FILM
William Castle Retrospective - The Tingler |
Written 30 January |
Sunday 26 July, 17:00La Cinémathèque Française, 75012 [map]William Castle
Producer and director of low budget B-movies. At the end of the 50s
Wiliam Castle specialised in horror films and created inventive variations of films including Hitchcock’s Psycho. The retrospective is showing until 2nd August.
Castle was famous for directing films with many gimmicks which were ambitiously promoted.
A pathologist, Dr. Warren Chapin (played by Vincent Price), discovers that the tingling of the spine in states of extreme fear is due to the growth of a "tingler"—a spinal parasite which can kill the host unless it is destroyed by screaming. An acquaintance of the pathologist, whose wife (Judith Evelyn) is mute, uses his discovery to frighten her to death. In an autopsy, Dr. Chapin removes the Tingler from the wife's spine. The slug-like creature soon escapes, and mayhem ensues. During first viewings of the film William Castle attached electrical "buzzers" to the underside of several seats in the auditorium. During the climax of the film, the tingler escaped into a cinema. This was the cue for the theatre projectionist to activate the buzzers and give several audience members an unexpected jolt. Be prepared…
