Question Re Percepto and "The Tingler" in '60s Horror and Sci-Fi Forum

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Question Re Percepto and "The Tingler"

Author	Comment
nyoka1	Question Re Percepto and "The Tingler"	Lead	[-]
Jul 17 07 11:58 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Does anyone recall seeing "The Tingler" in theatres without the benefit of Percepto? As installation did require time and effort on the part of exhibitors, I wonder how many might have ignored the gimmick altogether and gone ahead with showings sans seat vibrators. greenbriarpictureshows.blogspot.com/
Monsterpal	Re: Question Re Percepto and "The Tingler"	#1	[-]
Jul 17 07 12:21 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I saw it without the gimmick, and I suspect that the vast majority of theaters didn't use it. Castle probably had it done just often enough for publicity purposes. Even without Percepto, the bit where the screen goes dark and Vincent Price exhorts the audience to scream for their lives was pretty amazing at the time.
TomWeaver999	Re: Question Re Percepto and "The Tingler"	#2	[-]
Jul 17 07 1:11 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Bruce Goldstein of the Film Forum Theatre in NY set up his theater for Percepto when he showed THE TINGLER several years back -- mid-90s, maybe. At that time, Castle's wife or daughter -- or both of them -- said something to him that gave him the impression that very, very, very few theaters bothered with the Percepto, back in '59. Too much trouble.
oldmanster	Re: Question Re Percepto and "The Tingler"	#3	[-]
Jul 17 07 3:15 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Going waaay back, by my memory (always questionable), I saw The Tingler at the Lyric Theatre in Salt Lake City on its first run... without Percepto. I vaguely remember being disappointed because the same theater had gone the distance to rig wire up for the (in)famous traveling skeleton and sent it dangling over the audience a few months earlier in association with House on Haunted Hill. I know there were some problems with teenagers trying to grab the skeleton (didn't happen when I was there). Maybe that's why the management declined to rig the seats with Percepto. ... Reed
Bill Warren	Re: Question Re Percepto and "The Tingler"	#4	[-]
Jul 17 07 6:01 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I saw THE TINGLER twice in two theaters during its original release; neither theater was equipped with Percepto. It played at many drive-ins; I don't think the managers hired muscular guys to shake the parked cars during the Percepto moments. I always had the impression that Percepto was limited to the largest cities, and even in those, to only one or two theaters--but I've never seen any official word on this.
todmichel	Re: Question Re Percepto and "The Tingler"	#5	[-]
Jul 17 07 6:12 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Recently the Japaneses tried to re-release the film with Percepto in some cities, and you've seen the results in the newspapers.
DonM435	Re: Question Re Percepto and "The Tingler"	#6	[-]
Jul 17 07 7:53 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	We saw it in Chicago when it opened, and had read about the wired seats. Not ours. (I must have been eight years old.) Maybe someone got shocked during the film, but just how could I tell? I recall that folks in one section jumped up in unison after the flick had ended and the lights were up, so maybe the management waitid until then for safety's sake.
Schmilsson1969	Re: Question Re Percepto and "The Tingler"	#7	[-]
Jul 18 07 1:16 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I've read where people swear they looked under theatre seats to find the right ones during the initial run, but that may simply be cheerful fibs. I would assume it would be cheaper and more effective to have had plants in the audience on weekend matinee and evening shows to jump up and scream during the appropriate moment. I saw The Tingler in 35mm (with color scenes) back in 2000 during a revival. No Percepto, but, damn, if it wasn't fun when the screen went black. Total pandemonium in the theatre.
Ted Newsom	Re: Question Re Percepto and "The Tingler"	#8	[-]
Jul 18 07 10:18 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	No joy buzzers at the neighborhood 30th Avenue Theater in 1962 when I saw it... but you didn't need it, really. It was a hoot, and the all-dark-theater gag really was more than enough (what with the shadow of the Tingler on the screen and everything). Bill was at the Glendale showing of TINGLER a couple years ago, I believe, as was I. Bob Burns had helped them set up the buzzer effects. Afterward, one monsterkid wife told of her astounding butt-vibrating reaction at the proper moment, and how neat & scary it was. None of us had the heart to explain to her that she was sitting in a section that wasn't wired at all. We just nodded and smiled. The power of suggestion, boys. Gets 'em every time.
TomWeaver999	Re: Question Re Percepto and "The Tingler"	#9	[-]
Jul 18 07 10:21 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	In MONSTER KID MEMORIES, Bob Burns describes helping to wire-up seats in a Texas theater in the 1950s, with Castle right there at the theater.
Bill Warren	Re: Question Re Percepto and "The Tingler"	#10	[-]
Jul 18 07 11:37 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	*Quote:* Bill was at the Glendale showing of TINGLER a couple years ago, I believe, No, I missed that.
TServo4	Re: Question Re Percepto and "The Tingler"	#11	[-]
Jul 18 07 1:19 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	*Quote:* The power of suggestion, boys. Gets 'em every time. That's a large part of the Percepto gimmick and any spook show. When the blackout occurs, you have to rely on the boyfriend to do the rest of the work for you. It never fails! THE TINGLER had one of its previews here in NYC. I think Loew's 86th, IIRC. There was a fairly good article about the rigging for the seats that appeared in a trade mag later (BoxOffice?). They were simply vibrators that were used to de-ice airplane wings. Castle and co. got them extremely cheap from a military surplus company, and from what I've read, the Percepto gimmick was only a roadshow thing, where Castle also introduced the film, from town to town. On the other hand, the HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL "Emerg-o" skeletons were widely distributed, but also saw great use (and great wear, since they were just balloons). I've got a package of four of them, complete with instructions on how to rig them up in your theater. They were manufactured by a novelty company and no doubt were left over party favors. J. Theakston The Central Theater, Passaic, NJ
drthomasholmes	-	#12	[-]
Jul 19 07 12:28 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Can you post a photo? Would you want to sell one?
Xenomorph	Re: -	#13	[-]
Jul 19 07 8:42 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I saw THE TINGLER at the Bloor Cinema here in Toronto as part of a B movie festival in the 1980's. They didn't wire any seats but, at the stratigic moment, staff members threw rubber spiders from the balcony above. Quite a few folks freaked out as strange things rained down on them in the dark! I still have mine!
TServo4	Re: -	#14	[-]
Jul 19 07 2:52 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	*Quote:* Can you post a photo? I moved about three years ago and it's been in storage since, but I think I can dig it out and get some snaps. I've had a couple of people ask me to see them. *Quote:* Would you want to sell one? Thanks for the offer, but I'm not sure I'd like to part with them. There's an interesting story about how I got them, and because of it, my connection to them is far more sentimental than financial. J. Theakston The Central Theater, Passaic, NJ
Bill Warren	skeletons for sale	#15	[-]
Jul 19 07 6:47 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	A couple of years ago, someone offered a complete Emergo kit on eBay.
ProfessorWalgate	Tingler/Percepto memory	#16	[-]
Jul 21 07 3:29 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I saw THE TINGLER (with Percepto) 4 times in Baltimore on its first run. Twice at the downtown Hippodrome Theater and twice at the later neighborhood presentation in the Baltimore Co. suburb of Essex. Every showing had the "doctors" & "nurses" out in the lobby between shows; the stretcher bearers who carried out the gal who faints when the Tingler attacks the girl's leg in the picture; the airport insurance machines out in the lobby with death-by-fright policies; the "do you have the guts to sit in this chair" sample buzzer chair in the lobby; and something I've never heard anyone else mention (yet)...a Tingler "button" which was a tiddly wink with a red "T" covered in phosphorescent paint and handed out to each and every ticket holder by the window cashier. Her spiel for EVERY customer was: "Here's your Tingler Button which will glow in the dark whenever the Tingler is near". (Imagine having to repeat that for thousands of people a day!) Our crowd (of thirteen-year-olds and our dates) had more fun watching these shows than I can tell you. And after the last neighborhood showing (on a crisp, cool Autumn night) we'd all go back to the house of one of us to have freash, home-baked Sicilian Pizza. Nothing but great memories of this show. Back in the 90s, I had the pleasure of putting together a Tingler presentation at Fanex. (with all the Percepto accoutrements.) One of our viewers was Robert Wise! Like I said...great memories courtesy of Bill Castle...
Monsterpal	Re: Tingler/Percepto memory	#17	[-]
Jul 21 07 9:02 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Professor Walgate, your reminiscence is absolutely delightful. I've never heard about the Tingler button, but I sure am glad you told us. You are the man. (Who would have thought that the man who created thought monsters could have had such a fun childhood?)
ProfessorWalgate	Tingler/Percepto	#18	[-]
Jul 21 07 9:35 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Thanks Monsterpal! here's hoping every lover of movies has at least one or two (or a thousand) memories like that...especially when you reach 60! One thing about being raised in setting and time that allows you to be naturally naive for a while, we were all absolutely convinced, I mean CONVINCED, that Percepto involved actual electrocution! (of a non-lethal type) And we all couldn't WAIT to try it out regardless! By the way, the generator motor in the projection booth used for the seat buzzers was so loud when operating, that it sounded like a battery of Model T Ford horns all going off at once! THE TINGLER, in its own modest way, actually managed to bond a diverse fun-seeking audience together over a period of 90 minutes by making them part of the show. And yeah, we ALL screamed for our lives!
Schmilsson1969	Re: Tingler/Percepto	#19	[-]
Jul 21 07 10:50 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	In Baltimore! I'll bet John Waters was in the audience a couple hundred times.
Zombie Dad	Re: Tingler/Percepto	#20	[-]
Jul 21 07 11:21 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I've always regretted missing seeing THE TINGLER when it first came out. Like HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL (which I did see with Emergo), I remember that THE TINGLER played first run all by itself at a large downtown theater in Cincinnati. I don't know if it had the gimmick or not. At that time, the local movie critic for one of the two Cincinnati newspapers was a guy by the name of Dale Stevens. His movie reviews were always illustrated with a cartoon of himself (complete with full beard) holding up the letter grade he'd assigned to the movie. I can still see the cartoon with him crushed under the weight of the gigantic "F" which he had assigned to THE TINGLER. I knew then that my dad would never take me to see this movie. He had taken me to see HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL and did nothing but complain about how short it was. I, on the other hand, had absolutely loved it. I've not been very fond of movie critics ever since, especially when they take on "our" movies. ZD

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Question Re Percepto and "The Tingler"

Question Re Percepto and "The Tingler"