THE TINGLER (1959)
Article #290 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 12-30-2001
Posting date: 5-16-2002

A scientist studying the effects of fear on humans discovers a force known as the Tingler which grows on the human spinal cord and feeds on fear. When a deaf-mute woman is scared to death, he manages to retrieve one from her body.

This bit of goofy fun is my second-favorite of William Castle’s movies, with some good performances, particularly from Vincent Price and Judith Evelyn (as the deaf-mute) who manages to convey so much wih her eyes. There are some classic sequences here, especially the scene where the woman is scared to death (with its tricky partial-color sequences), and the scene where the Tingler gets loose in a movie theatre (an idea truly worthy of William Castle if ever there was one). It was one of the first movies to feature an LSD trip, though the sequence itself is disappointing; so much more could have been done with it. The plot isn’t particularly strong, but I don’t think it was intended to be; it’s merely there so that Castle has something onto which he can hang his scare sequences.