The Haunted Palace (1963)

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

Director:

Roger Corman

Writers:

Charles Beaumont (screenplay by), Edgar Allan Poe (from the poem by) (as Edgar Allen Poe)

Stars:

Vincent Price, Debra Paget, Lon Chaney Jr.

Cast

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
Barboura Morris	...	Mrs. Weeden
Darlene Lucht	...	Miss Fitch
Bruno VeSota	...	Bruno, the Bartender (as Bruno Ve Sota)

Storyline

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.

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Plot Keywords:

ancestor | warlock | gothic horror | mansion | castle | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Horror

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 March 1965 (Italy)

Also Known As:

The Case of Charles Dexter Ward

Filming Locations:

Virginia, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Alta Vista Productions, La Honda Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

87 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Ryder Sound Services)

Color:

Color (Pathécolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

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.

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Goofs

The film is billed as "Edgar Allan Poe's The Haunted Palace." While Poe did write "The Haunted Palace," the film is actually based on the story by H.P. Lovecraft, "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward."

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Quotes

Edgar Weeden: Have you anything to say, warlock?
Charles Dexter Ward: Only this... As surely as the village of Arkham has risen up against me, so shall I rise from the dead... against the village of Arkham. Each one of you! Ezra Weeden, Micah Smith, Benjamin West, Priam Willet, Gideon Leach, all of you and your children and your children's children shall have just cause to regret the actions of this night. For from this night onward, you shall bear my curse.
Edgar Weeden: Burn the devil... ¡Burn him!
Charles Dexter Ward: ¡¡¡AHHHHH!

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Alternate Versions

The UK cinema version was cut by the BBFC to remove facial shots of a corpse in a coffin and to reduce a scene of a man on fire. Later releases were uncut.

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Connections

Featured in 100 Years of Horror: Ghosts (1996)

User Reviews

SHAMEFULLY UNDERRATED

Roger Corman's "The Haunted Palace" has very little in common with Poe's poem, with the exception of the title and a few lines recited by Vincent Price. It is in fact based on an H.P. Lovecraft story "The Strange Case of Charles Dexter Ward". In fact, that was this films' title before it was made an entry in Corman's highly successful Poe series.

That doesn't mean this is a bad picture at all. In fact, this is one of Corman's very best films: a beautifully shot (by Floyd Crosby in Panavision), subtly frightening thriller. Price stars in a double role: Ward and his great-grandfather, an evil Puritan (I guess) who has a hidden secret. Hundreds of years later, Ward inherits the "haunted palace" of the title. You can probably guess what happens next.

But films like "The Haunted Palace" (and the other Poe films for that matter) aren't about plot. It's about style, atmosphere and fine acting, all of which this film has. Price is excellent as usual in his double role, but he also gets strong support from Lon Chaney, Jr. as Ward's servant and Debra Paget as his wife (This was her final film before her retirement the following year)

The sets by Daniel Haller are the best yet in a Poe film. (And this was before his final two Poe assignments. After that, he became a director with "Die, Monster,Die!", ironically also based on a Lovecraft story "The Colour from Outer Space")This is a really classy production with great production values and Corman proves he knows how to get the most for his money on screen. How many people can you say that about?

Note: As with all the Poe films, "The Haunted Palace" is best seen in the letterbox format, which preserves the 2.35:1 aspect ratio of the Panavision photography. With American Movie Classics showing this frequently and MGM releasing the cycle on DVD, viewers now have a chance to see these films the way they are supposed to. Well done.

**** out of 4 stars