The Tingler

The Tingler is a 1959 horrorthriller film by American producerdirector William Castle. It is the third of five collaborations with writer Robb White and stars Vincent Price, Darryl Hickman, Patricia Cutts, Pamela Lincoln, Philip Coolidge and Judith Evelyn.

A pathologist, Dr. Warren Chapin Price, discovers that the tingling of the spine in states of extreme fear is due to the growth of a creature that every human being seems to have, called a Tingler, a parasite attached to the human spine. It curls up, feeds and grows stronger when its host is afraid, effectively crushing the persons spine if curled up long enough. The host can weaken the creature and stop its curling by screaming.Movie theater owner Oliver Higgins Coolidge, who shows exclusively silent films, is an acquaintance of Dr. Chapin. Higginss wife Martha Evelyn, who is deaf and mute, dies of fright after weird, apparently supernatural events have occurred in her room. During her autopsy, Chapin removes the Tingler from her spine. ........

Source: Wikipedia