William Castle was famous for his film gimmicks, and The Tingler featured one of his best: “Percepto!”. Previously, he had offered a $1,000 life insurance policy against “Death by Fright” for Macabre (1958) and sent a skeleton out  above the audiences’ heads in the Cinema  in House on Haunted Hill (1959).

Percepto: “Scream for your lives!”

“Percepto!” was a gimmick where William Castle attached electrical “buzzers” to the underside of some seats in theaters where The Tingler was screened.

During the climax of the film, The Tingler was unleashed in the cinema, while the audience  a woman – probably an actor –  screamed and then pretended to faint; she was then taken away in a stretcher, all part of the show arranged by Castle.

From the screen, the voice of Price mentioned the fainted lady and asked the rest of the audience to remain seated. The film  resumed and was interrupted again.

The projected film appeared to break as the silhouette of the Tingler moved across the projection beam. The image of the film went dark, all lights went off, and 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 Cinema!”

This cued the Cinema projectionist to activate the Percepto! buzzers, giving some audience members an unexpected jolt, followed by a highly visible physical reaction. The voices of scared patrons were heard from the screen, replaced by the voice of Price, who explained that the tingler was paralyzed and the danger was over. At this point, the film resumed.

An alternate warning was recorded for drive-in film theatres in the USA  where Vincent Price  advised the audience the Tingler was loose in the drive-in.

ABOVE – The Audience screams in fear at the film

Castle’s autobiography, Step Right Up!: I’m Gonna Scare the Pants off America, erroneously stated that “Percepto!” delivered electric shocks to the Cinema Seats.