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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.

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.

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.

Good thriller with Vincent Price and Lon Chaney in the same movie for the first and only time. Also Debra Pagent's last movie. Debra by the way is stunningly beautiful in this movie. One of Vincent's best acting roles by playing two different personalities. Plot was a bit thin but the acting made this movie.

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