The Tingler

Screaming for your life that's the only way to keep your fear from getting the best of you, and in case the titular monster didn't send chills down the spines of viewers at the time, at least the buzzers built into the cinema seats disarmed them. Along with 3D glasses and flying skeletons, this was one of the other devices William Castle used to experiment with the boundaries of cinema. But the film entertains even without the interactive experience of the time. The outwardly silly premise is actually a pretty clever metaphor for the horror genre as a whole. The idea of something alien growing inside our bodies certainly brings to mind the later Alien. However, this is not an attack by an outside force, but an attack by a raging psyche from within that you can only defend against by screaming. On the other hand, it's still a ridiculous B-movie that's guaranteed to entertain with just the sight of the actors quivering with utter seriousness in front of a large rubber centipede on a string. (17/04/2005)

A forgotten, little B-movie gem. The premise is properly wacky: the main character, Dr. Chapin, has a theory that if you don't let your emotions out and scream in the moment of greatest fear, your fear will materialize into a worm about 30 cm long with legs that will settle under the skin on your neck and kill you. Watching the demonic Vincent Price pronounce his wacky theories with an icy expression is a pleasure. The dialogue is often downright Dadaist, and the colourful passage with a bathtub full of blood and a dead hand above the water is a beauty. And then there’s the puppet of the worm with clearly visible strings. Ideal stuff for an evening with B-movie fans with a beer in hand. (20/07/2010)