{"id":28746,"date":"2018-08-14T19:28:33","date_gmt":"2018-08-14T23:28:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/?p=28746"},"modified":"2018-08-14T19:31:23","modified_gmt":"2018-08-14T23:31:23","slug":"the-tingler-1959-collectors-edition-blu-ray","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/2018\/08\/14\/the-tingler-1959-collectors-edition-blu-ray\/","title":{"rendered":"The Tingler (1959): Collector\u2019s Edition [Blu-Ray]"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>\u201cThe Tingler\u201d is one of my first introductions to William Castle and the art of his theatricality when it came to horror movies and making them an experience. As a kid, \u201cThe Tingler\u201d and \u201cHouse on Haunted Hill\u201d were constant rotation at my home, and I loved how Castle\u2019s films sucked you in. To this day I remember being very riveted in the brief moment during \u201cThe Tingler\u201d where the movie breaks the fourth wall asking you, the audience, to scream loudly to avoid being attacked by\u2014dramatic pause\u2014the Tingler<\/em><\/strong>!<\/p>\n

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Vincent Price plays Dr. Warren Chapin, a scientist who has discovered that the spine tingling sensation people get when they\u2019re scared is actually a parasite that manifests from our fear. Named the Tingler, it attaches to our spine drawing life force from us, if we can\u2019t build the power to scream. Screaming is its weakness, as is made painfully clear in \u201cThe Tingler.\u201d After experimenting on his wife, Oliver Higgins manages to extract the tingler from her body, but once the creature is freed from its prison, it begins preying on victims and eating their fear. Now Warren has to stop it before it sets a trail of victims.<\/p>\n

William Castle was always about creative concepts and premises. And though \u201cThe Tingler\u201d might seem like a goofy monster movie, in the end it\u2019s at least a goofy monster movie you can have fun with. The monster itself looks like an overgrown rubber centipede, but the concept is fairly unique and creative. The idea that a monster manifests from our fears and eats our terror, all the while preventing us from screaming is horror gold, and works well here. \u201cThe Tingler\u201d was originally shown in \u201cPercepto.\u201d During the climax when the tingler is loose, the film encourages the audience to scream lest they be attacked by the tingler, and \u201cPercepto\u201d made audiences seats tremor in theaters, giving them a jolt of interactivity.<\/p>\n

I would have loved to have been there to see if anyone actually started screaming, or ran out of the theater in horror. \u201cThe Tingler\u201d is a very good vehicle for Vincent Price who is as good as ever. While the movie itself feels more like a gimmick than a movie at times, it\u2019s a fun movie you can double bill with \u201cThe Blob\u201d and call it a day. Plus it has one of the funniest closing scenes in horror movie history.<\/p>\n

The new edition from Scream Factory garners an audio commentary by author\/historian Steve Haberman. \u201cI Survived The Tingler\u201d is a four minute interview with Pamela Lincoln, who discusses how the film was her claim to stardom. \u201cUnleashing \u201cPercepto\u201d is a three minute interview with publicist Barry Lorie, who discusses the publicity for \u201cPercepto,\u201d and how Castle would have him promote the films to publications and theaters. \u201cScream for Your Lives! William Castle and \u201cThe Tingler\u201d\u201d is a vintage featurette at over fifteen minutes from another release garnering a neat retrospective from the surviving members of the cast, and other folks educated on the film\u2019s production.<\/p>\n

\u201cWilliam Castle\u2019s Drive-In \u201cScream!\u201d Audio\u201d is a minute long peek at the Drive In version of Percepto, where Castle begs people to turn on their headlights to find the Tingler in the climax. \u201cOriginal \u201cScream\u201d Scene\u201d is a forty five second recording of the audience during the original scene, and \u201cThe Original 1959 Theatre Lobby Recording\u201d is a two and a half minute audio only trailer. Finally there\u2019s the theatrical trailer, and a still gallery.<\/p>\n