The More You Fear-the More It's Here! Vincent Price Battles "The Tingler"- Tonight!

What a way to start off the month! Tonight on MeTV- it’s a favorite film from the scary gimmick-laden world of William Castle! None other than Vincent Price is startled to discover a creepy creature that supposedly lies patiently dormant inside us all- until a strong fright unleashes the power of- “The Tingler”!

This 1959 horror introduces us to Dr. Warren Chapin, (not to be confused with child actor Lauren Chapin from the old “Father Knows Best” series). He’s a pathologist who is in a constant struggle between continuing his research on the effects of fear on humans and his stressful interactions with his beautiful, unfaithful and scheming wife. Fortunately, he gets at least some comfort in the more pleasant relationship he has with his wife’s younger sister, and her boyfriend, who helps Chapin in his work.

Dr. Chapin does an autopsy on a man who went to the electric chair- and he is shocked (no, not like the victim!) to find the man’s spine has been shattered?! Mere electricity would not do that, so Chapin theorizes that something tied in with fear itself made that happen. Playing off the fact that one’s spine “tingles” in situations of fright-he names that mysterious something “the Tingler”.

He has met the executed man’s brother- Ollie- a weird little man who runs a theatre specializing in silent films. Ironically, Ollie’s wife is also silent- a deaf mute. While visiting them, the doctor accidentally cuts himself, and the woman faints dead away at the sight of his blood! Chapin theorizes that she does so as the only means of release from her fear, since she is unable to scream. This makes him wonder if it is screaming that diminishes the Tingler’s power.

He heads home, only to observe his wife cheating yet again with some other man. Struck by the idea that he has a chance to check his screaming theory, he stages a confrontation that will definitely trigger fear in the horrid woman. After the faux frightful encounter, he x-rays her, which reveals that some bizarre centipede-like creature grows on the spine when fear sets in- ladies and gentlemen, he has discovered the actual Tingler!

Chapin, eager to learn more about fear, subjects himself to an LSD trip (the first time such a thing was ever depicted on film!)- but it reveals nothing to him, other than a “bad trip, dude”. Meanwhile, at the apartment of Ollie and his wife- she is in for a more devastating trip, as she awakens to all sorts of unexplainable horrors- which lead the poor mute woman to DIE of fright! Ollie brings her body to Chapin, who performs an autopsy- and he finds the now-enlarged live Tingler on her spine! He removes it and, after some slight turmoil, imprisons it in a box. Of course, the Tingler escapes, and ends up on the loose again and again- eventually in the silent movie theater, where Chapin’s theory that the only defense against the creature is screaming gets put to the ultimate test!

This is another film that Sven fans have asked to see again- and both those familiar with Castle’s films and first-time viewers will enjoy the exploitative horror. Just as we explained the gimmick used in Castle’s “13 Ghosts”, this time we explain how Castle’s presentation of his process for this movie called “Percept-o” worked-and also discuss the appearance of some color in the black and white movie- about which there are all sorts of theories, some incredibly far-fetched! Of course, we will introduce you to our cast, which includes an actor who just passed away- Darryl Hickman -who plays Vincent’s sister-in-law’s boyfriend. He had a long career, after starting out as a child actor, was the brother of “Dobie Gillis” star Dwayne Hickman, appeared in TV, movies and on Broadway- and, yes, was on “Perry Mason”! Our show was already recorded when we heard of his passing, but fit in a brief memorial. Also in the program, we offer you a home tutorial that will tickle your tonsils, encore one of our visits with Vincent Price’s daughter Victoria, as well as an encore of what we think was our late friend Gilbert Gottfried’s very first visit to our dungeon studio. We’ll be bringing you a song, find out how our Sven Squad would defeat the Tingler ( good luck), and present a brief obituary tribute to the iconic producer and director, Roger Corman who passed away last month (expect a longer one when we run a Corman classic in a few weeks).

"The Tingler” starts tingling tonight on MeTV at 8 pm eastern/pacific, 7 central, or if you’re not sure of when we run in your area, check time and channel in your local listings or at www.metv.com. MeTV reminds you to join the legions of Sven fans live-Tweeting ( X-ing?) during the show on Twitter/X- and make sure to always use the hashtag #svengoolie – which usually puts us among the top trending topics nationally. This morning our Chicago area viewers can again thrill to “Destroy All Monsters” at 11 am on our local station, CW 26- soon to revert to its original name- “WCIU-the U”!

Speaking of which- if you want the chance to see “Destroy All Monsters” on the big screen- you will have the chance on June 10th at Chicago’s famous Music Box Theater- as part of their week-long Godzilla festival. I will be there on that day, signing autographs before introducing the film- so come join us for the giant monsters at full size! For more details, check out the “appearances” tab here on our website. And- the Sven 45th anniversary celebration begins this month- make sure you check the blog, the appearances tab, and the store as we celebrate on through the whole year! This is also a great time to check in on the items we have that would make great gifts for dads and grads- including the new embroidered hats!

And- if THAT sends a tingle of excitement down your spine- tune in to MeTV tonight- and be ready to scream for your life!