Opiniones de usuarios

I don't consider The Haunted Palace one of Vincent Price's or Roger Corman's best. I do put Pit and the Pendulum, The Raven, The Fall of the House of Usher and especially Masque of the Red Death above it, but it is a very good film and worth checking out. It does get a little ponderous at times in the middle and while eerie in tone the music score is over-the-top. However it is well photographed and has beautiful sets. The writing has some fun and macabre moments and the story delivers its suspenseful atmosphere and creepy scares wonderfully even if the enacting terrible revenge angle is familiar territory. Corman's direction is secure also. The acting is very good. Debra Paget before she retired is beautiful and not too bland. Lon Chaney is wonderful, and his entrance is one of The Haunted Palace's creepiest moments. Even better is Price, he is in a double role here and he is deliciously evil. All in all, very good and very enjoyable, I just wish that it had more attention. 8/10 Bethany Cox

The darkest of Roger Corman's Poe chillers, though this yarn owes more to HP Lovecraft than Edgar Allan's poetry. Vincent Price gives his all time greatest performance in a dual role as possessed and possessor, aided by a wonderfully literate script by Charles Beaumont. It gives Price no leeway to indulge his tendency to sometimes ham it up.

Here, he keeps tight dramatic restraint on himself, making his gradual transformation from kindly innocent to the reincarnation of his warlock ancestor a virtuoso portrayal of inner turmoil overwhelmed by fiendish evil. Corman even provides a last good role for Lon Chaney Jr (as he'd done previously for Boris Karloff, Peter Lorre and Basil Rathbone) as a ghoulish henchman.

Undeniably, 'The Haunted Palace' does have a rather ponderous pace and music score that makes the film seem stretched as Price wanders down just one more hidden corridor. Floyd Crosby's widescreen cinematography is also unrelenting, capturing the drab, muted blue and brown pastels of a Puritan village plagued by witchcraft. And the barely glimpsed green demon lurking inside the vault was perhaps a mistake.

But Corman's skill on a 15-day schedule and a cheap budget is evident throughout. He introduces Chaney in a splendidly done sudden shock appearance that will still make unwary audiences jump (asked why he is preparing a room in the dark, he tells Price, "One becomes accustomed to the darkness... here").

True Corman fans will rank this chilling piece of American Gothic among his best. Not least where an exasperated Chaney asks the possessed Price when he will be satisfied avenging himself on the descendants of those who burned him at the stake. "Not until this village is a graveyard," Price promises Chaney sibilantly. "Not until they too have felt the kiss of fire on their soft flesh... all of them."

Centuries ago in Arkham, New England, the warlock Joseph Curwen (Vincent Price) abducts young ladies from the local village and brings them to his castle to use in experiments with the Necronomicon. The local Edgar Weeden (Leo Gordon) raises a lynch mob that go to the castle and burn Joseph Curwen alive at the stake. Before dying, he curses the village, the villagers and their descendants.

One hundred and ten years later, Charles Dexter Ward (Vincent Price), who has inherited the manor, comes to Arkham with his beautiful wife Ann Ward (Debra Paget) to visit the real estate and has a cold and hostile reception by the dwellers. Only Dr. Priam Willet (Frank Maxwell) helps him and tells that the village has many mutants and the villagers believe that it is a cursed town.

When Charles arrives in the castle, he meets two former associates of Joseph Curwen that also worship the devil, and Charles is possessed by the evil Joseph Curwen that wants to revenge on the descendants of those who killed him and to bring his beloved mistress back to life. Ann and Dr. Willet try to help Charles to escape from Curwen's power.

"The Haunted Palace" is a classic Gothic horror by Roger Corman that follows the same style of the Hammer films. The plot is very simple but works perfectly well, supported by Vincent Price and the gorgeous Debra Paget. Further, this is the last feature of this beautiful actress that retired after getting married for the third time. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "O Castelo Assombrado" ("The Haunted Castle")

Note: On 25 December 2020, I saw this film again.

Roger Corman rarely gets the credit he deserves. While best known for the dozens of schlocky exploitation movies he was involved in as a producer, he also directed several underrated films, including his excellent Edgar Allen Poe series in the 1960s. 'The Haunted Palace' is really only a part of that series in name only. It takes its title from a Poe poem, but it's plot is (very loosely) adapted from H.P. Lovecraft's 'The Strange Case Of Charles Dexter Ward' by Charles Beaumont. Beaumont, a talented writer of short stories also scripted Corman's best Poe movie 'The Masque Of The Red Death'. As I said this is only loosely based on Lovecraft's original source material (a slightly more faithful version can be seen in Dan O'Bannon's 'The Resurrected', also recommended), but I'm sure most Lovecraft buffs will get a kick out of watching this, which is as far as I know the very first movie inspired by his fiction. Vincent Price stars in a duel role of Ward and his ancestor Joseph Curwen, and gives an enjoyable performance. Price really seemed to like working with Corman and gave the director some of his best work. I watched an old VHS print of this, but, like the Poe movies, it still looked like another great effort for a very limited budget. The supporting cast is worth noting - the beautiful Debra Paget, and legendary character actors Lon Chaney ('Spider Baby'), Elisha Cook, Jr ('The Killing') and Leo Gordon ('Kitten With A Whip'). 'The Haunted Palace' is another excellent Corman movie that still has a lot of entertainment value. Highly recommended to all Vincent Price and H.P. Lovecraft fans.

Charles Dexter Ward (Vincent Price) arrives in the creepy village of Arkham with his wife Ann (Debra Paget) to look at a large mansion he inherited. The villagers are none too happy to see Ward as he is the descendant of a warlock that placed a curse on Arkham a century before when he was burned at the stake. The curse, they believe, is responsible for the large number of mutants in their village. Ward soon finds himself being possessed by the spirit of his ancestor, who seeks revenge on the descendants of the villagers who killed him.

Another great Roger Corman 'Poe' movie, though this owes only the title to Poe. The story is H.P. Lovecraft's "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward" and it's one of the better adaptations of a Lovecraft story to film, even if it's a loose one. Vincent Price is excellent, as you probably expect. Lon Chaney, Jr. has one of his better later roles. He replaced Boris Karloff, who was ill at the time of filming. This was Chaney's only Corman movie. Beautiful Debra Paget and busty Cathie Merchant provide the sex appeal. This was Paget's last film. Leo Gordon, Frank Maxwell, Elisha Cook, Jr. and the other villagers are all good support. Nice music, cinematography, and direction. Cool sets, costumes, and makeup. An entertaining Gothic horror movie that fans of Corman and Price will love.

Charles Dexter Ward (Vincent Price) arrives at a small village to visit the house he inherited from his ancestor (also Price) who died there 110 years ago.

The full title of this film is "Edgar Allan Poe's The Haunted Palace", which is not only incorrect and misleading to the audience, but an insult to H. P. Lovecraft, who had virtually no films made of his stories up to this point. Sure, in the 1980s and after Stuart Gordon championed Lovecraft... but hardly a peep before that!

Where else are you going to hear the words Cthulhu, Arkham, Necronomicon and more in one film? Talk about the Elder Gods? You are not, at least not in the 1960s. This film was groundbreaking, and Corman deserves a lot of credit for bringing the Charles Dexter Ward story to a bigger audience.

Vincent Price looks great in this film, perhaps better than ever. Certainly, this is among his most menacing roles, not only killing but threatening sexual assault. This was Debra Paget's final role, and she did excellently as the story's heroine. As Ivan Butler says, Corman has a "skill in finding beauty in the conventional misty landscapes, huge baroque rooms, unending stone-flagged passages" and more. AIP and Corman never failed to give us some beautiful sets and costumes.

Howard Maxford says the film "never quite shifts into first gear." I see his point, as the suspense is not strong and the movie seems to idle for quite a bit (to continue his analogy), but I think this can be overlooked by the great things this film has to offer. For example, the child called "it" is pretty great. So much potential here.

While this is not my favorite Corman-Price collaboration (that award goes to "The Raven"), this is still well worth checking out. Price never disappoints, and this has all the trappings of a decent film, both for its time and today. I am sad such films do not get made anymore, and that this one seems to be among the least known and appreciated among Corman's "Poe" series.

Vincent Price once again stars in a Roger Corman produced and directed film, this time only partly inspired by Edgar Allen Poe, but more directly by H.P. Lovecraft, with Price playing two roles, first that of Joseph Curwen, an evil warlock who is burned to death by the angry citizens of the New England town of Arkham, then 110 years later his descendent Charles Dexter Ward, who arrives there with his lovely wife Ann(Debra Paget) to inherit the "palace", but instead finds that his evil ancestor wants to possess him in order to avenge himself on the town, then take over his body permanently...

Eerie and atmospheric tale combines both authors' stories well, with effective direction and acting. Still a bit protracted and slow, but otherwise a first-rate thriller with an ambiguous end.

Roger Corman's 'Poe' series is one of the all time highlights of cinema. With low budgets, great stories and Vincent Price; Corman has created a legacy that is hard to react to with anything but admiration, and it's certainly a style of film-making that will never be utilised again. This film is, actually, not based on a story by Edgar Allen Poe; but one by the almost equally excellent HP Lovecraft. You will notice Poe's name on the posters, but that's nothing more than a ploy by American International to ensure that people went to see it. However, whoever wrote it is inconsequential, because it's incredible whatever. From the moment it begins, with an incredibly malevolent Vincent Price being burned for witchcraft shortly after putting a curse on the village of Arkham in one of the man's finest monologues ever; this film grabs you doesn't let go until the words 'The End' appear on your screen. The subject of witchcraft and burning witches has, and will always be absolutely fascinating and this film capitalises on that. Adding to the intrigue is some otherworldly creatures in the basement that Price feeds young women to, and a village full of deformed residents! Lovecraft's Necronomicon joins the party as well...

I don't know how much American International paid Vincent Price for making this and other Corman films, but whatever it was, it wasn't enough. Price holds the viewer's attention like no other actor has ever, and probably will ever do again. He handles his dual role fantastically, and switches between the darkly macabre and an innocent naivety at the drop of a hat. Also joining in the fun is fellow horror legend, Lon Chaney; who puts in a delightful performance and provides most of the scares! Corman does an absolutely fantastic job of building atmosphere in this movie, and the village of Arkham is constantly foreboding and intriguing. The use of smoke is right on cue; as is the music, which is massively over the top; but very, very effective. The problem with many horror films is that in spite of being excellent, they're often not very frightening; but there's one sequence in this film that sees a bunch of deformed villagers surround Price and his wife that is positively nightmare inducing! I have nothing but respect and admiration for this picture as it is an immense achievement in Corman's Poe cycle, and don't let the fact that it's not a Poe story put you off - if you're a fan of Price, Corman or just low budget atmospheric horror in general, see this film NOW!

In Arkham, Massachusetts, villagers rise up to rescue a girl from the suspicious Joseph Curwen (Vincent Price). They find the girl brainwashed. They declare Curwen had taken her soul and burn him at the stake. With his last words, he curses the villagers, and vows revenge upon them and their descendants. It's 110 years later. Charles Dexter Ward (Vincent Price) and his wife Anne arrive to take possession of his inheritance, the Curwen house. They dismiss the local legend of a curse.

While it's advertised as Edgar Allan Poe, this owes more to a H. P. Lovecraft story. It has the Necronomicon. It has Vincent Price although I'm sure that using him as Charles Ward is the best. It may be more compelling to have that character as an innocent at the beginning which would require someone other than Price. Vincent Price can play the spirit of Curwen as he distorts Charles Ward's personality. With a younger man as Ward, he could really turn into a brute. He could murder with viscous violence instead of standing around crossing out names on a list. The character could turn into a brutal animal and up the intensity. Nevertheless, this is pretty good. It just doesn't have the visceral violence that the story requires.

Roger Corman's "The Haunted Palace" has very little in common with Poe's poem, with the exception of the title and a few lines recited by Vincent Price. It is in fact based on an H.P. Lovecraft story "The Strange Case of Charles Dexter Ward". In fact, that was this films' title before it was made an entry in Corman's highly successful Poe series.

That doesn't mean this is a bad picture at all. In fact, this is one of Corman's very best films: a beautifully shot (by Floyd Crosby in Panavision), subtly frightening thriller. Price stars in a double role: Ward and his great-grandfather, an evil Puritan (I guess) who has a hidden secret. Hundreds of years later, Ward inherits the "haunted palace" of the title. You can probably guess what happens next.

But films like "The Haunted Palace" (and the other Poe films for that matter) aren't about plot. It's about style, atmosphere and fine acting, all of which this film has. Price is excellent as usual in his double role, but he also gets strong support from Lon Chaney, Jr. as Ward's servant and Debra Paget as his wife (This was her final film before her retirement the following year)

The sets by Daniel Haller are the best yet in a Poe film. (And this was before his final two Poe assignments. After that, he became a director with "Die, Monster,Die!", ironically also based on a Lovecraft story "The Colour from Outer Space")This is a really classy production with great production values and Corman proves he knows how to get the most for his money on screen. How many people can you say that about?

Note: As with all the Poe films, "The Haunted Palace" is best seen in the letterbox format, which preserves the 2.35:1 aspect ratio of the Panavision photography. With American Movie Classics showing this frequently and MGM releasing the cycle on DVD, viewers now have a chance to see these films the way they are supposed to. Well done.

**** out of 4 stars

The story was not flawless but the film is beautiful. The sets, the disfigurement looks, the costumes. The only thing that was not so beautiful was the green skin looks could have used some work, however I would also counter that the improfection there helped add to the discomfort you were supposed to feel with those characters. It is a slow burn that is a great example of classic Gothic horror.

«The Haunted Palace» has nothing to do with Edgar Allan Poe (credited as Edgar Allen Poe) apart from the title that was borrowed from his poem, but it is a shortened version of the novella «The Case of Charles Dexter Ward» by H. P. Lovecraft, who strove to force his tale with countless historical, linguistic, and Kabbalistic details, as well as some from his own imagination.

The film adaptation by Charles Beaumont simplified everything, in accordance with the format that Roger Corman drew up from the scripts by Richard Matheson, Beaumont and others for the movies of the Poe cycle. So, as a title in that series, «The Haunted Palace» is a motion picture that does not get lost in detail or reflection to tell, in less than 90 minutes, the story of the possession of Charles Dexter Ward by his sorcerer ancestor Joseph Curwen.

Lovecraft knew how to be ambiguous and leave the interpretations and deductions of his stories to the reader, but Beaumont was more explicit, inventing gestations of beings from the wombs of women from the port of Arkham, possessed by summoned archaic gods, which seems a bit far-fetched, if all they spawned were mutants; and on his side, Corman materializes the monster of the ancient fertilizing god, and shows --through a green filter-- a roaring but immobile prop, without causing any impression. Perhaps that is why the climax is so fast and rushed, so that there is little opportunity to see the entity or to let us think.

I found Floyd Crosby's camera movements and lighting admirable, as well as Daniel Haller's sets, especially those in the basement of the palace. But for every fluid camera movement or corporeal decoration, the budget betrays the movie with poor makeup and visual effects, while composer Ronald Stein, although he wrote a melodious central theme, does not know when to stop the music and let the images express their own "music".

Of the eight films in the Corman-Poe cycle, I think this one, «The Pit and the Pendulum» and «Tales of Terror» are the ones that I like the least. But with the next two productions, «The Masque of the Red Death» and «The Tomb of Ligeia» Roger Corman brought the cycle to full maturity.

Roger Corman directed this film in the midst of his Poe cycle. It has most of the typical features of those films. Lots of eerie atmosphere, swirling fogs, and wonderfully painted back-drops, a fine acting troupe headed by the incomparable Vincent Price, and ably assisted by a sober-looking Lon Chaney Jr. and a beautiful Debra Paget, a fairly tight script, a marvellous score by Ronald Stein, and always the look of a lot of money spent despite the knowledge that you know it was cheaply made. The film is titled based on a small Poe poem found within "The Fall of the House of Usher" and this film has little to do with it. It really is much more of an H. P. Lovecraft film as its main protagonist is called Charles Dexter Ward(Price), but also bears little relation to that great story. It does, however, incorporate many Lovecraftian touches. The names of characters and the town(Arkham) come from the works of Lovecraft, as does the plot thread dealing with an elder god of sorts in a well for the purpose of breeding and the fabled book of supernatural knowledge, the Necromonicon. Despite the complexity and borrowing nature of the script, the story makes sense and is entertaining. Vincent Price plays a man with two personalities, and he does so brilliantly. As always, he is a joy to watch. The rest of the cast is very good. One scene in particular stands out as Price and Paget walk alone in the streets of Arkham only to be slowly surrounded by human mutants. The scene is quite eerie with all its swirling fog, and creeping pace.

Among the lavish literary adaptations that Roger Corman made during the 1960s, "The Haunted Palace" stands out, mainly for not being a Poe adaptation, but rather a film version of the Lovecraft tale "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward" (with some utterances of lines, and the title, taken from the Poe poem). Corman was looking for a change of pace, and decided that the writing styles of the two authors were similar enough. Here the filmmaker does typically solid work, utilizing regular collaborators Daniel Haller (production design) and Floyd Crosby (cinematography) and giving the film that wonderful old school atmosphere. Overall "The Haunted Palace" is not as good as the best in the Corman-Poe cycle, but it's still consistently enjoyable.

Vincent Price again is in fine form, as he delineates two characters: one a cheery man, Charles Dexter Ward, who comes to the small New England town of Arkham to claim family property, and the other his great-great-grandfather Joseph Curwen, an evil warlock burned alive by an angry group of villagers worthy of a Universal horror flick. Soon Curwen (who, quite naturally, placed a curse on the town and the townspeople who targeted him) is exerting a malevolent influence over his descendant, while Charles's scared wife Ann Ward (gorgeous Debra Paget ("Tales of Terror"), in her final feature film) teams with a well-meaning doctor, Marinus Willet (Frank Maxwell) to try to save her husbands' soul.

The film is impressive to look at; Corman had Crosby shoot this film darker than the Poe adaptations, feeling that style suited Lovecrafts' writing better. Ronald Steins' music is wonderful and among his best scores. There are some great horror moments and a monster or two, which we fortunately never get too good a look at. There's also a couple of mutated humans (with decent makeup effects by Ted Coodley) to add to the mix. The cast is certainly a joy. Also to be seen are Lon Chaney Jr. ("The Wolf Man") and Milton Parsons ("The Secret Life of Walter Mitty") as Curwens' villainous associates, Leo Gordon ("The Intruder"), beloved Old Hollywood character actor Elisha Cook Jr., John Dierkes ("Premature Burial"), Harry Ellerbe ("House of Usher"), Barboura Morris ("A Bucket of Blood"), and Bruno VeSota ("Attack of the Giant Leeches").

With this much going for it, "The Haunted Palace" is never less than entertaining.

Lovecrafts' story would be adapted more faithfully as "The Resurrected" in 1992.

Seven out of 10.

Another Roger Corman-Vincent Price combination, and another good one. Not as good as Tales of Terror, but quite entertaining nonetheless.

Good direction by Corman. Plot can be a bit contrived at times. (Note: though Edgar Allan Poe shares some of the writing credit, this largely based on an HP Lovecraft book). Vincent Price gives his usual perfectly commanding yet chilling performance.

1963's "The Haunted Palace" was the 6th entry in AIP's Edgar Allan Poe series, but the only time that director Roger Corman chose to adapt a story by H. P. Lovecraft while using the Poe title as cover. "The Strange Case of Charles Dexter Ward" was among Lovecraft's posthumous works, a dual role for Vincent Price that displays more range than previous titles, the use of sorcery and demonology an even greater departure from Poe's torments of the mind. The Massachusetts town of Arkham is the setting for terror in 1765, young girls summoned to the isolated castle of Joseph Curwen (Price) to endure mating rituals involving creatures from another dimension summoned by the feared Necronomicon, the warlock's bid to induce a new generation superior to humans. Curwen's pleas are dismissed by the angry villagers, but before he is burned alive places a curse on his persecutors and their descendants, which comes to fruition 110 years later with the arrival of his grandson Charles Dexter Ward (also Price), accompanied by his lovely wife Anne (Debra Paget), faced with the intimidating lookalike portrait of Curwen standing above the fireplace. At first frightened by the large number of physical deformities handed down upon the local populace, Ward gradually begins to fall victim to his grandfather's evil influence, aided by the unholy devotions of caretakers Simon Orne (Lon Chaney) and Jabez Hutchinson (Milton Parsons), who must first restore Curwen's mistress Hester from the grave. An immediately darker, more ominous tone is set than previous Poe titles, the most brutal murder being Elisha Cook's fearful Peter Smith, doused with kerosene and set ablaze. Extremely prolific on television, Lon Chaney had been off screen for a number of years when he was cast in this secondary role, supposedly a replacement for Boris Karloff, who was coming off a chill during his Italian stint on Mario Bava's "Black Sabbath." Chaney's performance is restrained but effective, granted a sinister makeup and countenance, a high point for the new decade that would see future vehicles diminish in scale and quality. Corman and Price would move on to England by year's end for two more Poes that concluded their collaboration, "The Masque of the Red Death" and "The Tomb of Ligeia," while H. P. Lovecraft would not be well served by Boris Karloff's "Die, Monster, Die!" or Dean Stockwell's "The Dunwich Horror," both directed by Corman protege and set designer Daniel Haller.

Roger Corman's "The Haunted Palace" of 1963 is an incredibly atmospheric Gothic Horror film, and, alongside "Pit and The Pendulum" of 1961 and "The Masque Of The Red Death" of 1964, the greatest installment of Corman's superb Poe cycle with the great Vincent Price. Some people seem to be bothered by the fact that this is not actually based on the poem by Poe, but on H. P. Lovecraft's novel "The Case Of Charles Dexter Ward", but I can't really see why. First of all, there is no doubt that both Poe and Lovecraft were extremely important writers of the horror genre. Second, it doesn't matter what this film is based on, since it is simply a brilliant film, regardless of which literary model it used.

In 1756, the vicious warlock Joseph Curven (Vincent Price) is dragged out of his palace in the New England town of Arkham by an angry mob furious about his evil ways of hexing innocent young women. Before he is burned alive, Curven places a curse on his the people of Arkham and their descendants. 110 years later, Curven's great-grandson Charles Dexter Ward (also Price) comes to Arkham with his wife Ann (Debra Paget) to accept his inheritance - Joseph Curven's castle. Most of the little town's inhabitants, who still believe in the witchcraft and who are living in fear of Curven's curse, react hostile towards the couple, especially because Ward is the spitting image of his ancestor. The Wards, who are not superstitious, decide sleep in the castle anyway, although the only friendly person around is the town's doctor, who does not believe in superstition either. There are strange things happening in the town of Arkham, however, people have terrible deformities and when the Wards arrive they immediately notice an eerie huge painting of Joseph Curven, which has a strange effect on Charles...

There is no doubt in my mind that Vincent Price is one of the greatest actors who ever lived, and his performance in "The Haunted Palace" is one of his best. Price plays his role with pure brilliance, and once again proves that he is THE absolute master of sinister roles. Debra Paget's performance as Anne Ward is also excellent, and the cast furthermore includes Lon Chaney Jr., who proves his greatness in an eerie role. The movie is excellently photographed in great, eerie sceneries, and the film maintains a wonderfully creepy atmosphere from the first minute. The great score even intensifies the eeriness and suspense, and I couldn't find one aspect of "The Haunted Palace" that is less than brilliant.

German speaking people - please make sure to watch this film in its original, English version. I personally always watch films in the original when its possible, but it is essential to do so with this movie. The German title reads "Die Folterkammer Des Hexenjägers" (=The Witchhunter's Torture Chamber), although the film has nothing to do with a Witchhunter, and there is no torture chamber either. In the dubbed German version, the Warlock becomes a Witchhunter, New England becomes Wales, and the whole plot makes little sense. Fortunately, the German DVD contains the English version, so stick with the original version of this masterpiece.

All said, "The Haunted Palace" is a perfect Horror film. Vincent Price's brilliant leading performance, the fantastic atmosphere, the constant suspense and genuine creepiness - everything about this film is superb! In short: "The Haunted Palace" is a Gothic masterpiece, and an absolute must-see for every Horror fan!

During the Victorian era, a man and his wife (Price & Paget) inherit an ominous chateau on the coast of New England, but its sorcerous history seems to cast a spell on him and this provokes the leery populace to hostile action (Leo Gordon, Elisha Cook Jr., etc.). Lon Chaney Jr. And Frank Maxwell are also on hand.

"The Haunted Palace" (1963) takes its title from Poe's poem, and quotes it, but the story hails from HP Lovecraft's yarn "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward." AIP insisted on the Poe-connection to capitalize on the recent success of Roger Corman's Poe movies.

Eight of these Poe-inspired flicks were were done by Corman, but others were filmed by different directors, like "The Conqueror Worm" (1968), aka "Witchfinder General," and "The Oblong Box" (1969). Others were Poe-ish in ambiance, yet had nothing to do with the works of Poe, like Corman & Coppola's "The Terror" (1963). Most of these flicks didn't follow Poe's stories/poems very closely despite his name being attached to them, as is the case with this one, although a few did.

The spooky Gothic horror sets are to die for. You have spider webs, foggy graveyards, forbidden castles, dark sorceries, hostile mobs with torches, burnings at the stake, curses, rats, caged monstrosities, hauntings, possession, demons in pits and beautiful Victorian lasses. Being a Lovecraft yarn, you naturally get gobbledygook about Cthulhu, Yog-Sothoth, etc.

While not as good as "The Pit and the Pendulum" (1961) and "The Conqueror Worm" (1968), this one's on the same level as "The Terror," "The Masque of the Red Death" (1964), "The Raven" (1963) and "Tomb of Ligeia" (1964). AIP was basically the American version of Hammer in England, so devotees of Hammer horror should appreciate it.

This was the last theatrical appearance of the stunning Debra Paget, who was 29 during shooting. She married a Chinese oil mogul, which would last 18 years and produce one son. She became a Christian and eventually came out of retirement to appear seven times on TBN's Praise show (1988-2013). Also featured on the feminine front is the equally gorgeous Cathie Merchant, as well as Darlene Lucht in a brief role.

The movie runs 1 hour, 27 minutes, and was shot at Producers Studios in Hollywood. Virginia is also listed, which relates to establishing shots.

GRADE: B-/B (6.7/10)

Frankly, I don't really care whether the screenplay of "The Haunted Palace" is based on a H.P Lovecraft-story, simply carrying an Edgar Allan Poe title...or based on an Edgar Allan Poe poem, heavily influenced by H.P Lovecraft's short story. Both these legendary horror authors were genius and an amalgamation of the two oeuvres could only result in an even better movie, right? And that's exactly what "The Haunted Palace" is! A brilliant and genuinely scary film that neatly fits in with the rest of Roger Corman's Poe cycle when it comes to intelligent story lines and ominous atmospheres. Vincent Price gives away another staggering performance (in a double role!) as a New England warlock who's burned alive for his evil practices by the inhabitants of Arkham. Over a century later, he reincarnates as his great-great-grandson Charles Baxter Ward and continues with his malicious sorcery... but not without wreaking vengeance on the descendants of his tormentors! The script is extremely compelling, without dull moments whatsoever, and the set designs are magnificent: ground fogs, castles with creaking gates and secret doorways, loud thunderstorms... It's truly beautiful to see how the camera prowls through the dark, nightmarish scenery and reflects the brooding suspense right onto your screen. The score is excellent and, despite the obvious low-budget, there are several very decent make-up effect to admire, like on the terrifying mutant-villagers who sneak around in the village. Roger Corman's surefooted yet elegant directing is close to perfection, and he damn well knew that he could count on Price again to portray another memorable villain. "The Haunted Pace" is quintessential horror-art!

'The Haunted Palace' is yet another fine collaboration between Roger Corman and Vincent Price and although it shares the same title as the Edgar Allan Poe's poem, the film's plot is loosely based on 'The Case of Charles Dexter Ward' by H. P. Lovecraft. However, this movie does fit with the Corman/Poe cycle thanks to it being steeped in that chilling gothic atmosphere and cool fog drenched landscapes which gives it a delightfully creepy tone along with a decent amount of horror and suspense to keep you entertained, but it still lacked that special something that could have made this more compelling.

The Plot = The tale begins in 1765 where Joseph Curwen (Vincent Price) a vengeful warlock places a curse on the villagers of Arkham just before he's burned alive for his crimes in witchcraft. A hundred years later his descendent Charles Dexter Ward (also played by Vincent Price) returns to the village along with his wife Ann Ward (Debra Paget) to reclaim his family's mansion and soon a macabre series of events begins to unfold.

There's plenty to enjoy here in this atmospheric tale such as its interesting narrative that captures the essence of H. P. Lovecraft's work with its dark and brooding tone and the town of Arkham itself with its mutant inhabitants and gorgeous dark blue colour palette which gives everything a delightfully eerie vibe which sets it apart from the other Corman/Poe adaptations along with beautifully detailed sets which are rich in detail and the stellar direction by Roger Corman and the fantastic cast performances which brings everything to life. However, there are a few flaws here such as the pacing could have been a little tighter as it drags a bit after the entertaining opening and doesn't quite pick up steam again until the final climax, but other than that its still a solid horror flick.

Vincent Price's compelling dual lead performance more than makes up for any shortcomings that this movie has, he is truly exceptional in this flick and always delivers a fantastic performance. Lon Chaney Jr delivers a solid and standout performance as the servant Simon Orne and Debra Paget also gives a decent performance as Ann Ward.

Overall 'The Haunted Palace' has its flaws, but its still a satisfying viewing experience and while it may not be the best of the Corman/Poe/Price collaborations, it's still good.

I like Vincent Price films including my favorite, Ligeia, and The Fall of the House of Usher, and the highly amusing and entertaining Comedy of Terrors from the exact same year as this snoozefest.

If you are planning on taking a nap and would like to fall asleep to some soothing Hammer-esque sets mimicking the 19th century, this flick is for you. You'll have pleasant dreams about foggy forests, New England taverns and some people in Victorian costume with really bad Halloween make-up on, pretending to be blind.

It's not so excruciating that I couldn't pay attention at all or had to turn it off, but it's laughably dated, and I don't understand exactly why this one seems so boring and silly compared to some of Price's other Edgar Allen Poe inspired films.