The Haunted Palace

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."

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.

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.

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

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.