I ahve a friend who has probably (no offense) forgotten more about movies than any of you will ever remember. He told me that when this movie originally was in theater, the directer had metal plates installed on the back of the seats and when the Tingler scene came, a shock of electricity went throught he persons spine. Anyone know anything about this? Was there?
shareIt's true! It wasn't so much of an electric shock as a small vibration. He also handed out "waivers" for people to sign, all to hype up the "death by fright" thing. For this year's Fantastic Fest, we screened the movie and wired the seats for "Percepto", as William Castle called it and handed out the waivers. It's hoaky and gimmicky, but that's Castle for you!
shareWhen I was a child (in the fifties) my mother worked for a man who owned both a walk-in and drive-in theater and I got to see all the movies (a great B movie era!) I wanted for free! I saw "The Tingler" several times. Once I borrowed the owner's flashlight and after a victim was "tingled" I went to her seat, found the wiring and tracked it back to a 12 volt battery at the back of the theater. The owner did not appreciate my sluthing one bit! So I can assure everyone that this is not a "folk tale" as one poster claimed. There was a set up in many theaters so that viewers in selected seats got a mild shock, or at least a strong tingle--in the case I'm familiar with the vibrator was in the seat.
Also, despite what another poster said this gimick doesn't prove that people in the fifties were stupid (compare the SAT score of that time with todays). Anyone who was "into" the movie who, just as the Tingler was attacking, received a tingle was sent into a panic. They would be today too.
John Goodman's character in "Matinee" did the same thing. He played a movie director named Lawrence Woolsey who was modeled on William Castle.
shareI wasn't around in 1959,but I saw this in revival house this year.
The part where the Tingler is loose in the theater,several of the ushers start running through the aisles with small penlights saying"don't panic! The Tingler is loose in the theater,just SCREAM! SCREAM FOR YOUR LIFE!"
Then a another employee planted in the audience gets up and has a "Tingler" wrapped around his neck! He runs out of the theater screaming.
I would definitely go to another William Castle festival,one of best times at the movies this year.
I saw this when I was 9 or 10. In my theatre there was also an actor who became "ill" with fright .... and then a "nurse", in full white nursing uniform, came to help him out of the theatre. I for one was standing on my seat screaming for my life.
It scared be so bad that I was afraid to be alone in our house for a very long time. Worse still ... I had sneaked out to see it with an older friend, so I couldn't tell my parents why I was frightened. eeks
When it first came out, I took my grandson. His seat was one of the tinglers.
shareI know this is an old thread, but...
I went to see it when I was a kid. I went to dozens and dozens of Saturday matinee; two feature films, 5 "selected short subjects"
This film did, indeed, have a gimmick, but it wasn't an electric shock. It was a simple buzzer connected to the bottom of selected seats...maybe every 3rd or 4th seat...something like that. I knew about it ahead of time and made sure I got one of the wired seats. It was a blast! Especially when the tingler gets loose in the movie theater and the screen goes black; "Scream! Scream for your lives!" (In fact, that's the only time I remember it going off.)