The Haunted Palace (1963)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

Roger Corman

Writers:

H.P. Lovecraft (story)
Charles Beaumont (writer)

Release Date:

28 August 1963 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

A warlock's home is his castle...Forever!

Plot:

Charles Dexter Ward arrives at a small village to visit the house he inherited from his ancestor who died there 100 years ago.

Plot Keywords:

Curse | Ancestor | Mutant | Palace | New England

Cast

Vincent Price	...	Charles Dexter Ward / Joseph Curwen
Debra Paget	...	Ann Ward
Lon Chaney Jr.	...	Simon Orne (as Lon Chaney)
Frank Maxwell	...	Dr. Willet / Priam Willet
Leo Gordon	...	Edgar Weeden / Ezra Weeden
Elisha Cook Jr.	...	Gideon Smith / Micah Smith (as Elisha Cook)
John Dierkes	...	Benjamin West / Mr. West (as John Dierkies)
Milton Parsons	...	Jabez Hutchinson
Cathie Merchant	...	Hester Tillinghast
Guy Wilkerson	...	Gideon Leach / Mr. Leach
I. Stanford Jolley	...	Carmody, coachman (as Stanford Jolley)
Harry Ellerbe	...	Minister
Barboura Morris	...	Mrs. Weeden
Darlene Lucht	...	Miss Fitch
Bruno VeSota	...	Bruno, the bartender (as Bruno Ve Sota)

Also Known As:

Edgar Allan Poe's The Haunted Palace (USA) (promotional title)
The Case of Charles Dexter Ward (USA) (original script title)
The Haunted Village

Runtime:

87 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Pathécolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Ryder Sound Services)

Certification:

Norway:16 | UK:18 (Video rating) | UK:X (theatrical rating) (cut) | Netherlands:16 (DVD rating) | Argentina:13 | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved (PCA #20528)

Company:

American International Pictures (AIP)

Trivia:

Roger Corman decided to do an H.P. Lovecraft story as a break from his Edgar Allan Poe series while keeping the elements that made it successful. American-International took no chances. It gave the film a "Poe" title and marketed it as another in the series.

Goofs:

Factual errors: Edgar Allan Poe's name is misspelled as "Edgar Allen Poe" twice in the opening credits.

Quotes:

Ann Ward: Charles? You ready?
[comes outside to join him on the balcony]
Charles Dexter Ward: I've decided to stay.
Ann Ward: What?
Charles Dexter Ward: Just long enough to fix the place up. With a little work it could bring a good price. Don't you think?
Ann Ward: I should imagine. I don't know.
[disappointed]
Charles Dexter Ward: I estimate two weeks, perhaps three. To get things started, anyway. Do you mind, Ann?
Ann Ward: No, not exactly. But I can't say it pleases me.
Charles Dexter Ward: Well, then you go home!
[...]

Movie Connections:

Featured in Fantastic Fantasy Fright-o-Rama Show Vol. 1 (1996) (V)

Aside from one cheesy aspect of the film, it's well worth seeing

This is the first film supposedly based on a Poe story that Roger Corman directed, though most of these films have little similarity to the Poe tales. In this case, the story owes a bit more to a story by H.P. Lovecraft.

This one is about a warlock and his curse upon the town that burned him for his unholy deeds. Over a hundred years later, his great-great-great grandson returns to take possession of the castle. Oddly, both the warlock and his progeny are exact duplicates--something that would only happen in films. Now perhaps this could be explained away due to the forces of darkness and all, but having all the people in the town be played by the same actors who played those in the beginning of the film (110 years earlier) made no sense at all. What also made no sense was that if the town was cursed, why didn't anyone leave?!? After all, people were having freaky babies right and left but no one thought to relocate?! Maybe it wasn't the curse--maybe there was just something in the drinking water or in the ground!

Now despite these HUGE plot problems, the movie is still very entertaining and is better than most of Corman's later Poe tales. Vincent Price's exceptional performance, a great mood and atmosphere and a chilling story made this a great film for viewing on Halloween--which is exactly when I saw it.