Aspect Ratio: 35mm, Flat (1.85:1)

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