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Information Exchange => Reader Comments => Topic started by: Warren H. on June 26, 2000, 10:09:08 AM



Title: The Tingler
Post by: Warren H. on June 26, 2000, 10:09:08 AM
The Tingler reminds me less of a centipede than a silver fish.  Most people have probably seen them, those long little buggers with thick antennae at one end and horns on the other.  But closer inspection leads me to believe that it might be based upon an onacopheran (spelling?  I'd check but I'm too lazy).  Those are slowly moving, soft-bodied creatures that spit slime.  I'll have to check my animal encyclopedia and get back to you.


Title: The Tingler
Post by: Ken Begg on June 26, 2000, 02:46:44 PM
Sorry, boys, it's clearly an earwig/centipede mix.

As much as I hate to deconstruct such a famous myth, Percepto didn't shock the audience, it vibrated the seat.  Same effect, though.  And yes, we could certainly use more William Castles these sorry days.  Check out Matinee for Joe Dante's homage to the master.


Title: The Tingler
Post by: Goreomedy on July 01, 2000, 04:10:57 AM
Ken, you beat me to the punch in mentioning Matinee.

Tingler happens to be my favorite Castle film, and I thought "Mant" was a great homage.  They don't make them like they used to, do they?  

In sad news, the next Castle film to receive the Hollywood rape treatment(first being House on Haunted Hill) will be 13 Ghosts.  They promise to have updated "Illusiono" effects.

Why can't they leave well enough alone?


Title: The Tingler
Post by: Paul Westbrook on July 06, 2000, 10:03:38 AM
Definately, a Price classic. The Tingler was a movie, I remember seeing at a late night feature, when I was 6.William Castle introduced audiences to Percepto (a mild way to shock filmgoers.) Castle would have seats rigged with shock devices, which would zap the unsuspecting individual in the seat. The idea of perceiving the emotion of fear, in the form of this cetipede-like creature seems a little silly, by today's standard, but one cannot deny that The Tingler is an unforgettable Vincent Price thiller, and must be seen.


Title: The Tingler
Post by: Tony on July 16, 2000, 07:22:26 AM
Yes, William Castle was definitely ahead of his time and this really is one of his best movies in my opinion, even tho is is cheesy when you see it now. But you gotta remember he made this way back in the 50's and times were alot diffrent back then. I've heard rumours that they wanna make a remake of this movie, a-la House on Hanted Hill, but don't know if that will ever happen. Seems ol' Mr. Castle was always dreaming up new ways to get the audience more involved in his movies, its just too bad none of today's directors take hints from him! Vincent Price also gives a good preformance here, but theres other movies where he excels even more such as Theator of Blood. But the thing that still cracks me up is when he injects the LSD and starts freaking out! I'm surprized that nobody really mentions this considering that this was back when LSD was actually legal to use! Oh well, how times do change...


Title: The Tingler
Post by: Christy on July 28, 2000, 03:31:35 PM
This is a strange film, with some "pregnancy" overtones (alien body growing inside of you). It's also on my list of "Films One Should Not See While Sick And/Or Pregnant."
By the way, Aliens and The Fly (1986) are also on that list.


Title: The Tingler
Post by: Budd on July 29, 2000, 08:29:39 PM
Sure would have gotten a kick out of seeing this one in a theater. It just wasn't the same on TV.


Title: The Tingler
Post by: luke Bannon on August 21, 2002, 05:20:30 AM
One of the best horror films I have seen. Vincent Price once again showing he was one of the greatest actors in the genre!


Title: The Tingler
Post by: Fred on November 25, 2006, 04:09:49 PM
The Tingler was an o.k. fright flick, desperately in need of a bigger budget. William Castle and his gimmicks were the real stars of this film. My favorite Castle films are The House on Haunted Hill, The Old Dark House,The Night Walker, Let's Kill Uncle & The Spirit is Willing. It's a shame that not all of Castle's films are available on tape or DVD.       WILLIAM CASTLES RULES!!!


Title: The Tingler
Post by: TomVee on February 16, 2003, 07:43:54 PM
Saw this in the movies when i was around 9 and it scared the beejesus out of me! It does not have the same impact on TV, unfortunately, plus I am a lot older now. A rubber centipede moved by wires simply does not have the same impact as it did when I was 9 and watching it on a huge screen in a dark theater. Price is great, by the way.


Title: The Tingler
Post by: Clement on November 25, 2006, 04:10:12 PM
Loved the movie when I first saw it as a kid back in 1959. I still have the "tingler button" I was given when I entered the theater. It's a small disk about the size of a dime with a red T on it. It is made of glow in the dark plastic and it's supposed to keep the Tingler from getting you. Must work. I haven't been attacted by a tingler ever since.


Title: The Tingler
Post by: Wasyl on November 25, 2006, 04:09:49 PM
I remember seeing this on TV in the late 60's, everyone in my class saw it and talked about how scary it was during recess.  I watched it again with the neighbourhood kids on a summer afternoon, and when shrieking when The Tingler escaped out of it's box.  That's when my mom had enough and came in the room and shut the TV off!


Title: The Tingler
Post by: Mike Ziemba on November 25, 2006, 04:10:12 PM
The other night I was trying to describe this movie to some of my friends when we were dicussing old/bad movies.  They had never seen the movie and so I decided to try to find a copy.  I saw this movie when I was about 8 years old on TV (1966?).  It made quite an impression.  I remember chasing my little brother around with the leftover spine from a fish dinner - I think he felt a bit of the "tingler" that night.  Many years passed before I was able to catch this little jem again - too bad my little brother moved to Florida!


Title: The Tingler
Post by: Zenguy on November 25, 2006, 04:10:12 PM
I saw this film at a matinee when I was a kid and it gave me nightmares for months.  However, it's not the best of the Castle films.  "Mr. Sardonicus" would have to rank as the Number 1 all-time scary Castle film.  


Title: The Tingler
Post by: Fish Biologist on November 25, 2006, 04:09:49 PM
Everybody is wrong :  It's a hellgrammite (scarier than centipede, eh?), aquatic larvae of the Dobson Fly.

Great bait for smallnouth bass!


Title: The Tingler
Post by: Rick on November 25, 2006, 04:09:49 PM
I saw this in a theater when I was about eight. I doubt our theater was rigged with electricity, but sometime into the film my leg fell asleep because I was on the edge of my seat (literally). When I noticed that 'tingling' sensation I started screaming like there was no tomorrow. I freaked out all my friends. It was a riot. I'll never forget it, this was the most scared I've ever been in a movie, bar none. I rate it 10 thumbs up, just because of the fantastic memory of that experience. Rick


Title: The Tingler
Post by: T Diemer on November 25, 2006, 04:09:03 PM

    The tingler is obviously a velvet worm, or periapetus, a phylum of invertibrates that live in Central and South America. The missing link between annelis and arthopods.


Title: The Tingler
Post by: Phil on February 14, 2005, 10:33:31 PM
You are right. You were born 25 years too late to enjoy the terrific movies I grew up with. Why not try THEM or the Creature from the black lagoon. That was real entertainment, not the crap they sell to us today. Yes, you were born too late!


Title: The Tingler
Post by: Omar Lopez on November 25, 2006, 04:10:12 PM
I saw this low budget movie in my country Mexico when I was a kid, in my country (Juarez, Mexico).

I was sleepless for weeks.  Great Castle & Price´s work.

A personal favorite.

A pity no "perceptos" that time in the theater of Ciudad Juarez.




Title: The Tingler
Post by: Stunttodd on November 25, 2006, 04:09:49 PM
I love this movie.  LOVE it.  I saw it on TV when I was a kid and it scared the hell out of me.  The TV station even went so far as to broadcast a stern parental warning beforehand - a cheap trick, no doubt, but it worked on me.
Once the Tingler is on-the-loose, has anybody else noticed that it kills no one?  My favorite is the projectionist in the movie theatre; this huge, slimy worm grabs him by the throat and he screams bloody murder.  It falls to the floor and Price puts it back in its cage, and he (the projectionist) goes back to his job as if nothing has happened.  I'd be out of that room like a shot.


Title: The Tingler
Post by: Charlu on November 25, 2006, 04:10:12 PM
My Dad always let me and my brother stay up and watch the scarey monster movies when he and my mom went out(we were home alone alot!, and it was cool!) He had to write" a monster go away note" for me and post it on my wall!. The Vincent Price movies were very cool but my fave was always Boris Karloff!My brother, Chuck was very easy for me to scare and The Tingler really got Him!


Title: The Tingler
Post by: Dan on November 25, 2006, 04:09:49 PM
Great review! I saw this as a kid, to this day the extraction behind the creen stands out as my only real memory of the film, and the nightmares I had after. WOW! I've told my wife about the movie and want to try to rent it, is it available??


Title: The Tingler
Post by: Lynn on November 25, 2006, 04:10:12 PM
I don't remember when I first saw "The Tingler", but it had to be in the '60's. It is my most absolute favorite movie. I LOVE Vincent Price, but "The Tingler" was the BEST. I haven't seen it for so long, I am going to have to find a DVD of it--I hope they made one by now!!!


Title: The Tingler
Post by: IT on March 24, 2006, 11:45:58 AM
This movie gave me many sleepless nights as a kid.This movie had me jumping at every little thing I saw moving in the dark.I wish I could of seen it at the theater instead of TV.One of the best and original horror movies ever made.Can you imagine being tied up and having your mouth covered while someone tries to make a tingler come out of you


Title: The Tingler
Post by: Mike on November 25, 2006, 04:09:49 PM
Corny, yes.  Chessey, absolutely.  

But imagine being five years old, and never have been in a movie theater before.  Imagine being terrified by the image of Jason battling Ray Harryhausen-animated skeletons in a darkened room(it was a double feature, so you know how long ago this was!)

Now imagine this five year old being exposed to the first horror movie he has ever seen in his life, and being in one of those rigged seats (actually, I think it was a vibrating device attached to the chair - an electric current - too expensive).  I didn't go back to the movies until I was well into my teens!

That movie was so powerful for me, that I don't remember walking home and sitting in front of the TV, where the first image I rememeber was a Clariol commercial.  For the longest time, I couldn't watch a Clariol commercial without getting a 'Tingler flashback'.  And God forbid I need to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night.

I guess my point is, that in the proper situation, the right circumstances, even a laughable B-movie like 'The Tingler' can be as traumatic as the best horro movies out today.

The moral:  When you take your kids to see their first movie, MAKE IT THE SMURFS!!!!!!!


Title: The Tingler
Post by: Eric Christiansen on November 25, 2006, 04:09:03 PM
I saw this at least 4 times when it first came out...I wanted to see the reaction of the patrons when the tingler gets down into the theatre.  It appears critics of this movie seem to miss that the whole movie was shot in black and white EXCEPT FOR:  the part when her husband ran the bath - the water was BLOOD RED! That would scare anyone!
In general horror flicks back in this era never gave away or kept you in suspense almost to the end i.e. we never actually saw the tingler till three quarters through the movie...I would like to see Ron Howard create such a movie where it leaves the patrons in SUSPENCE!


Title: Re: The Tingler
Post by: Robert on June 13, 2007, 10:39:16 PM
This movie did scare me when I was a kid, just the thought of some fat parasite living on your spine and all - but it was in the mid-1960's.  What I always found funny since adolescence, was the scene when the screen goes black and Price tells everyone to "Scream for [their] lives" in the theater.  After about twenty seconds of screaming, Price somehow manages to have his voice heard over the din to proclaim:  "The Tingler has been paralyzed by your screaming; there is no more danger.  We will now resume the showing of the movie."
  Now that scene was obviously to enhance the electrical events in the theaters, but it remains hilarious for 3 reasons to me:
  1) It was still dark, how did he know there was 'no more danger'? (there was obvious danger to come for the projectionist)
  2) Vincent didn't own the theater; it wasn't really his decision to 'resume the showing of the movie'; especially since the projectionist was about to get "tingled".
  3) Who the hell would stay in the theater after that for anything, especially to watch a silent movie?


Title: Re: The Tingler
Post by: Michael O. on June 27, 2009, 07:30:52 AM
Yesterday I had the great luck to see the Tingler in all its Glory in Munichs Movie Museum, with "Percepto" and other Gimmicks on Overdrive. Not only had the Guys the vibration devices installed (one of them under my own seat as I was to find out). During the first LSD scene where Vincent experiences his Nightmare sequence, they used colored lights on the screen and had a plastic skeleton swooning under the ceiling - which propmtly fell off and landed in the midst of the audience for added, if involuntary, fun. And of course there was the highlight, the scene in the movie theatre, with staffers screeming in the pitch-black theatre, fooloing around with flashlights and being attacked by a rubber Tingler - hillarious. Kudos to the Guys at the Festival for going through all this effort to present this outragious flick in all its intended glory.

On a plot related note: The "good" doctor indeed caused Ollies wifes death, since he gave her a huge overdose of LSD, hoping from the beginning this would kill her and this enabling him to harvest a Tingler specimen for his experiments. Ollie doing his spook routine just helped that along. Watching him acting all righteous and morally superior to the poor fool later on, just underlines his questionable morals (and making him a darn complex character for a B-Movie).


Title: Re: The Tingler
Post by: Flu-Bird on November 02, 2009, 03:35:43 PM
That thing looks like a king sized centipide  all those legs