The Tingler (1959)
Another Price and William Castle collaboration, using “Percepto!” as a gimmick to sell the film.
“Percepto!” only worked where Castle had attached electrical “buzzers” to the underside of several seats in movie theaters where The Tingler was scheduled to be screened. The buzzers were small surplus vibrators left over from World War II. The cost of this equipment added $250,000 to the film’s budget. It was predominantly used in larger theaters.
During the climax of the film, The Tingler was depicted escaping into a generic movie theater. On screen the projected film appeared to break as the silhouette of the Tingler moved across the projection beam. The film went black, all lights in the auditorium (except fire exit signs) were turned off, and Vincent Price’s voice warned the audience “Ladies and gentlemen, please do not panic. But scream! Scream for your lives! The Tingler is loose in this theater!”This cued the theatre projectionist to activate the buzzers and give several audience members an unexpected jolt.
