The Haunted Palace

1963 ***1/2

Somehow I missed The Haunted Palace in my earlier sweeps of Lovecraft cinema, which is too bad because it's the first time someone tried it. Directed by Roger Corman and starring Vincent Price, the story is a stripped-down telling of Lovecraft's The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, and if you read my review of Black Sunday you're going to notice some funny similarities.

It's 1765 in Arkham, Massachusetts, and Joseph Curwen (Price) has been bewitching young women and drawing them to his mansion, pimping for an otherworldly beast hanging out in his basement. A barfull of angry villagers decide it's a good idea to go to Curwen's house and burn him, which, seeing his house, I'm surprised didn't happen sooner.

It looms over the town like Edward Scissorhands's dark mountain (without the irony), and you know whoever lives there is up to no good. As the flames rise around Curwen, he curses the town of Arkham and in particular the men before him, those who led the torch-wielding mob to his front yard.

Flash forward 110 years and Charles Dexter Ward arrives in Arkham with his wife, eager to see the ancestral home he just inherited. They stop in The Burning Man tavern and are traditionally hated on sight by everyone within. As soon as they leave the same exact dude who 'roided out and burned Curwen 110 years ago gets all honked off about Ward because he looks just like his evil ancestor (as seen in yet another conspicuously displayed portrait of someone everyone hated). It's the angry guy's descendant, of course, but this particular application of same-actor-playing-distant-offspring is kind of funny, because it's the same five guys in the same bar behaving in the same kind of cranky and/or cowardly way. The main difference is the hats.

It turns out they've actually got pretty good reasons to hate Ward, as the otherworldy pollution of the town gene pool has resulted in weird birth defects in most of the inhabitants. These vary in degree, usually involving the lack of one or both eyes. (The execution doesn't hit its potential, and feels like a really cheap version of those times new Star Trek trotted out yet another alien race that looked just like humans save for a particular nose ridge.)

With nowhere to go, Ward and his wife settle into their creepy house, meaning to only stay a few days. But contemplating the odd portrait creates a change in Ward, as his ancestor reaches out from beyond death to possess him. Any appeal this movie has hinges on Vincent Price's amazing performance, switching from caring Charles to icy, arrogant Curwen in the blink of an eye. The effect is somewhat diffused by the sallow complexion Price sports when possessed, but an overly enthusiastic makeup department can't obscure yet another display of Price's skill as a performer. As his ancestor gains more power over Ward, he is able to inhabit him longer, and soon sets out to continue his nefarious schemes of the past. But first a little revenge-taking is in order on his killers' children's children, who conveniently look just like those first guys... can a new angry mob be raised in time?

Like most of Corman's movies, Haunted Palace is coming from a place that is admittedly kind of cheap, but no less sincere about storytelling. A must-see for fans of Vincent Price, and a good time all around.