Review of The Tingler

Perhaps only that master of ballyhoo, and inventor of in-theater participatory hijinx, William Castle, could've produced (and directed) a movie such as this one, based as it is on the notion of a horror flick being described as "spine tingling." First, imagine the cigar-chomping Castle contemplating the premise: what if an actual creature inhabited a human host, "tingling" his/her spine, "feeding" off his/her mounting terror, until the host literally died of fright? That's good, he (Castle) thinks, especially if I can get the great Vincent Price in the lead (again). But we still need a gimmick, don't we? Enter a thing Castle named "Percepto," a term he invented to describe what he would do in each theater auditorium playing "The Tingler": install vibrators (not the type you're thinking of! Get your mind outta the gutter and back into ... well, the other gutter) under some seats to "tingle" members of the audience (a feeling that people would know much later due to mobile phone "butt dialing") at the exact appropriate moment, when on-screen Vincent would implore the theater audience within the plot of the movie to "not panic, but scream, SCREAM FOR YOUR LIVES!" So I hope that provides a rough idea of what comprised 1959's "Tingler" experience. As for my rating, I was torn between giving it a 10 for those who enjoy this kinda thing, or a zero for those who do not. So I just split those extremes: 5/10