The Haunted Palace [M]

Charles Ward and his wife Anne move to the small village of Arkham to see a property that Charles has inherited from his ancestor who died there a century ago. Upon their arrival they are met with suspicion, fear, and hostility as the superstitious villagers believe that they have come to carry out a vengeful curse that Charles’ ancestor swore to wreak upon them. After a few nights in the castle, Anne cannot help but believe the villagers’ fears as Charles begins to change and it becomes apparent that the house and its deceased owner have plans for Charles. 

In this string of Vincent Price-Roger Corman classics based on the works of Edgar Allan Poe, The Haunted Palace is the best so far. Based on the poem by Poe and a work from H.P Lovecraft, this movie is a classic little piece of cinema and the gothic. 

So far, I’ve been finding that some of these Price cult films have been a bit hit-and-miss, but this one put me back on the Vincent Price appreciation train. His role in this movie is quite complex as he’s playing the original villain, the innocent descendent, and then both parties locked in an internal battle over possession of Ward’s body and mind. 

A sort of Jekyll and Hyde performance Price is sweet and charming as Charles, but sinister and quite threatening as his centuries old ancestor. He’s really fun to watch, particularly in his interactions with Anne because you don’t quite know if he’s going to be sweet and confused Charles holding her in his arms or menacing Joseph Curwen about to force himself on her virtue. There’s a lot of tender suspense that gets created between the two leads and it’s quite delicious. 

And that’s not the only suspense that gets so perfectly mounted in this movie. The film’s lingering camera shots and slow movement combined with the haunting and dramatic score by Ronald Stein work to create classic horror movie suspense where you’re priming yourself for the inevitable sudden jump-out and silently willing the characters to stop walking down the dark, cobwebbed passages of the castle and just run away from the place altogether. There’s nothing like good, well-built suspense and this film does it very well. 

The lovely Gothic aesthetic of Poe is beautifully created through the costumes, great achievements in makeup, and the set design of the castle itself. Whilst one can argue that the effects and props department were heavy on the gauzy cobwebs and dry-ice mist, these little quirks nonetheless work a treat. 

The makeup too is pretty impressive because it really shows the difference between Charles and Joseph whenever he’s possessed. It also serves to creepify the characters of Joseph’s century-old cronies, one of which is played by Lon Chaney Jr., giving them a human, but eerie edge. 

Starring Debra Paget, Frank Maxwell, Leo Gordon, Elisha Cook Jr., John Dierkes, Milton Parsons, Cathie Merchant, Guy Wilkerson, I. Stanford Jolley, Harry Ellerbe, Barboura Morris, Darlene Lucht, and Bruno VeSota, The Haunted Palace is an enjoyable little horror movie that delivers the decadence of the gothic genre as well as the suspense of it. Filled with romance, violence, suspense, drama, and a bit of an eerie ending, I really enjoyed it.