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The Haunted Palace
[MGM Home Entertainment]
1963; color
Directed by Roger Corman
Starring: Vincent Price, Debra Paget & Lon Chaney
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Although The Haunted Palace is billed as part of Corman's "Poe cycle" for AIP, it's only true connection to Poe is that the movie shares the same name as one of his poems and a few lines are recited by Vincent Price at the very end. (The film is actually loosely based on H.P. Lovecraft's "The Strange Case of Charles Dexter Ward.") Price plays two roles here, Charles Ward and Ward's great-great grandfather Joseph Curlew, and he does a brilliant job with both, alternating between naive snob and evil nutjob at the drop of hat. As the film opens, sometime in the mid-1700s in the small and perpetually fog-shrouded New England fishing village of Arkham, we learn that Joseph Curlew is a marked man in the eyes of the townspeople. Strange screams and noises can be heard from his large, looming castle, which sits on a hilltop above the town. Local girls have been wandering off in the night never to be heard from again, and the town's basic assumption is that Curlew is a warlock who must be destroyed. After getting themselves sufficiently riled up, they angry mob marches up Curlew's house, drags him out, ties him to a tree and burns him to death—but not before he lays down a curse on those who are about to kill him, and their ancestors to boot. Flash forward 110 years later, and to one Charles Dexter Ward and his lovely wife, Ann (Debra Paget) rolling into town looking for the house Ward's just inherited. They're met with immediate grave warnings and suspicion by the townsfolk, who are all exact lookalike descendants of the original townsfolk in the first scene (because they're all played by the same people, clad in different costumes), and can barely even get directions on how to get to the place. Seeing as how Ward looks exactly like Curlew, the cold shoulder the couple receive is understandable. After they get to the castle, they decide to spend the night and then get outta dodge—mostly because of said warm reception from the locals—but things begin to go awry when Ward gazes at a portrait of his ancestor and slowly begins to become possessed by the spirit of his great-great granddad. As they explore the rambling old castle, they quite literally stumble into their butler / servant, Simon (played by a very understated, yet absolutely creepy Lon Chaney Jr.), who's been preparing the house for their arrival and generally just kind of lurking in the background. After a relatively uneventful night, Ann packs up in the morning expecting to leave, only to find a disturbingly different Charles telling her they'll stay for a while; reasoning that they'll fix the place up a bit and then sell it for a pretty penny. In reality, Curlew's spirit is taking over Ward, because he's got unfinished business to attend to—the business of revenge. And quicker than you can yell "fire!" in a crowded room, two of the townspeople get burnt up real good. This, of course, leads to a new round of angry mobbage and the eventual sacking and burning of the castle. I'm omitting a mountainful of plot details and other spoilers so you can enjoy this one for yourself with relatively fresh eyes—and I didn't even mention the array of mutants (eyeless and otherwise) who walk the streets of Arkham after dark. I give The Haunted Palace the Kommandant's highest endorsement (eight thumbs up) and strongly recommend you see it; it's truly one of Corman's all-time best efforts.
—the Kommandant
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