The Tingler (1959)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Tim S

  
  I love The Tingler. It's absolutely ridiculous but yet so much fun. I think William Castle's movies work best when the story is being ridiculous. This movie is a lot of fun and even managed to spook me a little. Really enjoyable. :)

• AJ V

  
  This is one of those movies that you like because they're cheesy and silly. Castle's horror films were all gimmicky, and this one is no exception, but his gimmicks are fun and sort of give his films a cult status. I like this movie.

• Luke B

  
  Scientifically sound stuff here. As most of you are aware we all have a tiny bug inside us that grows when we are scared, the only way to stop it from killing us is to scream. Screaming reduces its size. This is the wonderfully bonkers plot of The Tingler. Produced and directed by… More
  Scientifically sound stuff here. As most of you are aware we all have a tiny bug inside us that grows when we are scared, the only way to stop it from killing us is to scream. Screaming reduces its size. This is the wonderfully bonkers plot of The Tingler. Produced and directed by William Castle, this is a film that was made with gimmicks in mind. Castle was the kind of man to send skeletons on zip-wires and pay people to scream. It's evidenced here by an introduction by Castle. So this doesn't have the effect of the cinema, though I'm sure that was hardly terrifying itself. The film has some nice twists I didn't see coming, and Price's performance is very serious and believable. He isn't camping it up here.It takes a while to get going, but the freak-out scene had some bizarre creepy moments like a beasts arm throwing an axe. It's more interesting than it had to be, considering the gimmicks it was created for.

• Cindy I

  
  This cheesy fright flick from WIlliam Castle was actually better than I expected it to be, and I don't mean that in a "so bad it's good " way. Vincent Price's performance wasn't nearly as hammy as usual as a doctor studying the effects of fear on the… More
  This cheesy fright flick from WIlliam Castle was actually better than I expected it to be, and I don't mean that in a "so bad it's good " way. Vincent Price's performance wasn't nearly as hammy as usual as a doctor studying the effects of fear on the human body. Too bad the rest of the cast were stiff as boards. The monster worm was pretty cool, and there were a couple of nice twists in the story. Or course, it also had William Castle's always over-the-top dramatics -- the first scene of the film simply headshots of people screaming. This is going to sound crazy, but it might be fun to watch this on a double bill with Michael Powell's Peeping Tom. Tom is MUCH darker and sinister, and not at all campy, but they have similar themes, and they were made around the same time. Kind of a U.S. vs. U.K. comparison.

• Cassandra M

  
  The Tingler marks the second teaming for horror's greatest actor - Vincent Price, and horror's greatest showman - William Castle. This film was released later in the same year that their first venture - House on Haunted Hill - was unleashed upon audiences across the world,… More
  The Tingler marks the second teaming for horror's greatest actor - Vincent Price, and horror's greatest showman - William Castle. This film was released later in the same year that their first venture - House on Haunted Hill - was unleashed upon audiences across the world, and the film sees the two men deliver more of what they did with their first feature. House on Haunted Hill was much loved then - and now - for it's ludicrous plot line and hammy performances, and The Tingler marks another successful fusion of these elements. The plot line is even sillier this time round, and it follows Vincent Price's scientist as he conducts his experiments into fear. He discovers that when we get frightened, a thing, which he called 'the tingler', manifests itself on the spinal column and the only way to rid oneself of this 'tingler' is to scream. Deaf mute's cant scream, however, and soon after discovering that his friend's wife suffers from that condition, and has an acute fear of blood, Price gets to work on attempting to isolate and remove the tingler. William Castle shows his flair and passion for entertaining his audience throughout this film, with the whole film being, basically, a metaphor for the horror genre on the whole. Castle uses several different methods of getting his audience to scream, and while this film isn't very scary by today's standards - watching this master of entertainment weave his magic is always delightful. Another thing that's delightful about this film is the fact that Vincent Price is in it. Price has an amazing ability to command to the screen, and while this movie doesn't feature his best performance - he's always entertaining, and it's always a pleasure to see him on screen. Castle's special effects are hokey, with the central monster - the tingler - looking rather silly, but that adds to the fun effect of the movie and if the effects had been terrific examples of how good special effects can be - the film wouldn't have been nearly as fun as it is. The Tingler is silly throughout, and it gets really ridiculous towards the end, but if you watch knowing that this isn't to be taken seriously, you'll enjoy yourself just like Castle intended.

• Randy T

  
  Okay, what if everyone had this tiny little caterpillar thing that lived in the base of their spine? And what if, every time they got scared, this caterpillar thing started to grow? And what if the only way to stop the caterpillar thing from growing was to scream real loud? And… More
  Okay, what if everyone had this tiny little caterpillar thing that lived in the base of their spine? And what if, every time they got scared, this caterpillar thing started to grow? And what if the only way to stop the caterpillar thing from growing was to scream real loud? And what if a mad scientist decided that he could prove the existence of the caterpillar thing by finding a mute lady and scaring her to death? And what if his experiment worked and he surgically removed a really big caterpillar thing from the dead woman's body? And what if that caterpillar thing got loose and started to kill people? And what if it turned out that the whole thing was just a movie? And what if you watched that movie with some friends and lots and lots of beer?

• Stella D

  
  relentlessly campy with a ridiculous plot and hilarious effects but it sure was fun :) scream for your lives!!!!!!

• _kelly .

  
  time has made this a novelty; for film historians, though, it's an important watch - the tingler itself is echoed throughout movie history - Cronenberg's whole career could have been spawned from the tingler art

• Michael G

  
  Pretty hokey 50s horror flick with an interesting premise but for the most part a bad execution. William Castle builds suspense then hits the audience with an arsenal of gimmicks with everything from showing a black screen to running the shadow of the creature across the screen.… More
  Pretty hokey 50s horror flick with an interesting premise but for the most part a bad execution. William Castle builds suspense then hits the audience with an arsenal of gimmicks with everything from showing a black screen to running the shadow of the creature across the screen. I'm sure this got the desired effect in a 50s movie theater, but not so much on cable TV. The last scene was pretty silly, but then again the whole movie was.

• Pierluigi P

  
  The cheap horror showman William Castle had the uncanny Vincent Price in this fun classic b-movie. very interesting premise despite its campyness.

• xGary X

  
  Alternately spooky and hilarious, the "tingler" (to give it it's scientific name!) is a parasite that attaches itself to fearful victims and kills them unless they scream. A very silly creature feature with a post modern gimmick that only Vincent Price could possibly… More
  Alternately spooky and hilarious, the "tingler" (to give it it's scientific name!) is a parasite that attaches itself to fearful victims and kills them unless they scream. A very silly creature feature with a post modern gimmick that only Vincent Price could possibly have gotten away with!

• cody f

  
  This is a absurd and fun film. Price is a doctor who believes people have a creature that grows inside of them every time they get scared, and he's right it's called The Tingler!!! The movie is entertaining, but with the gimmicks that William Castle added to the film turns… More
  This is a absurd and fun film. Price is a doctor who believes people have a creature that grows inside of them every time they get scared, and he's right it's called The Tingler!!! The movie is entertaining, but with the gimmicks that William Castle added to the film turns it into a great movie theater experience. I saw this at the Film Forum in NYC with tingling chairs, psychedelics, flying skeletons, and planted actors in the theater to intensify the experience. If you watch it on TV it has some camp value and you will enjoy it, but if you get a chance to see it in the theater with PERCEPTO do not pass it up.

• Eduardo C

  
  Vintage William Castle.

• rocko p

  
  I heard Vincent Price was kind of creepy (I don't know if he's dead, he prolly is he looked like he was aging...I only know him though through the brady bunch when they went to hawaii) Vincent Price plays this scientist who makes this discovery of a living organism inside of… More
  I heard Vincent Price was kind of creepy (I don't know if he's dead, he prolly is he looked like he was aging...I only know him though through the brady bunch when they went to hawaii) Vincent Price plays this scientist who makes this discovery of a living organism inside of the human body who's kryptonite is screams. But it is infallible and does not die but merely decreases in size. A few really good scenes one of my favorite was when you see the thing for the first time. Both amusing and terrifying that something that big can live in the human body. Also great intro and outro from the director Hitchcock does that. More of today's directors should do that, it feels personal and makes me feel special for seeing like after Charlie found the last golden ticket I feel that way when I enter a movie not useless cause the movie I'm gonna go see has been advertised by the "MOVIE VOICE GUY!" telling me how this critic and that critic shit their pants or stop beating their kids cause the movie was so good. No. A nice and humble introduction.

Read all 14 featured audience ratings