The Tingler

“Scream! Scream for your lives!”

Vincent Price plays Dr. Chapin, a pathologist whose experiments include shooting up LSD in an attempt to scare himself in order to test his theory that the tingling we feel at the base of our spines when experiencing fear is due to the growth of a parasite. He dubs this parasite a “Tingler,” and claims it can crush the host’s spine if they fail to scream. We know this because the script has Chapin talk about it at great length.

Chapin’s experiments reach a dead-end however, when he realizes that to actually capture a Tingler, he’d need to die of fright without screaming. Convienently, an acquaintance of Chapin happens to have a deaf and mute wife. Sure enough, she dies of fright after a surreal series of terrifying events. Chapin conducts an autopsy and removes a live Tingler, a centipede-like creature about the size of a dachsund. Watching in HD, we can see the string used to pull it along in several shots. Chapin’s two-timing wife releases the Tingler in an attempt to kill him in his sleep, but Chapin’s saved by his daughter’s screams which neutralize the creature.

Convinced of the Tingler’s danger, Chapin attempts to destroy it, but discovers that nothing can kill it. Theorizing that the only solution is to put it back where it came from, Chapin attempts to return it to the dead woman’s corpse, but before he can do so, the Tingler escapes and makes its way into a crowded movie theater. To save the audience, Chapin implores them to “Scream! Scream for your lives!”

During it’s original theatrical run, this is where director William Castle’s famous “Percepto!” gimmick would kick in and certain theater seats would buzz in an attempt to solict a shocked shriek from the audience. Today’s audiences may not be able to experience it, but the film’s mix of camp and genuine horror still makes for a fun ride, and credit where credit’s due: the third act twist is a good one (even if Castle stole it from Diabolique).