Search - The Tingler on DVD

MPAA Rating: NR Content Advisory: Questionable for Children Movie Release: 1959 DVD Release: 09/07/1999 Format: DVD - Black and White,Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV Edition: Restored/Remastered Audio Tracks: English, Spanish Subtitles: English, Korean, Spanish, Thai SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 21 mins Studio: Columbia TriStar Members Wishing: 10 Genres: Horror, Thriller, Creature Film

As famous for the gimmick with which the film was shown as for its genuinely spine-tingling story, The Tingler follows a pathologist (Vincent Price) as he searches for the cause of a series of deaths and discovers that the victims have a large insect-like creature growing on their spinal chords. The creature attacks when the people are frightened and is only killed when the host emits a blood-curdling primal scream. This is coupled with a subplot to scare the deaf-mute owner of a silent movie house to death. Along the way, a couple of characters are injected with LSD and begin hallucinating like mad. When one of the nasty monsters "escaped" into a movie theater, the film's gimmick would begin. In order to further frighten audiences, director William Castle had certain theater seats rigged with small Army surplus devices that would deliver a mild electric shock to the spine in hopes of inducing terrified screams. Castle also planted audience members who would scream and faint. The house lights would go up, the film would stop and ushers would carry the unconscious person out of the theater. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

Vincent Price - Dr. William Chapin
Judith Evelyn - Mrs. Higgins
Darryl Hickman - David Morris
Philip Coolidge - Ollie Higgins
Patricia Cutts - Isabel Chapin
Pamela Lincoln - Lucy Stevens

Director William Castle's classic horror film gets a deluxe 40th anniversary edition from Columbia TriStar.The impeccable black-and-white print is presented widescreen (anamorphic) with an aspect ratio of 1.85:1. Soundtrack languages offered are English and Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 (mono) and the subtitle options are English, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Korean, and Thai. Special features include a half-hour documentary entitled "Scream for Your Lives," which is a nice overview of Castle's films and features an interview with Tingler actor Darryl Hickman. Also included is "William Castle's Drive-In Scream! Scene," which is an additional scene created for the drive-in market and features Castle's own voice replacing that of Vincent Price. There is also the "Original Scream! Scene" which is the same as it appears in the film. Finishing off the extras are two theatrical trailers: one for Tingler and the other for the remake of Night of the Living Dead. This is a commendable DVD release. ~ A.R. Ferguson, All Movie Guide