214) The Haunted Palace (1963)

"One becomes accustomed to the darkness here." 

Director

Roger Corman 

Cast
Vincent Price - Joseph Curwen / Charles Dexter Ward
Debra Paget -Anne Ward
Cathie Merchant - Hester Tillinghast
Frank Maxwell - Priam Willet / Dr. Marinus Willet
Lon Chaney Jr. - Simon Orne

Milton Parsons - Jabez Hutchinson

Roger Corman's movie, "The Haunted Palace," is his sixth movie loosely based on the works of Edgar Allan Poe. This one is a sinister turn from Corman's previous off-the-wall Poe movie, "The Raven." 

As Frankenstein's monster himself, Boris Karloff, shows up in "The Raven," as does Peter Lorre, this time, Lon Chaney, Jr., famous for playing the Wolfman in the Universal Wolfman movies, stars in "The Haunted Palace."

As expected, Vincent Price returns in the lead role to carry this picture just as he has with the other Poe movies except for "The Premature Burial" where he's replaced by Ray Milland for the lead role. 

In this movie, strange things are afoot at the big house on the outskirts of Arkham, Massachusetts back in 1765. 

Residents know something's not right at the house. In fact, they all think that Joseph Curwen (Vincent Price), the master of the house, is a sorcerer or warlock. 

A young girl wanders up to the house, led in trance by Joseph and his mistress, Hester (Cathie Merchant). 

The couple take the girl down into the house's dungeon - all the big houses in Corman's Poe flicks have a dungeon. Anyways, she's forced to take part in some weird ceremonies and rituals. 

During these rituals, an evil entity is summoned and rises from a pit in the dungeon to possess this girl. 

Afterwards, some of the folks in town see this girl wander from the house clearly in a strange daze. They think she's cursed or under some kind of enchantment. 

So, they all march up to the house, grab Curwen, and take him to be burned alive. 

Just before he goes up in flames, Curwen curses the entire town and its inhabitants along with their descendants. 

Vincent Price in "The Haunted Palace."

The story jumps 110 years after these shenanigans. Curwen's great-great-grandson, Charles Dexter Ward (Vincent Price, again) has inherited the estate. So, he and his wife Anne (Debra Paget) move to Arkham to take over the house. 

However, the townspeople don't welcome them so warmly. 

They blame Charles's ancestor and his curse for all the locals suffering from deformities and other afflictions. It's all Joseph's fault as far as they're concerned. 

Charles and Anne are disturbed by all the disdain hurled at them that they consider leaving. 

However, the house's caretaker, Simon (Lon Chaney, Jr.) convinces the couple to forget about the crazy townspeople and all their personal issues, and to stick around. 

One thing that completely astounds Charles is the amazing and practically identical resemblance he has to his great-great grandfather, Joseph. His portrait hangs above a fireplace. He's taken by this portrait so much that he becomes obsessed with it. It's as though the portrait of his great-great-grandfather begins to possess Charles.
He and Anne meet a local doctor named Marinus Willet (Frank Maxwell) who catches them up to speed about Joseph and why everyone in town hates them so much. 

To add fuel to the fire, Marinus introduces them to the Necronomicon - the book of black magic. He tells Charles and Anne that the book belonged to Joseph, which he used to summon some nasty evil spirits, two in particular named Cthulhu and Yog-Sothoth. 

Joseph's diabolic plan was to conjure up these evil spirits to, uhhh... hook up with women and then create a race of superhumans. This is what led to all the deformed towns folk. 

Meanwhile, Charles eventually falls under the complete control of Joseph's painting. In fact, he's completely possessed by Joseph's spirit and begins conducting the same rituals Joseph did over 100 years ago. 

Corman brings his Poe line-up to a much darker and more serious tone with "The Haunted Palace." The story has an eviler sting to it. Eviler - that is a word, I believe. 

The story is based partly on the poem of the same title by Edgar Allan Poe, and partly on "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward" by H. P. Lovecraft. The
Lovecraftian elements are clearly seen in the presence of the Necronomicon and the inclusion of Yog-Sothoth and obviously Cthulhu.

Price's performance here is the best yet. Don't get me wrong, being a fan of Vincent Price, I haven't yet seen a performance of his I didn't like. But here, he brings such an unsettling tone that fits brilliantly well. Price seems to take each role of his seriously and meticulously puts details and specific tones into each of them. That's especially true here. 

If I had to pick a favorite Vincent Price role among these Poe movies, I'd think, thus far, this is it. He's playing dual roles and has the task to meld them together. 

Seeing Lon Chaney, Jr., is certainly a treat. I'm telling you, the casting choices within these last couple of movies is nothing short of classic. For me, being a fan of Universal monsters, it's a treat. This is the kind of stuff I geek out on. 

I'm loving Roger Corman's low budget but grand Poe movies, and "The Haunted Palace" certainly hits the spot.  

The movie has a generous and very welcomed portion of unsettling images that are off-putting, especially the deformed towns folk, some of whom have bare skin instead of eyes. In true Corman form, this Gothic film has an impressive set and showcases Corman's masterful talent in making a grandiose film despite a small budget. 

The age of the movie adds to the welcomed creepy factor acting like real cobwebs left untouched in a haunted house attraction. 

This movie is a return to something dark, in true Poe and Lovecraft fashion, and is more serious in tone than the previous film before it. 

Also. in true Corman/Poe fashion, the story ends with a large gothic looking home going up in flames. It's the signature on a priceless art piece.