Complete credited cast: | |||
Vincent Price | ... | Charles Dexter Ward / Joseph Curwen | |
Debra Paget | ... | Ann Ward | |
Lon Chaney Jr. | ... | Simon Orne (as Lon Chaney) | |
Frank Maxwell | ... | Dr. Marinus Willet / Priam Willet | |
Leo Gordon | ... | Edgar Weeden / Ezra Weeden | |
Elisha Cook Jr. | ... | Peter Smith / Micah Smith (as Elisha Cook) | |
John Dierkes | ... | Benjamin West / Jacob 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 | |
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Barboura Morris | ... | Mrs. Weeden |
Darlene Lucht | ... | Miss Fitch | |
Bruno VeSota | ... | Bruno, the Bartender (as Bruno Ve Sota) |
Loosely based on H.P. Lovecraft's novel THE CASE OF CHARLES DEXTER WARD, this fright flick opens with a warlock placing a curse on a group of villagers about to burn him at the stake. Generations later, the warlock's descendant returns to the village to pick up where his ancestor left off. Written by Humberto Amador
I don't consider The Haunted Palace one of Vincent Price's or Roger Corman's best. I do put Pit and the Pendulum, The Raven, The Fall of the House of Usher and especially Masque of the Red Death above it, but it is a very good film and worth checking out. It does get a little ponderous at times in the middle and while eerie in tone the music score is over-the-top. However it is well photographed and has beautiful sets. The writing has some fun and macabre moments and the story delivers its suspenseful atmosphere and creepy scares wonderfully even if the enacting terrible revenge angle is familiar territory. Corman's direction is secure also. The acting is very good. Debra Paget before she retired is beautiful and not too bland. Lon Chaney is wonderful, and his entrance is one of The Haunted Palace's creepiest moments. Even better is Price, he is in a double role here and he is deliciously evil. All in all, very good and very enjoyable, I just wish that it had more attention. 8/10 Bethany Cox