The Haunted Palace(film)
.The Haunted Palace is a 1963 horror
film directed by Roger Corman and featuring Vincent Price. Named after the poem
by Edgar Allan Poe it actually derived its plot from a novella by H. P. Lovecraft
named The Case of Charles Dexter Ward. It featured an impressive cast that also
included Lon Chaney Jr. and Debra Paget. It is also noted for having a remarkable
score by Ronald Stein.
Directed by Roger Corman
Produced by Samuel Z. Arkoff,
James
H. Nicholson,
Roger Corman
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
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)
Plot
The film starts on
a dark, foggy night in 1765. The villagers in the New England town of Arkham,
are suspicious of the strange goings-on up in the manor overlooking the village.
They suspect its inhabitant, Joseph Curwen (Price), of being a warlock. After
one of the girls in the village disappears, the terrified townsmen, torches raised,
storm the castle and confront its mysterious owner. Convinced the girl has been
bewitched, they tie Joseph to a tree outside his manor and burn him alive. Before
dying, however, Joseph puts a curse on the men there and on the whole town of
Arkham, saying he will rise from the grave years later to torment their descendants.
Flash forward a hundred years. Charles Dexter Ward (also Price) and his beautiful wife Anne (Paget) arrive in Arkham. Charles has inherited the manor of his distant ancestor, the aforementioned Curwen, and has come to see it. The locals are obviously wary and inhospitable to him, as they believe the strange deformities the villagers have developed in the years since Joseph Curwen's burning to be part of the curse.
Once
at the manor they meet the creepy housekeeper Simon Orne (Chaney Jr.). Simon seems
to know more than he's telling, but Charles is more interested in the eerie painting
of Curwen, hanging over the mantle. That night he is overtaken by the spirit of
his dead warlock ancestor and recognizes the caretaker for who he really is, his
old assistant. His first step upon his return is to take revenge on the descendants
of his murderers. Dousing them in gasoline, he kills them off slowly, using fire
as his tool of vengeance. At the same time he works on resuscitating his long
dead wife, using the infamous Necronomicon. At first his hold on Charles is limited
to the night, but as time goes on he grows stronger, eventually being in complete
control. His wife, noticing the changes in her beloved husband, seeks solace in
the advice of the town doctor, the one reasonable man in the village. Eventually
he realizes what Joseph/Charles are trying to do and foil him by burning the portrait
of the dead warlock. Escaping the flames of the burning palace, Anne breathes
a sigh of relief believing the terror is finally over. But as the camera fades
on Charles we realize that Joseph Curwen still inhabits his mind.
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