ben hibburd The Haunted Palace Is directed by legendary B movie film-maker Roger Corman, and Is written by Corman's long term collaborator Charles Beaumont. The film Is an adaption of a novella by H. P. Lovecraft and and It's title taken from a poem by Edgar Allen Poe. The Haunted Palace tells the story of a necromancer named Joseph Curwen(Vincent Price). After performing a strange ritual on a young girl, the local townspeople accuse him of being a warlock. He Is then burnt alive by the villagers of Arkham. In his final moments Curwen vows to return and exact vengeance upon the townspeople, and places a curse on them.One hundred and ten years later his descendant Charles Dexter Ward(Vincent Price In a duel role), and his wife Ann(Debra Paget) arrive in Arkham after Inheriting the palace of Joseph Curwen. During their stay Charles begins to fall under the control of Josephs spirit, and begins to replicate his ritual of summoning a Demon with the use of the Necronomicon.I watched the Arrow Video blu-ray release, and they did a marvellous job of restoring the film, the picture quality breathes new life Into the film. The set design Is a fairly standard B movie Gothic town, but one that has a lot of charm, and has a good atmosphere In the fog ridden town, that Is plagued with fear and animosity from the malformed residents that have been effected by Curwen's curse.Vincent Price gives a fantastic commanding performance, which at times can feel a bit stagy, but works well when he's portraying two different personalities. The good direction from Corman never allows for any confusion as to who's currently inhabiting Wards body at any given time. Debra Paget also does good work In her final film role as Wards wife Ann. She becomes more robust, and hands on, In finding out what's happening to him as she notices the change In him. Paget along with Price bring a level of class to a film that could easily of felt silly. The film Is also helped along by good supporting performances from Lon Chaney Jr. as the Palace's caretaker, and Frank Maxwell the town doctor that helps Ann Investigate the strange occurrences.The film also contains of the best scores Iv'e heard from a Horror film. It's orchestral style waltz Is used to great effect. The only real complaints I have with the film was that despite It's excellent build up the film fell a bit flat In It's third act. Also despite this being a Lovecraft adaptation we only get one quick glance of the demon that was being summoned. This plot line was disappointing, It felt rushed and In the end was completely Inconsequential. For the most part this film worked better as a straight up revenge film, as Curwen begins bumping off the townsfolk. There Is a-lot of fun to be had with The Haunted palace, It's just a shame It's let down by the screenplay which had a- lot of potential but doesn't go anywhere with the more interesting supernatural elements.

Smoreni Zmaj Sixth of eight Roger Corman movies based on Edgar Allan Poe is not based on Poe at all. It took title from Poe's poem, but plot is based on novel The Case of Charles Dexter Ward by H.P. Lovecraft. If you are familiar with work of H.P.L. it will be very obvious during whole movie. But it can pass for Poe, to be completely honest. Recognizable Corman's directing, phenomenally creepy Vincent Price and deeply disturbing atmosphere typical for H.P.L. achieved almost without any special effects and explicit horror, combination that never gets old.7,5/10I hate "your review does not contain enough lines" warning. Why would I have to spoil perfectly nice review with additional nonsense just to reach senseless limit...

Scott LeBrun Among the lavish literary adaptations that Roger Corman made during the 1960s, "The Haunted Palace" stands out, mainly for not being a Poe adaptation, but rather a film version of the Lovecraft tale "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward" (with some utterances of lines, and the title, taken from the Poe poem). Corman was looking for a change of pace, and decided that the writing styles of the two authors were similar enough. Here the filmmaker does typically solid work, utilizing regular collaborators Daniel Haller (production design) and Floyd Crosby (cinematography) and giving the film that wonderful old school atmosphere. Overall "The Haunted Palace" is not as good as the best in the Corman-Poe cycle, but it's still consistently enjoyable.Vincent Price again is in fine form, as he delineates two characters: one a cheery man, Charles Dexter Ward, who comes to the small New England town of Arkham to claim family property, and the other his great-great-grandfather Joseph Curwen, an evil warlock burned alive by an angry group of villagers worthy of a Universal horror flick. Soon Curwen (who, quite naturally, placed a curse on the town and the townspeople who targeted him) is exerting a malevolent influence over his descendant, while Charles's scared wife Ann Ward (gorgeous Debra Paget ("Tales of Terror"), in her final feature film) teams with a well-meaning doctor, Marinus Willet (Frank Maxwell) to try to save her husbands' soul.The film is impressive to look at; Corman had Crosby shoot this film darker than the Poe adaptations, feeling that style suited Lovecrafts' writing better. Ronald Steins' music is wonderful and among his best scores. There are some great horror moments and a monster or two, which we fortunately never get too good a look at. There's also a couple of mutated humans (with decent makeup effects by Ted Coodley) to add to the mix. The cast is certainly a joy. Also to be seen are Lon Chaney Jr. ("The Wolf Man") and Milton Parsons ("The Secret Life of Walter Mitty") as Curwens' villainous associates, Leo Gordon ("The Intruder"), beloved Old Hollywood character actor Elisha Cook Jr., John Dierkes ("Premature Burial"), Harry Ellerbe ("House of Usher"), Barboura Morris ("A Bucket of Blood"), and Bruno VeSota ("Attack of the Giant Leeches").With this much going for it, "The Haunted Palace" is never less than entertaining.Lovecrafts' story would be adapted more faithfully as "The Resurrected" in 1992.Seven out of 10.

Claudio Carvalho Centuries ago in Arkham, New England, the warlock Joseph Curwen (Vincent Price) abducts young ladies from the local village and brings them to his castle to use in experiments with the Necronomicon. The local Edgar Weeden (Leo Gordon) raises a lynch mob that go to the castle and burn Joseph Curwen alive at the stake. Before dying, he curses the village, the villagers and their descendants. One hundred and ten years later, Charles Dexter Ward (Vincent Price), who has inherited the manor, comes to Arkham with his beautiful wife Ann Ward (Debra Paget) to visit the real estate and has a cold and hostile reception by the dwellers. Only Dr. Priam Willet (Frank Maxwell) helps him and tells that the village has many mutants and the villagers believe that it is a cursed town.When Charles arrives in the castle, he meets two former associates of Joseph Curwen that also worship the devil, and Charles is possessed by the evil Joseph Curwen that wants to revenge on the descendants of those who killed him and to bring his beloved mistress back to life. Ann and Dr. Willet try to help Charles to escape from Curwen's power."The Haunted Palace" is a classic Gothic horror by Roger Corman that follows the same style of the Hammer films. The plot is very simple but works perfectly well, supported by Vincent Price and the gorgeous Debra Paget. Further, this is the last feature of this beautiful actress that retired after getting married for the third time. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "O Castelo Assombrado" ("The Haunted Castle")