The Haunted Palace / The Tower of London (1963)

THE HAUNTED PALACE TOWER OF LONDON

A Double Dose Of Revenge And Torture From Vincent Price

In "The Haunted Palace," horror icon Vincent Price is superb in the dual role of warlock Joseph Curwen who possesses his descendant, Charles Dexter Ward. This is another lavish production from famed director Roger Corman; he helmed many other Vincent Price vehicles based on Edgar Allan Poe's literary works. Lon Chaney gives a great performance as Curwen's faithful, but creepy, servant, Simon Orne. Debra Paget is gorgeous as Ward's devoted wife who refuses to leave his side despite the horrible transformation he undergoes. "The Haunted Palace" is a great revenge story for fans of gothic horror, and this is gothic horror at its best, resplendent with a fog enshrouded village, a huge, crumbling castle, and superstitious, irate villagers who love to grab their torches and burn, burn, burn.

"The Tower of London" is a tour de force for Vincent Price who plays Richard III, one of the more diabolical characters of his career. No man, woman or child is safe when they stand between Richard III and the throne of England. "The Tower of London" boasts some creepy set pieces; gruesome, tortuous deaths; and a nice body count. The most notable torture scene is the one in which a hungry rat is thrown into a small cage that has been placed over a shackled man's head. This feature is by far the better of the two. It is extremely violent considering the decade in which it was made. And though "The Tower of London" was directed by Roger Corman, it is an United Artist production rather than an American International Picture; a pity that it was filmed in black and white rather than gorgeous color.

This excellently restored double feature from MGM is a must have for fans of gothic horror and Vincent Price. Both are grandiose tales of torture and revenge.
June 13, 2008

Twice The Price...

Vincent Price and Roger Corman team up again for this double-dose of costume spookery. In the Lovecraft-inspired HAUNTED PALACE, Vincent plays Charles Dexter Ward, the heir to a castle in the seaport village of Arkham. Said castle was once inhabited by Ward's warlock ancestor, Joseph Curwyn (Price). Curwyn was burned alive by the townfolk, causing him to curse their families forever! Now, one hundred and ten years later, Ward takes up residence in the castle, terrifying the superstitious villagers to no end. Will he fulfill the ancient curse upon Arkham? Will he use the odious Necronomicon in order to call forth the Elder gods? HAUNTED PALACE is nice and gloomy w/ lots of magik, murder, and mutants! TOWER OF LONDON has Vincent as the insane, totally homicidal Richard III. He will stop at nothing to secure his place on the throne of England. Anyone in his way is terminated expeditiously. Uh-Oh! Richard didn't count on being pestered by the ghosts of his victims! He is soon over-run by spirits seeking only to have him join them. This Corman / Price twin bill belongs on every horror shelf... June 1, 2008

Lovecraft, not Poe

This move was marketed as a Poe adaption, because of the immense popularity of the Poe films, starring Vincent Price. It was, however based off of "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward" by HPL, but is so much like the Poe films, that it can easily be loved by fans of both.

Excellent acting by Price (as always), and great filming by Corman makes this a must have for Poe and Lovecraft fans alike.

But it, watch it, love it.

9 out of 10 elder gods recommend it December 28, 2006

Poe meets LOVECRAFT

What a COOL film! Very different feel to the other 7 Corman-Poe films, perhaps because it's really an adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft's "The Case Of Charles Dexter Ward". Corman hated repeating himself, but AIP kept saying "Do another Poe film!" TALES OF TERROR was an anthology-- 4 stories adapted into 3 segments (tricky how they combined 2 similar stories into one, although, I noted how the film version LOST some of the "logic" of both originals), and THE RAVEN was done with a lot of humor. This time out, Corman wanted to do another writer... but the studio STILL wanted Poe, so they changed the title to market it AS a "Poe", and had Vincent Price reciting lines from the poem of the title to reinforce it.

Price-- Lon Chaney Jr.-- Elisha Cook-- and a number of other less-known characters actors I recognized (but don't recall by name). What a cool cast. I know Lovecraft had some running themes in a number of his stories, about "the elder gods" who ruled Earth in the dim past who wanted to return and used men to try and "open the gates". This film really encapsulates all of that so perfectly, I don't think I've ever seen a better use of the themes, except perhaps in Archie Goodwin's VAMPIRELLA comics (which in turn were, I feel, SWIPED by the 1st BLADE movie!!).

Compared to all the "characters" he created in the other films, Price almost seems to be playing HIMSELF this time-- at least, when he's Ward. When he's Ward's ancestor-- returned as a ghost and POSSESSING Ward, then he's like Price, "plus". There's a scene where the guy, who can't seem to get rid of "Ward's wife", decides to "exercise his husbandly perogative"-- and as the scene progresses, I was reminded of the behind-the-scenes stuff on FRANKENSTEIN MUST BE DESTROYED, where, legend has it, someone said, "This part's kinda dull. How about a RAPE scene?" In Price's case, it never goes too far, but it definitely works. The doctor character who befriends the Wards keeps coming up with logical, "rational" psychological reasons for what's going on-- but I feel sure the wife believed her husband REALLY WAS possessed by someone else. Which he was!

By the way, if you've ever seen it, NIGHT OF DARK SHADOWS-- the 2nd DS film, the one with David Selby & Kate Jackson-- is really an updated swipe of THE HAUNTED PALACE. The DS film ends badly and pointlessly... It was only later when I saw PALACE the 1st time, that I realized the stories were almost identical. Except-- where NoDS ends, that's the point where PALACE really gets good! PALACE also has a "bad" ending-- but it's a much more SATISFYING one. July 22, 2006

Visually Poe, Visionary Poem.

I think definitely Edgar Allan Poe is most creative Writer that have ever world. So then Vincent Price is most creative(as sinister image, overwhelming Performance, Charismatic persona, Charicteristic role-play) actor that have ever world. It follows from the foregoing that Roger Corman is a creative translator of an image, but faithful. I think they are marvelous trio. Price-Corman team made successful a succesion of their movie. 'The Haunted Palace' is one of them. January 29, 2006

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