The Tingler Reviews

Perhaps the most noted film for the imaginative gimmicks that producer-director Castle used to give people a thrill. In this one, he hooked up Army surplus vibrating motors to the backs of some theater seats to send tingles up the audience's spines while they were watching the show. If that did not produce shrieks, then a "plant" in the theater would faint and would be carried out to the lobby by ushers. But this thriller is frightening enough in its own right not to have to resort to antics like those. Price is a scientist who believes screaming releases tensions that would otherwise kill people. A deaf mute theater operator dies, and Price discovers that the cause of her death was an insect that attaches itself to a person's spinal cord and can be killed only if the victim screams. The insect gets loose in a theater, and the rigged-up motors go into action. On the whole, this effectively paced and conceived project provides more proof of Castle's talent as a master of entertainment.